iPhone vs Android: two ideas of permission
Stores, sideloading, location all the time, and why a cheap phone stops getting fixes.
A phone is an operating system with a radio. iOS and Android both sandbox apps. They both ask before the camera. They disagree about how long that no means no, and about whether you may install something from outside the store.
The store is the front door
Apple’s store is a choke point. Sideloading is limited on purpose. That blocks a lot of fake banks. It also means Apple is a single company that can push a bad app live or knock a good one out. Android lets more stores and, on many phones, a random APK. That is freedom and it is how a cousin installs a movie app that is a keylogger.
If you are on Android, stick to Google Play or the maker’s store. Check the publisher name. Turn off “install unknown apps” except for the one hour you mean it.
Permissions that actually matter
Location all the time is a tracker. Microphone in the background is a room bug. Contacts access is a copy of your social graph. Both systems now let you pick “only while using.” Use that. Revoke what a flashlight app has no business holding.
Notifications on Android can tap a full-screen intent that looks like a system warning. iOS is stricter there. On either phone, a warning that wants you to call a number or install a helper is malware theater. The OS settings page is in Settings, not in a pop up.
Updates
iPhones get years of OS updates on hardware Apple still likes. Cheap Androids often get a year of something and then silence. An unpatched phone on public WiFi is a small computer with your mail. Buy for the update promise, not the camera megapixels.
Two operating systems, same job: keep apps from becoming the landlord. You still have to say no.