Every time we discuss emerging technologies, the debate revolves around Android vs. iOS. Consumers are constantly faced with the dilemma of choosing between Android and iOS.

We all know that the two Tech Giants have been engaged in competition for the past 15 years or so. The rivalry between the two Tech Giants is akin to a rivalry between siblings vying for the last laugh.

Falling out over, beating the gods out of each other, and complaining to parents when the other took something that wasn’t theirs. Even though these siblings had hated each other since the day they’re born, they still managed to help each other succeed to the greatest heights the world has ever seen.

The siblings in question are Apple iOS and Google Android, ladies and gentlemen. The debate over Android vs. iOS will continue indefinitely. Which one is better?

These two companies persistently innovated until they achieved a competitive edge. Remember their cousin Blackberry or their strong, muscular uncle Nokia? Where are they now?

Even the world’s most dominant tech giant, Microsoft, couldn’t compete with with these bad boys. We have done thorough research on what Apple iOS and Android have to offer.

Dig in for comparison across various aspects, including hardware capabilities, software features, user interfaces, app ecosystems, and overall user experience.

Interface

There are quite a few similarities in both iOS and Android interfaces, such as swiping, tapping, and pinch-and-zoom. Both systems have a home screen quite parallel to a computer desktop.

The iOS home screen features rows of app icons, while Android allows users to customise their interface with widgets that display auto-updating information like weather, email, and reminders.

The iOS features a small dock where users can pin their most frequently used apps.

At the top of the screen there is a status bar that indicates battery, Wi-Fi, or cellular network signal. However, Android deserves recognition for displaying multiple notification status bars at the top of the screen. This applies to various types of notifications, such as emails, messages, reminders, missed calls, Instagram pending DMs, and more.

 User experience

While the look and feel may differ, there are many apps, such as TikTok, YouTube, and WhatsApp, that will look familiar when you switch from Android to iOS or vice versa.

Where Android typically has a persistent back button for navigation, iOS has a Go-Back-To-Home swipe button at the bottom, which irritates certain users because the Back-Page button is usually at the top left corner of the many apps, which a few lazy users find difficult to reach with their fingers.

  Exclusive features Android vs iOS

3.1: Features exclusive to iOS include:

• iMessage, an iOS-exclusive messenger, is without a doubt the most popular app on iOS. iMessage supports both SMS messages (when the other party is on a non-iOS) as well as Apple-supported chat (when all participants use iMessage). Its integration with Apple Pay makes sending and receiving money via iMessage extremely easy.
• AirDrop: AirDrop uses Bluetooth to share files, pictures, videos, and links from the iPhone to any Apple device. It is simple to use, just a few clicks.
• Sharing WiFi passwords between two iOS devices can be a challenging task. Simply hold them close together, and a pop-up will appear asking if you’d like to share your password.
• App offloading: iOS automatically identifies apps that you do not use and removes them from the device. When you want to use them, iOS retains the data from the apps and reinstalls them. I find this feature to be quite intriguing.
• Easy-Peasy setup of new devices: Apple makes it very easy to switch from an old iPhone to a new iPhone. Importing apps, data, passwords, and settings is a simple process when setting up a new iPhone. Connecting an Apple Watch or AirPods is as simple as pealing an orange.

3.2 Features exclusive to Android include:

• Home screen customisation: Android offers a lot of flexibility for adding widgets and customising the layout of the home screen. It also supports other apps taking over the management of the home screen. We do not personally recommend other apps unless you are confident in the credibility of the source.
• File management: Android allows users to select their preferred file manager, and it also grants access to the device’s file system. When connecting an Android device to a computer, the phone’s file system becomes accessible as a standard drive, facilitating simple drag-and-drop file transfers between the phone and the PC.
• Expandable Storage: Most Android phones come with expandable storage. While the phone may only have 32 or 64GB of storage in most devices, you can add a microSD card to expand it by up to 1TB more.
• Multiple Users and Guest Accounts: While iOS is a single-user operating system, Android has added support for multiple users and even a guest account. This is especially useful for sharing your phone with kids or with a friend who may need it temporarily.
• Split screen: iOS only supports split screen for iPads. Android supports this feature for phones as well.

