As Apple fans and the wider tech community gear up for WWDC, there are common areas of anticipation. Indeed, WWDC is fairly predictable in some sense, with new versions of iOS, iPad OS, tvOS, and whateverelseOS Apple has for the year being debuted. It’s also a developer conference, so those building on and for Apple, get their eyes on the latest and greatest. But there’s a more low-key announcement I want to see from Apple this year: iTunes being terminated. Put it out to pasture, it’s done. Nobody would miss it.
This idea first resonated in my mind upon reading a piece by a former colleague, Daryl Baxter over at TechRadar. Windows is the last bastion of iTunes and as Baxter’s headline reads, it’s almost like a punishment. I have never conversed with a single person who has ever enjoyed using iTunes either on Windows or Mac. I’ve been using it for about 19 years and it’s never been fun. So it’s time to go.
iTunes never got better
The ‘modern’ iTunes for Windows has hardly moved along from the earliest incarnations. At first, it was a necessary evil. If you wanted to use an iPod and you had a Windows PC, you had to use iTunes. It was entirely required to transfer your digital music to your digital music player.
Even in the early days of the iPhone, iTunes had a place. It was clunky to use but for transferring to and from your shiny new Apple phone, it was something you lived with.
But those days are far behind us. Apple has just discontinued the iPod and who connects their iPhone or iPad to a computer to transfer files anymore? The truth is that even Apple doesn’t see a reason to use iTunes anymore, after all, it was pulled from the Mac a few years ago. But Windows users are left to suffer, with a product that sees updates but never actually improves.
Its sole purpose nowadays is as a front-end to Apple Music, your previously purchased music and video library, and the iTunes Store. Everything you do on your iPhone and iPad is wireless. If iTunes for Windows provided access to Apple TV+, there might be an argument to keep it. But it doesn’t, so there isn’t. And again, Apple discontinued it on its own desktop platform three years ago. If there were reason to keep it, that wouldn’t have happened, would it?
On the Mac, you have Music, Podcasts and Apple TV+. All of these apps are better than the clunky mess that is iTunes for Windows. If Apple has enough paying customers for its music service on Windows that it cares enough to keep iTunes alive, then give us the better apps.
Third-party devs doing what Apple can’t, or won’t
Apple Music is available as a web app, and it’s decent enough. But it doesn’t have offline music. There is also a far superior third-party app called Cider. And right now this is the only way anyone should use Apple Music on Windows, albeit, again, without offline music. If you need to be offline, you have to use iTunes.
Cider, though, is magnificent, even in its early days. It’s a free, open-source application with a UI reminiscent of the Apple Music web app. But it goes much further, with a whole raft of settings and customizations. I’ve got a Dracula theme running on mine. It’s not just visuals, either, there are features to tweak audio, apply lyrics, link to Discord even some experimental plugins. It even has podcasts.
There’s still plenty to be done and some features, such as sync, are labeled as a work in progress. But it’s hosted on Github and has a beta or stable channel you can follow.
Cider isn’t just available on Windows, but it does at least serve as a worthwhile alternative to having iTunes in your life. Made better by the fact that it’s a really good app. Check it out either on Github, the Microsoft Store, or install it through the Windows Package Manager.
Only one thing that needs to happen
Nobody is surprised Apple prioritizes its own platforms. But nobody is going to be so fed up with iTunes that they’d run out and buy a Mac. Services like music, podcasts, and TV need to be platform agnostic. Windows just has the numbers. Would the iPod have taken off like it did if it had remained a Mac-only product? Definitely not.
Apple has been pretty generous with supporting other platforms with its media services. Apple Music is on Android and the major smart speakers and Apple TV is available on games consoles and competing smart TV platforms. The precedence for the guardians of iTunes to be a bit more generous to its customers who don’t drown themselves entirely in Apple hardware is there. By all accounts, the Mac apps are pretty nice to use. Sure would be nice to have them on Windows.
