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+2026-07-10 16:33
+De-Apple-ing my life. 
+
+I have been a lifelong Apple user, mainly when it comes to their phones, smart speakers, headphones, watches, and services.
+
+My last Apple devices were:
+
+iPhone 15
+Apple Watch
+2 HomePod Minis
+AirPods Pro 2
+
+Alongside those, I used services like Apple Music and Apple TV.
+
+For a long time, I was satisfied with Apple products. Everything felt great except computing, where around 2024–2025 I started feeling like the operating systems and applications had become harder to use and more buggy than they were in the past.
+I think this comes from Apple's design philosophy of hiding almost everything while trying to make everything simple. However, I also think part of it comes from my own needs changing as I have wanted more advanced features from my devices over the years. That said, I also feel like product quality has declined.
+I especially grew to dislike Apple HomeKit, Siri, and how unreliable they were in my own home. I would try to connect to my HomePods through AirPlay, and it would sometimes take ages to load — if it worked at all. Other times, it wouldn't even use native playback, meaning I would just end up using my phone instead.
+
+My AirPods were also constantly giving me issues.
+
+My first pair of base AirPods (1st generation):
+The left AirPod stopped charging, so I got them replaced.
+
+My first pair of AirPods Pro (1st generation):
+The right AirPod started having "rattle gate" issues, where certain frequencies would cause it to rattle. I got both earbuds replaced, even though only one had the issue.
+
+The replacements:
+The right AirPod developed the same rattle issue again, but this time it also had noticeably lower volume than the other earbud. I got them replaced again.
+
+The replacements x2:
+The left AirPod started having rattle issues this time. However, Apple told me I would need to buy a new pair, so I did — I "upgraded" to the AirPods Pro 2.
+
+AirPods Pro 2:
+The right earbud developed rattle issues and reduced volume. I thought they would have fixed these problems by now, but apparently not. I got it replaced.
+
+AirPods Pro 2 replacements:
+The left earbud's ANC stopped working, so I ended up having the case and both earbuds replaced.
+
+These last AirPods have finally lasted, but honestly, I am just fed up with them.
+If I was only having problems with Apple's hardware, they could probably get away with it. However, their operating systems have also noticeably declined.
+Not only do they feel less stable, but features also feel less polished than they used to. Crashes, connectivity issues, lack of lower-level system settings, and performance problems have all become more noticeable.
+
+Apple Watches also started feeling stagnant. It felt like they were mostly just refreshing the same product rather than meaningfully improving it. On top of that, I couldn't always rely on mine. Notifications were inconsistent, and there were times where my watch simply wouldn't notify me about calls, texts, or other alerts.
+
+So I swapped.
+
+I decided to ditch my old Apple devices and fully commit to de-Applefying my setup.
+
+My new devices are:
+Phone: Samsung Galaxy S26
+Watch: Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic
+On-the-go headphones: Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro
+
+My HomePods were replaced with:
+
+Sonos Era 300 in the kitchen
+2 Sonos Era 300s paired with a Sub 4 in the living room
+Sonos Era 100 in the bedroom
+Sonos Roam 2 in the office, which I can also take into the bathroom or elsewhere
+
+Although I was happy with Apple's services, I decided to try Tidal. I ended up liking it more, and I also found the music sounded better compared to Apple Music, despite both offering lossless audio. I also simply wasn't using Apple TV.
+
+My initial impressions:
+The Sonos speakers are obviously a massive upgrade over my HomePod Minis, so there isn't much to say there. What I really appreciate, though, is how "dumb" and local the Sonos Assistant feels. It does what I want without trying to be overly complicated.
+My phone has also been better than I expected. There was definitely a learning curve switching to Android as my main operating system, but beyond that, the transition was surprisingly painless. I actually prefer Android now.
+
+It is far more configurable and has features that Apple devices still don't offer, such as split-screen multitasking.
+
+The new on-the-go headphones completely blow my old ones out of the water. With UHQ enabled, Loudness Equalisation disabled, and Spatial Audio turned off, they sound extremely impressive thanks to their dual-driver design.
+
+They especially stand out in songs that are more complex, with lots of separation between highs and mids. I also find they reproduce those target frequencies more accurately. In some ways, they remind me more of my Yamaha HPH-MT8s compared to my AirPods.
+
+But this impression has only been based on around 1–2 months of use, as this change is still very recent and my experience is still fairly surface-level.
+
+I'll have to make an update in the future if my opinions change.
+
+If you read this far, thank you. See you soon.
+
+Enjoy self-hosting!
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