General
People who've used iPhones and are hesitant to go to Android, often talk about the same few things:
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Android is clunky and hard to use.
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There's too much bloatware
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They're tired of ads and auto-installing apps
After using a Pixel for the first time though, I've come to realize this thing is just as polished as my iPhone was. If not more. If anything, the above issues are almost exclusively Samsung issues.
For example:
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Clunkiness.
Android for a long time now has allowed the user to use navigation gestures. The average, non-techy user prefers this, and the average iPhone switcher definitely does too, considering it operates the same way their iPhone did.
Keep in mind that most people typically never change the default settings. Why then, do Galaxy phones default to the clunky, old 3 button navigation bar, hiding the gesture bar under several deep menus? The average consumer wants the gesture bar, and so the Pixel (and hell, many other Android brands) use it by default.
2) Bloatware.
It's simply a fact that Samsung ships way too many apps on their devices. For almost every software service, there's a good chance you'll have three stock options: the Google app you want to use, the Samsung copy of that app you don't want to use, and a Microsoft app on there for some unknown reason. Google Photos, Samsung Gallery, Microsoft OneDrive. Why?
The fact of the matter is, when the average consumer uses a phone and opens a file, they don't want to be bombarded with 3 different options. They want that file or that action to just happen. Seamlessly. If they wanted OneDrive or Word or Samsung Internet, they'd go download it.
3) Ads and auto-downloads.
By default, an unlocked Galaxy A-series will auto-downloads apps you never asked for occasionally. It will also feed you ads in your notifications. What's worse is that carrier-locked S and Z phones, the flagship Galaxy devices, will still do this. This is horrible for the user experience -- one should NEVER have to deal with being served an ad by their very own operating system, let alone forced to install applications. This is why Windows 11 is getting so much hate.
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Compare all of this, to the Pixel. Or really, any stock Android phone. The Pixel's got a clean, simple interface with one design language, one ecosystem of apps, a fluid and easy to navigate gesture system, and zero inbuilt ads and auto-installers. This is what stock Android is, unbloated by Samsung and One UI. And it's an amazing experience.
All these software issues the Galaxy series have, are bad enough on their own. However, combining them with this one extra fact, makes them significantly worse:
Galaxy phones outsell every other Android brand combined in the US.
The average American consumer will buy "an Android", end up with a Galaxy, and end up with an absolutely terrible user experience. What's next? They're not buying a Pixel or a OnePlus. Samsung defines "an Android" to them, and Samsung failed their needs.
They're buying an iPhone afterward, and never looking back.
iPhones have a 80% market share among young Americans. And they're growing. The only competitor making a dent in that 20% is Samsung, and their horrific user experience hemorrhages market share to Apple every quarter.
Samsung's strategy isn't working. The iPhone is pushing them to a breaking point, and the Pixel is growing in from the other side.