So please, Apple, finally do the decent thing. The iPod is gone, and iTunes needs to follow.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 offers support for a wide array of health tracking and fitness features. However, some of these features are not available to all users. For instance, the ECG and blood pressure features are restricted to certain regions, and you can’t use them when the watch is paired with a non-Samsung phone even in supported regions. Thankfully, there’s a workaround to get these features across all regions, even on non-Samsung devices. If you’re using your Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone or don’t have access to the features due to the regional restrictions, here’s how you can enable ECG and blood pressure on your Galaxy Watch 4.
How to enable ECG and blood pressure features on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
To enable ECG and blood pressure monitoring on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 in unsupported locales or with a non-Samsung phone, you’ll need to install the modded Samsung Health Monitor app from XDA Senior Member Dante63. You will have to install the modded app on both your phone and the Galaxy Watch 4 to use these features. Follow the steps provided below to install the modded Samsung Health Monitor app. However, before you proceed, download all the required files from the link provided below.
The Google Drive folder linked above includes all the files you’ll need to enable ECG and blood pressure monitoring on your Galaxy Watch 4. It also includes a couple of guides to help you out in case you get stuck somewhere during the process.
Note: Before you proceed with the steps provided below, make sure you have the Galaxy Wearables app installed on your phone and paired with your Galaxy Watch 4. Be sure to install the Galaxy Watch 4 plugin from the Play Store as well.
Install the modded Samsung Health Monitor app on your phone
Installing the modded Samsung Health Monitor app on your phone is a pretty simple and straightforward process. Just locate the modded app in the Drive folder linked above (labeled Phone.WearOS.SHM.MOD.X.X.X.XXX.dante63.apk) and transfer it to your phone’s root directory.
On your phone, use a file explorer to navigate to the root directory and locate the modded APK.
Note: For the purpose of this post, I’m using a OnePlus 10 Pro and the stock OxygenOS MyFiles app. If you don’t have a file explorer on your phone, you can download any of the options listed in our collection of the best file manager apps for Android.
Tap on the modded Samsung Health Monitor APK to install it. You should now see a permissions pop-up to install apps from unknown sources. Follow the prompts to head over to the device settings and allow app installations from the file manager.
You should instantly see another pop-up with an Install button. Tap on it to install the app and then tap on Done on the following pop-up to complete the installation.
That rounds up the easy part. Now, let’s move on to the complex bit, which is installing the modded Samsung Health Monitor app on the Galaxy Watch 4 using ADB.
Install the modded Samsung Health Monitor app on your Galaxy Watch 4
Installing the modded Samsung Health Monitor app on the Galaxy Watch 4 requires ADB. If you’re not familiar with installing ADB on your PC, you’d be glad to know that Dante63 has provided a simple solution.
Open the Watch SHM MOD WearOS folder in the Google Drive folder linked above. Then, open the READ ME -ADB Manual instructions folder and extract the contents of the ZIP file in the folder to your desktop. Now, double-click the Minimal ADB Fastboot executable and follow the instructions provided in the installation wizard to set up ADB.
A command prompt window should pop up as soon as you complete the installation. If it doesn’t, simply navigate to the directory when you installed Minimal ADB Fastboot and double-click on the file labeled cmd-here.
Before you proceed any further, you need to enable the ADB debugging and Debug over Wi-Fi settings on your Watch. To enable these options, you’ll first have to turn on Developer Options. To do so, head over to the device settings on your watch, scroll all the way down to the About watch option, and tap on it.
On the following page, select the Software option and then tap on the Software version on the following page a few times to enable the Developer mode.
Jump back to the device settings and select Developer options. Then, tap on the toggles next to the ADB debugging and Debug over Wi-Fi settings to enable them.
Note: If your watch is configured to connect to a Wi-Fi network, it should now automatically connect to the saved network and show you the IP underneath the Debug over Wi-Fioption. If you’re not connected to Wi-Fi, head over to the Connectionsoption on the main settings page and connect to a Wi-Fi network. Make sure you’re connected to the same Wi-Fi network on your PC. You can also use your phone’s mobile hotspot for this purpose.
