Who has the best ecosystem and why?

[Cloudy147]

Which company do you think has got the best ecosystem?

Maybe it's Apple with their seamless experience across Mac, Apple TV, iPad and iPhone?

Or Google with the Chromebook, Chromecast and Pixel?

Or perhaps Microsoft, as their software works on all devices, and they have Windows?

Samsung with their Tablets, phones and Dex doubling up as a computer?

Maybe even Amazon for Alexa, Prime TV, Kindle, Fire tablets? Perhaps you are that single one person in the world who finds their interfaces intuitive?

Someone else entirely?

What/which/who do you like, and why?

[mikef]

In the West, I'm going to say Apple by a long way, apart from the things you mention, it's how Apple+, Apple Music, AppleTV and apple accessories like the Airpods integrate

In China, WeChat / TenCent have sown up social media integration in a way that no Western company has managed

[Condi]

They should all really work across a common standard. I was thinking about this earlier with home apps - I have apps for the heating, the air con, the alarm, the CCTV, etc. There is no need for all these ecosystems in 2023.

But in general, Microsoft/Windows. There is barely anything which doesn't have a Windows variant.

[WonkeyDonkey]

If you're into gaming then there's really only one option.

Especially for anything simulator based.

[steveatesh]

I’d go with Apple for the way it all works together, being able to use a watch instead of passwords is a real first world boon.

[x5tuu]

Condi said:

They should all really work across a common standard. I was thinking about this earlier with home apps - I have apps for the heating, the air con, the alarm, the CCTV, etc. There is no need for all these ecosystems in 2023.

But in general, Microsoft/Windows. There is barely anything which doesn't have a Windows variant.

Those are all likely to be operable within GoogleHome (and possibly HomeKit too) - all my home automation devices collected over the past few years are all both GoogleHome and AppleKit compatible, but HomeKit is more flaky IME that the Google option (and I doubt I would buy anything HomeKit specific ever now).

All my devices are accessible from a series of Google/Nest Home minis and hubs that are placed throughout the house so I can ask a command from anywhere and get the desired result.

Very handy this time of year for all the christmas lights and lighting scenarios.

Worth adding thats from Apple house, where all computers, phones, tablets, TVs, music devices, etc. are exclusively Apple.

[the-norseman]

mikef said:

In the West, I'm going to say Apple by a long way, apart from the things you mention, it's how Apple+, Apple Music, AppleTV and apple accessories like the Airpods integrate

Youtube music, Google TV, Google Pixel buds.

I have Google Pixel phone, Google TV, Google home, Google home nest accessories (doorbell, cameras), Pixel buds. It all integrates as well.

I dont personally have a Chromebook anymore or Pixel watch but my sister and BIL have both and that all integrates as well.

The problem with Ecosystems is you have to have all of the kit, either Google or Apple, no point having all the Google kit and then having a Samsung phone for example, it wont integrate as well.

Edited by the-norseman on Sunday 17th December 11:28

[robsa]

We all use Apple and I generally really like how it all integrates. I love Apple Music, and the sharing across devices and stuff is great. It's not perfect, some stuff still does my head in - iPad OS/iOS is still annoying in how it deals with file extensions sometimes - for instance, if I want to watch a Patreon video using my Google log-in (which I have no ads in) it opens it first in a Patreon window, then I have to tap to open it in Safari, then tap to open it in the YouTube app! Very annoying. But generally speaking it's pretty great. I love being able to go for a run with just my watch and AirPod Pro's. Apple TV is really good except for it constantly pushing you to pay for episodes of programs when you can stream them for free on other services.

Let's face it, I don't think any tech ecosystem will ever be perfect because they're always trying to screw money out of you in one way or another.

[donkmeister]

Condi said:

They should all really work across a common standard. I was thinking about this earlier with home apps - I have apps for the heating, the air con, the alarm, the CCTV, etc. There is no need for all these ecosystems in 2023.

But in general, Microsoft/Windows. There is barely anything which doesn't have a Windows variant.

You need Home Assistant. Bit of a learning curve and definitely needs some time to set up but works with anything.

[donkmeister]

I think it depends on what you want from an ecosystem. The basics of "back up my devices, let me find my devices, have files available between devices, let me cast media" are covered by Apple and Android. After that, the important one for me is letting me use my stuff as I want to, for which I'd say Android has the edge.

Microsoft... Is theirs truly an ecosystem as we understand it for this stuff? I would say they are just an OS supplier for one device in the ecosystem. OneDrive is a bit niche, I'm not an IT person but I've never seen it enabled on windows devices in big businesses (as they'll have their own servers), and it's not particularly useful for home users (unless there's some killer use that I'm not aware of). Maybe there's a huge small business take-up of it?