   Software upgrades

Apple users certainly have a bigger advantage when it comes to software updates. iOS upgrades are generally available to all iOS devices.

Apple made iOS 14 available for iPhone models as old as the iPhone 6S, which launched in September 2015. Similarly, the latest iOS 17 is compatible with the iPhone X and all models released after it.

Apple cites hardware capability as the reason some older devices may not receive all new features in an upgrade.

Although Google does update Android frequently, some users may find that they do not receive the updates on their phone or even purchase phones with out-of-date software.

Phone manufacturers decide whether and when to offer software upgrades. The latest Android version may not be available for all their phones and tablets. Usually, they offer upgrades several months after the release of the new Android version.

Speed

With the A-series chips that Apple designs in-house, the company has a roughly two-year lead over the best Android phones, which typically run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series chips.

The iPhone 13 easily beats both the Samsung Galaxy 21 and Google’s Pixel 7 in Geekbench 5 and 3D Mark’s Wild-Life stress tests.

Read more: APPLE VISION PRO: THE FIRST EVER APPLE VR HEADSET

 Apps Available on iOS vs Android

Android gets apps from Google Play, which currently has over 3 million apps available, most of which will run on tablets.

The Apple app store currently offers nearly 2 million apps, about 30% of which are available for the iPad. Most developers prefer to develop games for iOS before they develop for Android. A list of iOS-only games is maintained here on Wikipedia.

In a comparison between Google and Apple’s app stores, it’s evident that the majority of popular apps are accessible on both platforms.

However, when it comes to tablets, there’s a notable difference—the iPad has a greater number of apps tailored specifically for its platform, while Android tablet apps often appear as enlarged versions of their smartphone counterparts.

Start-up developers frequently concentrate on a single platform, typically iOS, during the initial launch of their smartphone app due to resource constraints. A case in point is Instagram, which initially debuted on iOS with the Android version following at a later stage.

Read more: VR and AR technology. Explore Apps

Calls and Messaging

 Call Features

Android permits users to choose from a variety of pre-written texts for automatic replies when declining a call.

On the other hand, iOS’s phone app offers several features, such as the option to respond to a call with a pre-defined text message instead of answering or to schedule a callback reminder.

 Messaging

Before its discontinuation in 2017 and the introduction of Google Hangout as an instant messaging service, Android users could log onto GTalk for instant messages.

Android supports the use of various phone companies’ own messenger services.

iOS does not offer a native way to chat to non-Apple users. Unless the other party uses iMessage in Messages, SMS is as convenient as any other app.

 Video Chat

Users can use Google Meet on Android for video chat, which supports both 3G and WiFi. iOS uses Facetime, which can place video calls over both 3G and WiFi.

However, it only allows users to communicate with other Apple devices.

 Voice Commands on Android vs iOS

iOS uses Siri, a voice-based virtual assistant, to understand and respond to both dictation as well as spoken commands. Siri includes many features, such as reading sports scores and standings, making reservations at restaurants, and finding movie times at the local theatre.

You can also dictate texts and emails, schedule calendar events, and interface with car audio and navigation.

Android offers a similar assistant, Google Now, which features the above abilities plus can keep track of your calendar and give verbal reminders when it is time to leave. It allows for voice search and dictation.

 Web Browsing

Android uses Google Chrome as its web browser, while iOS uses Safari. Both Internet browsers are similar in quality and abilities, and Google Chrome is also available for iOS. Safari is not available for Android.

 Maps

Applications like Google Maps, Waze, and Bing are accessible on both iOS and Android platforms. When Google introduced its maps app for iOS in December 2012, the iOS version outpaced its Android counterpart in terms of features, design, and user-friendliness.

We anticipated that the Android version would not lag behind. When Apple launched its native mapping app with iOS 6, it received widespread criticism.

 Mobile payments

Android uses Google Wallet, an app that allows for mobile payments. Some Android phones come with an NFC chip, which enables wireless payments with just a tap at the checkout counter.

This service integrates with Google Wallet but is not available on all Android phones or wireless carriers. Devices with an NFC chip, running a version of Android newer than 4.4 KitKat, can support mobile payments.