Once you’re connected to Wi-Fi, tap on the active connection and note down the IP address mentioned on the following page.
Head back to the Minimal ADB and Fastboot command prompt window on your PC and type “adb connect” followed by the IP address from the previous step.
You should instantly see a prompt on your watch asking you if you’d like to allow debugging. Select OK, if you just want to allow debugging one time, or Always allow from this computer, if you don’t want to repeat the process again.
Now, set your watch aside, type the following ADB command, and hit Enter to install the modded Samsung Health Monitor app on the watch. For this command to work as intended, you need to have the modded Samsung Health Monitor APK in the same directory as the file labeled cmd-here. Also, replace the X in the command mentioned below with the current version number of the APK.
Once the app is installed successfully, you should see “Success” in the command prompt window. Now, disconnect from ADB using the following command.
adb disconnect
You should now be able to see the modded Samsung Health Monitor app in your watch’s app drawer. When you open the modded app on your phone, your Galaxy Watch 4 should connect automatically and you should be able to see the Blood Pressure and ECG tabs. You can follow the instructions provided in the app to set these features up. Once that’s done, add the ECG and blood pressure tiles to your watch and you’re good to go.
Before you start using these features, make sure to disable ADB debugging on your Galaxy Watch 4 or it will impact its battery life. To do so, head back to the Developer options and tap on the toggle next to the ADB debugging option.
It’s worth mentioning that since this method uses a modded Samsung Health Monitor app, you might encounter some expected issues. In addition, you won’t be able to sync blood pressure data between your watch and the Samsung Health app on your phone. However, the Drive folder linked above includes a workaround with detailed instructions on how to set up blood pressure syncing. If you face any issues, head over to the XDA forum thread linked below to share your feedback with the developer.
The Vivo X80 Pro is the latest Android flagship to hit the market, and it more than held its own — and arguably won — in a showdown against the Galaxy S22 Ultra. And so it’s only natural we compare the X80 Pro against another mainstream big name challenger: the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the biggest and baddest Apple has to offer in the mobile space. It's got the most powerful mobile SoC in the world and impressive cameras.
About this article: This comparison was written after testing an iPhone 13 Pro Max provided by Apple Hong Kong and Vivo X80 Pro provided by Vivo Global. This article also includes input from XDA’s Editor in Chief, Aamir Siddiqui, using his personal iPhone 13 Pro and an X80 Pro provided by Vivo India. Vivo India additionally took Aamir and other Indian media persons and YouTubers to Dubai for an immersion session centered around the phone. Vivo is also running a campaign on XDA around this phone, but that is handled by the sponsorship team independent from the editorial team. Neither Samsung nor Vivo had any input in this article.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Vivo X80 Pro: Design and Hardware
Unless you’ve just woken up from a coma, there’s not much need for me to describe in words what the iPhone 13 Pro Max looks like, right? It’s a large, blocky flagship with glass front and back and stainless steel flat sides — this latter part gives the phone its hefty, brick-like feeling. In my opinion, Apple’s flat boxy design looks good and gives the phone an authoritative, machine vibe that runs in contrast to most Android flagships, most of which are wrapped by gentle curvature. The Vivo X80 Pro definitely fits that vibe, with a soft frosted coating to its glass back that feels silky and slippery to my hands.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max being too big to be held comfortably is a widely shared view
I personally don’t love the in-hand feel of either phone: I’m not a fan of the slithery frosted back of the Vivo, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s flat sides results in angular corners that dig into my palm. These are, of course, just my opinions, but I do think the iPhone 13 Pro Max being too big to be held comfortably is a widely shared view. Aamir does find the Vivo X80 Pro to be perfect for his tastes, while sharing the same concerns around the blocky design of the iPhone.