[Bikerjon]

For home, Apple all the way. The quality of the hardware and the integration beats anything else hands down.

For business, Microsoft, simply because windows OS still dominates the corporate world and that probably wont change any time soon, if ever.

[mikeiow]

Bikerjon said:

For home, Apple all the way. The quality of the hardware and the integration beats anything else hands down.

For business, Microsoft, simply because windows OS still dominates the corporate world and that probably wont change any time soon, if ever.

I'd broadly agree.

Move the family to Apple many years ago (2014 Macbook Pro was peak h/w, IMHO!)....at the time, windows caused me endless grief...whereas when my son's final dissertation got put into jeopardy when a friend spilled water on his laptop, the fact he used time machine meant I could help him recover the next morning. Priceless!

That said, I got more into Google photos for my reasonably extensive set of snaps, and have albums & albums curated which I regularly use: the search facilities were streets ahead of Apple a few years ago. No idea about now, but it would be a massive pain to move it all: game over, my subscription goes to Google rather than iCloud....

Still use some Microsoft, but have moved a lot of my important stuff to Google sheets.

[Alex Z]

The caveat is that it depends on what you want to do with it.

For a heavy gamer Microsoft still has the edge, but for all round use, only Apple has the full spectrum of phone, tablet, tv, laptop/desktop that work well together.

Google Chromebooks are still too limited.

[donkmeister]

Alex Z said:

The caveat is that it depends on what you want to do with it.

For a heavy gamer Microsoft still has the edge, but for all round use, only Apple has the full spectrum of phone, tablet, tv, laptop/desktop that work well together.

Google Chromebooks are still too limited.

Out of interest, do you buy games on the windows store or use STEAM or other?

I use Steam simply because it's ubiquitous, and hence has all the games I want to play. I thought it quite telling that MS Flight Simulator for Windows is on Steam! (Although I had to do some sort of Xbox account when I was setting it up, which was annoying... I hate it that so many games companies insist on an account and their own launcher when I'm playing via Steam anyway.)

I'd also say that my Google drive works well between my phone, tablet and PC - so I'm not sure Apple has the monopoly on that anymore. Of course, Google works well on Apple as well (although that doesn't seem to work both ways, even the official Apple apps for Android and Windows are clunky and crippled when I've had to do something with Apple jihadist types who won't use proper cross platform stuff).

Edited by donkmeister on Sunday 17th December 18:58

[Kermit power]

I find it slightly odd that people would choose to limit themselves to a single vendor ecosystem?

Work decided some years ago to get us to all use ipads a few years ago at a time when I had an Android phone. Things may have changed since then, of course, but at the time the ipad was so restrictive - it didn't seem to have widgets nor the ability to use non native keyboards, for example - so that put me off Apple for life, and as nobody else really has an end to end ecosystem, I've just bought the best individual device for the job even since. Samsung phone & tablet, Windows laptop, etc.

In my personal experience, the advantages of best of breed individual devices massively outweigh those of having a single ecosystem.

[fasimew]

Kermit power said:

In my personal experience, the advantages of best of breed individual devices massively outweigh those of having a single ecosystem.

Agreed. Windows PC, Android/Pixel phone, Google drive, Youtube premium/Google music subscription, Alexa home assistant (bit of a gimmick really).

I find Apple limiting in terms of usability. Why would you place your entire life around their overpriced products?

[JulianHJ]

Condi said:

They should all really work across a common standard. I was thinking about this earlier with home apps - I have apps for the heating, the air con, the alarm, the CCTV, etc. There is no need for all these ecosystems in 2023.

Matter is intended to address this. It's being developed by some of the market leaders, so hopefully it will see widespread adoption.

[captain_cynic]

Condi said:

But in general, Microsoft/Windows. There is barely anything which doesn't have a Windows variant.

This,

What most people forget (or don't know) is that Microsoft has an incredible array of back end products that integrate seamlessly. There's a reason that they remain such a power despite a lot of other companies doing things better or the fact they haven't really managed to do anything new in decades.

Windows server, exchange/Office365, MS SQL, Active Directory, all seamlessly integrates with Windows desktop, Office, et al.

Apple and Google don't really have any enterprise products, even on AWS and GCP you're still mostly running Windows or Linux. The only area Microsoft doesn't have a huge market share is mobile.

Also, there is an incredible array of software available for Windows and Windows is incredibly customisable. For me, the best ecosystem is are the ecosystems that let me do what I want. Nothing is worse than your own device telling you you're not allowed to do something.

[skedaddle]

Windows is strong on the desktop but weak for most other categories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_opera...

As for best eco system, Apple if money's no object; otherwise google as in the past I rated the quality of their software. Not sure if that still holds true today. I'm still trying to avoid Windows. I can see why they don't do well away from the desktop.