alt Hacker NewsI'm in the UK. I use a pixel, but also have iPhones and iPads for work reasons. My wife has a Samsung, my mother a Motorola etc.
I set up phones several times a year. What the author describes is not a problem if you go "all in" on your manufacturer. iOS or Android.
If you tick the cloud sync functions you can restore apps and copy data with a two or three step wizard. If you pay for the cloud storage level, you will have enough space for your photos etc. it's really a non event.
But if you don't go all in with your manufacturer. E.g you consider Google an untrustworthy custodian of your photos, or decide you'll stick with the free iCloud account etc. You're in for a world of tiny pains.
Honestly, I would say that even in the latter case the painfulness of the process is a bit overstated. Sure, it's not great. But if you treat it just as a new device and don't expect to just continue from where you've left it on the previous phone, you'll make it under 30 minutes anyway. Half of it is playing with the UI of the new version of the OS and getting annoyed at the fact that the apps are not the same anyway, because on the previous device you refused to update an app after they fucked up it's UI, and now you must to get an old apk which won't even work anyway on the brand new Androip v99 or whatever.