Both screens look great — gorgeous, vibrant OLED panels that reach a peak refresh rate of 120Hz. iOS handles 120Hz a bit better than Vivo’s FunTouchOS in my opinion, as the iPhone’s animations appear a bit more fluid to my eyes. Maximum screen brightness is about even. The Vivo X80 Pro has a less blemished screen, with only a small hole-punch cut-out compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s notch, so viewing full-screen videos is a bit more enjoyable on the Vivo X80 Pro.
There’s a reason for that notch, however, as it houses not just a 12MP selfie camera but also Apple’s TrueDepth camera system — a series of sensors that can map our face in 3D for secure facial recognition. Vivo’s hole-punch houses just a normal selfie camera, but a more pixel-dense 32MP shooter. Vivo relies on Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max solution for its optical fingerprint sensor: so you get a wider fingerprint sensing area than most Android devices, with the ability for dual-fingerprint sensing and quicker setup and recognition. The Vivo does this implementation excellently, so you are unlikely to miss the iPhone 13 Pro’s face recognition.
Powering these phones are the latest SoCs from Apple and Qualcomm: A15 Bionic for the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for the X80 Pro — even though Apple’s chip is technically a 2021 chip, it is still more powerful than the 2022 Qualcomm chip, but the difference will only be noticed for more complicated tasks like rendering videos.
Apple doesn’t disclose RAM configuration or battery size, but teardowns have revealed that the iPhone 13 Pro Max packs 6GB of RAM with a 4,352 mAh battery, both are “less” than what the Vivo X80 Pro offers — 12GB of RAM with 4,700 mAh battery — but real-world results do not reflect that. Due to Apple having better hardware-software synergy than almost any Android phone, iPhones can be more efficient in performance, thus needing fewer GBs of RAM or smaller battery sizes. I’ll cover this more closely in the performance section, but spoiler alert — the iPhone 13 Pro Max has better battery life than the Vivo X80 Pro.
Both phones pack all the flagship smartphone flourishes: stereo speakers, IP68 water and dust resistance, excellent haptics, and wireless charging. The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s speakers and haptics are noticeably better than Vivo X80 Pro’s, but in return, Vivo takes a major win in charging — it can charge much, much faster whether wired or wirelessly, and Vivo includes the charger in the package.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Vivo X80 Pro: Cameras
For optics, the iPhone 13 Pro Max packs a straightforward triple 12MP lens setup covering the ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto focal length. Other than Apple’s Deep Fusion image processing algorithm and a night mode that turns on automatically, there are not many tricks or gimmicks to this iPhone camera — no pixel binning nor no specialty sideways lenses. The Vivo X80 Pro does a bit more, with a quad lens system including dual zoom lenses for two optical zoom lengths, and one of these latter lenses is propped up by a miniature gimbal system. There’s also Zeiss T-coating over every glass so they reduce lens flare, and the main and ultra-wide camera both use pixel binning technology to force a larger micron-pixel size. There’s just a lot more processing between when Vivo’s camera hardware snaps the photo and the shot showing up in the photo gallery. Helping matters is Vivo’s proprietary V1+, a dedicated imaging chip created solely to handle image processing. Apple has its own image processing hardware too, it’s just part of the A15 Bionic.
Let’s first examine photo consistency across all the lenses. In the below set, taken under relatively ideal lighting conditions, we can see that the iPhone does a better job of keeping consistent color temperature between the main and ultra-wide lens, while Vivo’s exhibit some deviation in the shade of the sky. Both main cameras produced an excellent photo that was sharp, with the right level of contrast and accurate colors. Even when I zoomed in 100% to pixel peep, it was a virtual tie. That’s not the case with the other lenses.
In the ultra-wide lens, if I zoom in 100% I can see the iPhone’s ultra-wide is much software at the edges — this doesn’t surprise me, as the Vivo X80 Pro’s ultra-wide is more pixel-dense and uses a larger image sensor size. The difference in image sharpness between ultra-wide shots should be more pronounced at night, marking this as a win for the Vivo.