Apple Pay is the name of the iOS mobile payment system. Launched over a year after tap-to-pay features on some Android phones, Apple Pay’s integration with fingerprint identification arguably enhances its usability. Usage of Apple Pay has certainly been significantly higher.

In fact, Apple Pay has kindled interest in mobile payments and prompted Android users to discover the feature on their phones, leading to an increase in use of Google Wallet over NFC. iOS offers Passbook, an app that collects in one place tickets, reward cards, and credit/debit cards.

 Security

Android applications operate in isolation from the system’s resources, requiring explicit user permission for access to additional features.

While this approach enhances system security by minimising vulnerability to bugs, it also leads to a common issue—developer confusion results in many apps requesting unnecessary permissions.

The predominant form of malware on Android involves unauthorised sending of text messages to premium-rate numbers and the transmission of personal information to third parties without the user’s awareness.

Due to its widespread use as a smartphone operating system. Android is more susceptible to being targeted in cyberattacks.

Malware in each?

Malware writers are less likely to write apps for iOS. This is largely because Apple reviews all apps and verifies the identity of app publishers.

However, installing apps from outside Apple’s store on a jailbroken iOS device makes it susceptible to malware and attacks.

Both iOS and Android are susceptible to bugs, such as phones crashing while playing a specific video. Both iOS and Android devices have been impacted by a specific type of software bug.

An Android or iOS device’s security in the real world depends on the software updates applied to it. This is where iOS shines because of the fragmented nature of the Android ecosystem.

Apple releases software updates and makes them available to all iOS devices at the same time. On Android, Google releases software updates and security patches to Nexus devices.

Devices from other manufacturers lag behind because these security updates from Google must be applied to their own devices “in the wild.”

Virtually all manufacturers do a poor job at this. Most don’t release patches to devices older than 12–18 months. Even when they do, Nexus devices receive these security updates months later.

 Privacy

Both iOS and Android are “vulnerable” to a certain kind of privacy leak: an app installed on either platform can get a list of all other apps installed on the same device.

This means your calculator app can find out that you use Tinder and relay that information back to its publisher, who is then free to use this info in whatever way they choose.

In November 2014, Twitter announced that it is now tracking the list of apps its users have installed on their phones.

Twitter is far from being the only company doing this.

Which One? Android vs iOS

 Device Selection

A wide variety of Android devices are available at many different price points, sizes, and hardware capabilities.

Among other things, Apple has significantly established a high-quality status brand that is recognised across all continents.

iOS is only available on Apple devices: the iPhone as a phone, the iPad as a tablet, and the iPod Touch as an MP3 player (discontinued in 2022 after the iPod Touch 7^th generation). These tend to be more expensive than equivalent hardware using Android.

To summarise the key pros and cons of Android and iOS:

There are pros and cons associated with iOS. Android vs iOS

• Massive app ecosystem: distinct advantage for tablet apps while on smartphones, popular apps are usually available for both platforms
• Deeper integration with Facebook and Twitter: it is easier to post updates and share on social networks using iOS than Android because of how deeply integrated these platforms are with iOS.
• Interface is locked down: The home screens have limited customisation options, allowing only rows of app icons. The wireless carrier does not pre-install any third-party apps. Users can only install apps from the App Store
• Software upgrades: Apple offers software upgrades to all devices that have the hardware capable of handling the new software. This means devices stay current with software features for at least two to three years.
• Better privacy controls: iOS offers better control over the access apps have to users’ private information, such as contacts and location.

Pros and cons: Android vs iOS

• Massive hardware selection: A large number of Android devices are available at various price points, with varying hardware capabilities, screen sizes, and features.
• Highly customisable user experience: The home screen can be customised with not just app icons but widgets that allow the user to stay connected or informed. Other examples include SwiftKey, which modifies your Android smartphone’s keyboard, and apps that emulate older gaming consoles. Google has fewer restrictions than Apple on what kinds of apps it allows in its Play Store. Moreover, you can choose to install Android apps from places other than the Google Play store.

Several prominent people have shifted from iPhone to Android. Android’s connection to the Google ecosystem of services is strong and arguably more useful compared with Apple’s cloud services suite.

Comparison Chart: Android vs iOS

Which platform do you believe has the advantage in the Android vs. iOS battle? Let us know.