Android (or AOSP) is More Free Than iOS, Both in Practice (as OEM Bundles) Both Are User-Hostile
Android uses Linux, but there's a lot more to an operating system than a kernel
GIVEN the deepening financial problems of Apple (not just massive debt), it does not shock us that it has several waves of layoffs and sales of iPhone have decreased. The winner? Android. People aim for "budget" devices from vendors that do not charge "brand premiums". Think of "spyphones" from China or Taiwan or... many of them still use Android (in China that is changing however).
Based on what we've been seeing in statCounter lately, Android is the clear gainer in most countries (new example from South Africa). This further contributes to Chrome dominance and browser monoculture (same source code used to browse the Web by over 90% of those accessing the Web).
Android's rise is really bad for Windows (and Microsoft's ability to charge money for Windows). But when it comes to users' freedom, Android introduces all sorts of problems. The FSF spoke out against it and Google no longer gives money to the FSF (that's OK, the FSF adapts; it relies on people instead).
AOSP (not what OEMs add as "Android" to their devices) comes with source code, but when the "mandatory" Google apps are preloaded, then it's not exactly free. It's more like ChromeOS or Chrome or Chromebooks. It's a form of spyware - one that cannot be "corrected". "iOS is /mostly/ FOSS but you can't see it," an associate argues. "Android is /mostly/ FOSS but you can't see it" either.
Well, the components are likely not proprietary, but when put together it's some proprietary shebang, preconfigured to abuse the user and moreover (increasingly) locked down to prevent amelioration. They even call adding a software of one's choosing (without GAFAM's knowledge or their permission or their "store") "sideloading".
In the case of Apple, it's even worse. It uses bits with non-reciprocal licences and then hides what makes up iOS. Then, it applies its stance on reciprocal licences to the desktop/laptop OS (macOS) too. A new blog post by Bozhidar Batsov says "Apple being opposed to using anything licensed under GPL v3 [means removing it] and so it happens that Emacs 22.1 was the last Emacs version licensed under GPL v2.1 A former Apple employee shared the following in a comment on HackerNews: [...]"
Google too is rather hostile towards reciprocal licences, especially the Affero ones, which Google reportedly "bans" (soft ban). In a perfect world, people would choose and deploy software that is entirely made up of reciprocally-licensed bits. That would mean no iOS or Android. The FSF receives money from Purism and blesses PureOS, but some people on the Web complain that the company isn't delivering, at least not anymore. Maybe going for a mobile phone - especially any phone that lets towers track its location (to place or receive calls) - is incoherently misguided, just like 'free' Social Control Media. Those are not healthy. █