100% crops, ultra-wide shots, iPhone 13 Pro Max (left) and X80 Pro (right).
The iPhone 13 Pro’s 3x zoom, however, is really good — perhaps the best telephoto zoom lens in the business. In the below crop, I’ve taken an iPhone 3x zoom photo, punched in to get the frame closer to Vivo’s 5x periscope zoom lens, and we can see both shots are about even in image sharpness, with the X80 Pro’s shot being ever so slightly less noisy. But if we really push the zoom level — up to 15x, then the X80 Pro’s shot is a bit sharper because at the end of the day, having a periscope technology is always better than not having one.
Crops of a 3x iPhone 13 Pro Max shot (left) and a 5x X80 Pro shot (right).
But that above scene is considered easy to shoot for modern smartphones, if we move to more challenging scenes such as low light conditions or against harsh backlight, then we start seeing Vivo’s superior hardware pull off some noticeable wins. In the below set, we can see it is now the iPhone that shows a deviation in color science between the main and ultra-wide camera because the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s ultra-wide doesn’t inherently pull in a lot of light naturally, it needed to use a two-second long night mode to produce the shot. Vivo’s ultra-wide has a larger image sensor and uses pixel-binning technology, so it could snap the below photo normally as if it was shooting during the day.
iPhone 13 Pro Max above, and Vivo X80 Pro below
If we move to even lower light scenes, like the set below taken in the early pre-dawn morning by Aamir, we can see how much better the Vivo X80 Pro was able to find proper exposure for the sky and the flame.
Generally speaking, the Vivo X80 Pro shots are brighter and if we punch in, more detailed
When I reviewed the iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max (they have the exact same camera systems) last fall, I noticed the iPhone really struggled with exposure, often blowing out bright light sources in contrasty scenes, I think Apple’s software updates have since fixed the issues a bit, as the iPhone 13 Pro Max held up surprisingly well in the below shot shooting out the window into a sunny cityscape. But generally speaking, the Vivo X80 Pro shots are brighter and if we punch in, more detailed.
I do think the iPhone 13 Pro Max produces a more aesthetically pleasing portrait shot because the iPhone’s 3x telephoto zoom lens is so good, but otherwise, for almost every still photo situation, I prefer the Vivo X80 Pro’s cameras.
For videos, the Vivo X80 Pro’s main camera keeps up very well against the longtime video champ iPhone’s video footage, but the latter still wins because the iPhone 13 Pro Max can switch between all three lenses seamlessly in the middle of filming. The Vivo X80 Pro cannot — if you begin filming with the main camera, then you can’t swap to the ultra-wide, and any zoom is digital zoom.
Still, the Vivo X80 Pro introduces a new “cinematic portrait” video mode and it is arguably as good as the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s own cinematic mode.
Overall, I’d say the Vivo X80 Pro’s camera system has a higher ceiling, but also a lower floor, meaning when the Vivo excels, it is very, very good, but there are some basic things like the ability to switch lenses while filming a video that Vivo still hasn’t gotten right. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the more capable video camera and has a better telephoto zoom lens. But the differences are very narrow, and both are insanely amazing cameras that will not disappoint end users.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Vivo X80 Pro: Software
This is yet another iOS vs Android showdown, and I think most readers have their opinions set already. But here’s my take: I have always preferred Android over iOS because the former is more customizable, and allows me to do more things (like easily sideload apps, or save files in a proper file system), but I am aware that iOS is more polished and is surrounded by a better hardware ecosystem and third-party app ecosystem.
iOS 15 on the iPhone 13 Pro Max and FunTouch 12 on the Vivo X80 Pro.
Those feelings definitely hold true for me while testing both of these phones side-by-side. Vivo’s FunTouch OS is highly customizable, allowing me to change animations for everything from the way the homescreen moves to fingerprint animations. I am also a fan of being able to open apps in floating windows which I do often. This latter part is a major reason why I carry an Android phone as my daily driver most of the time — I want to be able to multi-task on my phone. The iPhone 13 Pro Max, with that large screen, not being able to show more than one app at a time is frustrating.
