Deciding between an iPhone and an Android device is tough. On the surface, it may look all the same but when you dig deeper, there are subtle nuances that make them different. In this article, I will talk about the differences between an Android and an iPhone.
- Operation System (OS) Compatibility
When you are opting for a Smartphone, it is usually because of its multiple features for personal and professional uses. Naturally, you would want to remain on top of operating system updates.
iPhone is better in this as Android developers, Google, usually take a lot more time to upgrade its older devices to latest operating systems. Sometimes the older android smartphones are not updated at all. For instance, the latest iPhone OS, iOS 6, is also available in iPhone 4 but only 2.9% of android devices are using the android 4.0 OS Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).
- Hardware Systems
There is the issue of control here. iPhone is developed by Apple and Apple controls the hardware completely. Apple iOS is only available on their devices. On the other hand, Google does not maintain complete control over its OS. The Android software is available to various phone device makers like Motorola, HTC, LG, Samsung and others. The mobile developers optimize on the android OS and thus you see android based Smartphones coming in various quality, weight, features and user experience.This is not to say that iPhone has no faults. It has its own antenna problems whereas android devices heat up real fast.
- Game Developers
Firstly, the mobile gaming environment is huge. If the last decade was dominated by Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS, this and coming decades will be dominated by iPhone and Android games.
Technology and gaming critics believe that Apple has a higher chance of winning the title of leading mobile game platforms because game developers prefer Apple. The reason is money. Game developers want to earn money and they can do it by listing on Apple app stores rather than on Android app store because most of the apps here are free. Down the line, the game developers have a higher chance to lose.
Therefore, game developers first prepare the iPhone version and then the android version. It is also true that some developers have stopped developing for android model because of the “free app availability” system.
- iPhone App Store vs. Google Play
Both the iPhone and Android app stores have hundreds and thousands of apps for various purposes. Some are paid, some
are free but the main problem is in the support system which makes iPhone a clear winner in this context.
As mentioned before, Apple controls their operating system fully and it is available on iPhone devices autonomously. Therefore, they are in a better position to support multiple queries, upgrade applications and make them available to all iPhone users all at once. There are no confusions.
On the other hand, Google Play offer free apps but it increases operation costs for the app developers to support users. This is making app developers’ stay away from android and move towards iPhone. For instance, when Temple Run developers initiated the app in Google Play, they were barraged with support requests. The interesting thing is they were already supporting more than 700 Android devices but with more android devices coming into the market with their specific optimization patterns, it is really tough to support every android phone.
- Internet Connectivity
For now, Android is the only OS supporting 4G LTE connectivity. Android smartphones have high speed internet connectivity and it succeeding 3G connectivity by leaps and bounds. Even if you have old android devices, they are compatible with 4G.
- Battery Power
Earlier iPhone models had less battery life. They had to be charged almost every day but latest iPhone devices have improved a lot on this score.However, you cannot talk about the battery life of android phones in generic terms. Every android phone has its own batter life expectation. Android phones using 4G LTE networking or having 4 inch screen consume more battery. They have to charge daily. Further, some android apps run at the background without the user being aware and it surely eats up more battery. Nonetheless, there are some android devices that have higher battery power.
Conclusion
Both Android and iPhone are high end operating systems. Your choice will depend on your preferences as briefly discussed above.Some other features like screen size, user optimization, use of flash and camera quality needs to be judged before deciding.In terms of cost, Android devices are comparatively more affordable than iPhone.
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