Tag Archive for: switched

Why I’ve switched from Android to iOS: A story of possible malware and why you can never be too careful


Why I’ve switched from Android to iOS: A story of possible malware and why you can never be too careful

The price of freedom is (personal) vigilance. Image credit: Pexels/Towfiqu barbhuiya.

Editor’s note: This is a personal anecdote shared by a long-time HWZ writer and is not representative of the security postures afforded on any operating system. The writer has been a phone reviewer since the 2000s and has freelanced with HWZ since.

An unwilling switch from Android to iOS

I’ve been writing for HardwareZone for a while. I continued freelancing whenever I could, after moving on from my role to another career path back in the noughties. Those who know me and are reading this will say that I’ve been among the most ardent defenders of Android since I first laid hands on the HTC G1 Dream in 2008. 

While that early HWZ team was evenly divided between iOS and Android loyalists, I endured a lot of good-natured ribbing as one of Android’s loudest supporters. I would jump in to defend Google’s mobile OS at the slightest hint of debate. 

It helped that my colleagues were largely Android users in the roles I moved on to. Some even converted after a bout of “passionate” evangelism on my part.

Unfortunately, I can no longer express that enthusiasm for Android’s open-source ecosystem, as it was also my downfall. It led to a month of panic, frustration, and many missed deadlines.

(Editor’s note: Non-apology apology accepted.)

What prompted the change of heart? It’s probably malware and has been in the news lately.

Malware: never say never

What I never thought would happen to me, happened to me. Image credit: Pexels/Mikhail Nilov.

When I made my first public appearance with an iPhone 15 Pro Max earlier this month, there were exclamations of surprise and satisfaction from friends and family alike:

“You aren’t the real Count! What have they done to him!”

“Finally, you’ve come to your senses! Better late than never…”

Whether I had “come to my senses” is up for debate, but I knew for certain: I no longer felt safe using Android phones after losing hundreds of dollars in online transactions I did not know of, or approve of. 

As you’ve probably heard by now, there has been an exponentially growing number of scammers exploiting Android’s openness to third-party apps and accessibility…

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Russian forces have switched off some mobile networks and internet at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, IAEA says


Russian police detain a protester in downtown Moscow on March 6.
Russian police detain a protester in downtown Moscow on March 6. (Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

At least 4,640 people were detained during protests in Russia on Sunday, OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group that tracks detentions in Russia, reports.

People have been detained in 147 cities, according to OVD-Info. Since the invasion, more than 13,000 people have been arrested in Russia in anti-war demonstrations, OVD-Info calculates.

CNN cannot independently verify these numbers.

Russian state news agency TASS cited the Russian Interior Ministry, which said it arrested 3,500 people “who took part in unauthorized public events” on Sunday. 

“The units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, ensured law and order in places where unauthorized public events were held in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” Irina Volk, the official representative of the Russian Interior Ministry said, TASS reported.

Some of the cities where arrests were made included Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The detainees were “taken to the territorial police departments for investigation,” Volk said, adding “the issue of bringing them to justice is being decided.”

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