When I hear people debating iOS vs Android it usually ends in a muddled agreement that they are of equal excellence, but it’s time to distinguish them and decide which is the best mobile operating system.
The tight integration that iOS has with the iTunes Store is incredible. It is so easy to discover and download the best music, apps and games that you can be using in seconds. What’s so appealing about this is that downloading music or apps is so simple and it is this simplicity that seems to drive Apple’s success. Let’s take iCloud for example, it is designed to seamlessly synchronise all of your apps, data and media under one roof so it is available across all of your Apple devices. It’s a great feature to iOS and an exciting thought that when you take a picture on your iPhone it will almost instantaneously be synced to your home computer and iPad. The fact that iOS operates in a closed eco-system or ‘walled garden’ makes it extremely slick and easy to use because apps are run individually through ‘sand boxing’ in order to prevent bugs.
iOS has the most advanced personal assistant called Siri, which has changed the way that users interact with their phones . However, if you have to hold a button to activate Siri, it does make me question the need for a voice activation service. Perhaps Apple needs to rethink the simplicity of this feature.
Android obviously has a wider range of devices backing it but let’s continue to focus on the software. Many of the apps available in Google Play are free as opposed to iOS, which has a much greater percentage of paid apps. However, these apps may hold severe malware risks – this was seen last year when over 14000 UK customers downloaded fake Angry Birds, Assasins Creed and Cut The Rope games. Android’s open eco system allows the use of widgets that can really utilise Google’s services such as Google Docs Bar and Google Reader Ticker.
In terms of phone control, Android’s ‘air gestures’ are paving the way for the future and alternate keyboards, live wallpapers and custom icons are just a few of many customisations at your dispense.
Of course, the iOS vs Android debate will depend on your intentions of use, but for me Apple comes out on top. It’s security against malware, integration with the app store and easy to use interface makes it so simple to use.
Loving it is easy. That’s why so many people do.