However, iOS being surrounded by a more polished ecosystem is something Android and Vivo still haven’t been able to match. I’m not just talking about synergy with other Apple devices, like the way I can record a voice memo on an iPhone and that same clip shows up on my iPad in a few seconds, or that I can access my MacBook’s homescreen files directly on the iPhone — those are all awesome features but require you to buy more Apple hardware. But even if you don’t own any other Apple hardware, you still benefit from getting better app support on an iPhone than on an Android phone. This isn’t that noticeable if you use only the most popular, globally-used apps — Facebook and Twitter will run just as well on Android as an iPhone. But if you use smaller regional apps, like say a banking app for Hong Kong, or a hotel check-in app in Singapore, or a taxi-hailing app in Italy, there’s a high chance the iOS version of the app runs much better.
iOS being surrounded by a more polished eco-system is something Android and Vivo still haven't been able to match
This means that even though my main SIM card is in an Android phone most of the year, I always have an iPhone nearby because of the superior app situation. And this is unlikely to be changing in the short term future.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Vivo X80 Pro: Performance and Battery Life
It’s been well documented that the Apple A15 Bionic chip in the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a more powerful chip than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the Vivo X80 Pro, and the benchmark numbers back that up again here. But the thing is, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is still a very powerful silicon, so for most of my day-to-day usage, I don’t really see a difference in performance, it’s not like the iPhone 13 Pro Max was launching apps faster or able to process voice commands faster.
Where I do notice is editing videos — I shoot a lot of video clips and I usually give the clips a quick trim and occasional crop (directly in the phone’s native photo gallery app) before I upload to Instagram, and the rendering process is instantaneous most of the time on an iPhone 13 Pro Max, but would require a 10-second wait on the Vivo X80 Pro. Likewise, when I’m exporting 360 videos via Insta360’s app, the process is much faster on an iPhone than on any 2022 Android flagship too.
The Apple A15 Bionic chip is more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but you won't notice it in most daily tasks
Other general performance areas favor the iPhone too: Apple’s device has a louder, fuller speaker setup, better haptics, and better battery life. In fact, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has probably the best battery life of any phone I’ve tested in the last couple of years — I can finish entire 12-, 13-hour days with well over 30% of juice to spare. No Android flagship phone in the 120Hz screen era has been able to achieve this. Still, the Vivo X80 Pro is usually able to last a full 12-13 hour day too (just with less battery left at the end), so this isn’t really a big deal to me. Whether I make it home with 32% or 17% battery left doesn’t really matter that much. Plus, the Vivo X80 Pro can charge much faster and the charger is included, so those are solid wins.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Vivo X80 Pro: Which phone is better?
If you’re keeping score at home, I got the Vivo X80 Pro winning in photography, software in terms of productivity, and display immersion for viewing content. But the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a better video camera, has better battery life, and is more powerful for intensive tasks like heavy gaming or editing/rendering videos.
There’s also the value factor, which is arguably a win for Vivo: both the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Vivo X80 Pro are priced at roughly the $1,100 range in most parts of the world, but Vivo’s phone comes with a screen protector, a nice faux-leather case, wired earbuds, and a fast charger. In regions like India, the difference between the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Vivo X80 Pro goes above $640 (~$750 if you compare the 256GB variants), at which point, the Vivo X80 Pro just wins hands down for pure value.
But ultimately, this entire versus piece is mostly an exercise for enthusiasts or the curious, because the reality is iOS users are likely not going to jump to Android on a whim, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max is a much easier purchase for major chunks of the world including the US. But still, if you are on the market for a new phone and the Vivo X80 Pro is available in your area, you can at least know you’re getting a tip-top premium Android phone with the best still photo camera around.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the biggest and baddest Apple has to offer in the mobile space. It's got the most powerful mobile SoC in the world and impressive cameras.
