Apple's phone support is insane, at least where I used it.

High audio quality, no rush and no signs of them being an underpaid call center operator, always going the extra mile to help me.

must be location dependent. i've only ever had the standard 3rd world country script support employees, but they do tend to eventually transfer me to an irish guy who is allowed to speak freely after enough going around in circles.

I never used the support in an english-speaking country, so that might indeed explain my experience.

I had to use support for some purchases on the iTunes music store, and if I remember correctly, the support options offered on the homepage varied depending on which language I had set. I think the "write a message describing your problem" option for example was only available in English, and you had to play around a little with the possible options of categorising your problem to get it to appear.

But past that hurdle, at least my actual problems got resolved satisfactorily.

Yep, we had to contact Apple support maybe three times since we switched to Apple products in 2007. It was easy to get hold of them every time and they were very pleasant.

The last time there was an issue with an Apple Care payment. I was forwarded to someone who I believe was actually in Apple’s Dutch accounting department (certainly not a help desk drone). They called me back to follow up and even after everything was sorted out to check if everything was looking good on my end.

Well you're paying for it, the app store fees alone make it worth while for Apple. I do wonder, with the changes slowly trickling down the pipe, will Apple's fees over then next few years slowly diminish? And if so, what of their support quality (which is financed via funds from app store fees)?

Yep, you are paying for it. But with Google Android you pay with your privacy and time. And you get terrible support in return.

I've been trying to get a paid game the past days for my kids, a game where you try use bolts to remove wooden planks. It only exists with IAP and/or ads. The ads are terrible and not tailored to children. Nor are all the dark patterns. And you can get rid of the ads. By paying you get rid of them!!.. for 24 hours.

I'd rather pay via App Store or Google Play Store or Steam or whatever. Even a subscription for a month would've been better.

FWIW there is the Google Play Pass which gets you 1000+ games without any ads or the need for additional in-app purchases. It can be shared with 5 family members too.

Don't the Play Store and the App Store take exactly the same cut in most cases?

I don't think I have bought an App in the AppStore in years, so the only money they're getting for me was from the device I buy every 5 years or so.

Phone support for devices usually ends a couple of months after the purchase date as far as I know, or has that changed?

I never had to give serial numbers or anything when calling, so I don't think they know/care?

Even at the Apple Store, they help with out-of-warranty items all the time. I recently gave away an iPhone 8 and they helped my friend setup.

A nice woman there gave me new rubber-thingies for my AirPods and it's been out of warranty for the longest time. I mean they never checked or anything.