Two global leading Operating system – Android and iOS, who will be winning the 2019 race? To predict the winner is tough as they both have cemented their reputation to the world. Some say Android is best and some say iOS is best. But I say both are best in their own areas.
There is a bit of similarity in both which can be considered to predict who is the winner. So, Let’s see the similarity to have some idea about the winner. Which platform is the best? The race of Android vs iOS.
Affordability
iPhone has always been at the high edge of the price to afford. Releasing new iPhone makes the old version cheaper. iPhone X has been in the market for $900 and iPhone XS at $1000. If you need a more affordable one, then you can go with iPhone XR or iPhone 8 and the below models.
Talking about Android, it has beaten the race of affordability launching the Samsung galaxy note 9 at $1000. But with the various affordable choices available from different manufacturers made the race more complicated given the choice of a different affordable smartphone to buyers.
Winner: Android
APPS
Let’s take a look at the rough estimation of a number of apps on both the platform.
Number of apps in Appstore: 2 Million (according to 2018 statistics)
Number of apps in Play Store: 2.1 Million (according to 2018 statistics)
Honestly, these numbers don’t matter because we use only a handful of apps and almost all are available on both the platforms. Traditionally, iOS has been the most cost-effective platform for the developers and there is a likelihood to appear the apps first but this trend is changing as the Android market continues to grow.
The play store has the nearest reach to the destination having free apps but the best mobile apps still land on the iOS platform – App Store. Here we can say the iOS has a narrow win because of the qualitative apps.
Winner: iOS
App Store
Both platforms have somewhat similar features in the App store. It is difficult to add the millions of app in the store and none of them does it perfectly. After all, it has a large space and millions of apps. The search optimization and fingerprint or touch id to buy apps have gained fame but this can be built in Android to via fingerprint sensor. There are many apps which are to be questionable on both the platforms but Apple is generally stricter about certain types of apps in the store. It rejects it if it has any features which violets the policy. Therefore this helps them to maintain the quality and quantity both.
Play store has the winning point as it has a refund policy. So, what do you think who is the winner Android vs iOS? iOS win for its quality and accurate content.
Winner: iOS
MAPS
As the newer navigation system, Android and iOS both have a similar mapping system having similar features. Both have the features like, saving maps offline, showing you turn by turn direction to your destination, updating on the estimated time to pass through the traffic area. Apple on the navigation system didn’t kick start its navigation app but still, it is improving on the basis of the features.
No doubt the Androids Maps cannot be surpassed. The one thing the Android Maps have and Apple Maps doesn’t is cycling direction. Because of the scale and quality of Google Maps, it has more points to win and generally it has more details then Apple’s Maps. Obviously, accuracy varies from place to place. Though you can install the Google play to your iPhone it works best in Android Device because it is the default navigation app.
Winner: Android
Updates
Apple’s iOS provides timely updates and security patches. To have this experience on your Android then you have to buy one of the Google Pixel series models. This is how the iOS version share breaks down:
- iOS 12: 78%
- iOS 11: 17%
- Earlier: 5%
Almost all the iOS devices are running on the latest version but very few percents of the Android devices are running on the Android Pie 9.0 – the latest version. This is how the Android version share breaks down:
- Android 8.1 Oreo: 7.5%
- Android 8.0 Oreo: 14%
- Android 7.1 Nougat: 10.1%
- Android 7.0 Nougat: 18.1%
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow: 21.3%
- Android 5.1 Lollipop: 14.4%
- Android 5.0 Lollipop: 3.5%
- Android 4.4 KitKat: 7.6%
- Older: 3.5%
If you want to have access to the latest version update experience then I would suggest you go with iOS.
Winner: iOS
Customizability
Android has always been at the best edge to have a different type of customizability. You can set your customized home screen, add widgets and it even allows you to change the entire theme using the third party launchers. It gives you freedom of experiencing the uniqueness of your smartphone.
iPhone allows you to set up the background but has limitations for widgets. The freedom compared in Android vs iOS is extraordinarily in Android than in iOS. So, if you like dabbling over or you want a truly unique and personalized look to your home screen then Android is the platform you need.
Winner: Android
Voice Assistance
Talking about voice assistance, the first thing we have in mind is Apple’s Siri, the most famous Voice Assistance. You can do many things like setting the calendar, searching the web and making the call. But Siri is kinda straight forward voice assistance which can perform the straight forward commands. Google’s assistance is a layer more to the technology. It can offer you a useful suggestion, it has a more conversational side that helps you with entertaining games and contextual information.
It’s smarter and more versatile then Siri. Siri is improving herself by offering suggestions and versatile information.
Winner: Android
Rooting, Boot-loader, and Jail breaker
Rooting is the best way when you want the root access and complete control over your devices. Rooting gives you benefits with more access to apps, early updates, new software skin, and potential tweaks to improve your devices battery life and many more.
Many Android OEMs also provides the key ways to unlock the boot-loader, which directs the device to load up to the OS. In case of iOS, the option is to jailbreak which lets you download and install from the third-party apps with some other limitations.
Winner: Android
Conclusion
It’s very difficult to compare Android and iOS. It’s not the question of whether Android vs iOS. Its the question of who is the best where every person or user has its own usage and perspectives to use the device. The users can have different priority features which can help them to help them choose.
There are many other features which can be included in the above list. But overall, both are excellent with their features to use. Because nobody can be perfect. To use one, it comes with the consequences. So remember to first before choosing the platform.