Android vs iOS Mobile Operating Systems – Here are the Main Pros and Cons

In this article we will compare the two most prevalent mobile operating systems, Android and iOS, and discuss some pros and cons of each one.

Android OS for Mobile Devices

Android is a Linux based operating system that’s uniquely designed for touch screen devices like smartphones and tablet computers.

In the last 15 years, the operating system has been developed extensively, starting from its usage to older generation black and white mobile phones to now being used in minicomputers and very powerful smartphones.

Generally speaking, Android is one of the most commonly used mobile OS nowadays.

Android is not only a powerful operating system, but it also supports a wide range of applications in Smartphones, Tablets etc.

In general, these applications are advanced and provide great user experience. Android software is usually supported by hardware based on the ARM architecture platform.

Since Android is regarded as an open-source operating system, its free and anyone may use it or modify it.

The OS has many apps available that could help you manage your life in some way, play games, shop online, manage your banking and financial needs etc.

Since Android is available at a cheap cost, it is very popular and as we will see in the stats section at the end of this article, it has around 74% market share.

When it comes to android development, it supports Java programming language as one of the official development languages. The other official dev language supported is Kotlin.

Apple iOS for Mobile Devices

The term “iOS” implies iPhone Operating System. It is Apple’s proprietary mobile operating system for its handheld devices.

As development languages, iOS supports Objective-C, C++, C, and Swift programming language. It’s also based on the Macintosh OS X. Generally, iPad, iPod, and iPhone all come with iOS.

Pros and Cons of Android OS

Let’s now discuss some advantages and disadvantages of Android OS and Android devices.

Android Pros:

1. Low Price

Compared to iPhones, Android mobiles come at a significantly low price, considering that they provide you with more options.

Many Android mobile manufacturing companies are present within this market, and thus, the customer has more options to settle on a suitable phone for them. So, most people prefer Android phones instead of iPhones.

2. Open-source Software

Since Android OS is considered an open-source software, you can customize Android for your specific purposes (if you are a developer).

In case you’re techy and like to check out something new with mobiles, then Android devices are perfect for you, for performing all your research on mobile phones such as rooting the phone and changing the software, etc.

3. Many Brand Options

Many mobile companies are making their mobile phones by implementing Android as their OS since it has many users and is well-customizable to all. What’s more, each mobile company applies its custom ROMs in this android OS. Usually, this is something good (and bad) for the buyers.

4. Many Mobile Applications

Since it’s open-source software, many app developers and some creative individuals love to make something new, which is useful for society. As a result, there are numerous options in games and mobile apps on Android.

These are the major Android OS pro’s over iOS. Let’s now see some Cons:

Android Cons:

1. Easily hackable by professional hackers. Although android mobile phones have good security, professional hackers could easily hack those android phones as opposed to iPhones.
2. All mobile companies optimize the Android OS to different custom UIs such as Funtouch OS, MIUI, color OS, one UI, oxygen OS, etc. The customization makes it rather challenging for the user to use that Smartphone. What’s more, they allow their ads within those custom UIs.
3. They don’t provide the software updates appropriately, except for the Android One mobiles, which receive the updates fast. Some other companies won’t supply security patch updates monthly; instead, they’ll give this security patch update after every 2-3 months.

Pros and Cons of Apple iOS

Let’s now discuss some advantages and disadvantages of iOS software and devices:

iOS Pros:

1. Excellent Spec’s

Generally speaking, Apple won’t fail you in any aspect; they utilize the best quality materials when it comes to iPhone manufacturing. Besides, they offer the best mobile SoC, best cameras, great build quality, security, and best display.

2. Great Security

iOS is well known for the safety they provide for online purchasers and user privacy. In case you’re in a respectable position such as a politician, CEO, owner of a company, police, army, athlete, actor, or a superstar within the community, the iPhone is ideal for you in security and privacy, especially for your business and personal life. Undoubtedly, hacking iOS is complicated even for professionals.

3. Unified Software Updates

Apple often releases updates for each iPhone simultaneously, regardless of whether it’s a newly launched mobile or an old mobile. They can also provide OS updates and security patch updates for an extended period with Android mobiles. Typically, Apple can provide software updates for at least five years for iPhones.

4. Great Software Experience

In comparison to Android phones, iPhones provide us with the most straightforward software experience. For this reason, once you use iOS, you’ll most likely prefer iOS instead of Android mobiles.

iOS Cons:

Just like with Android OS, we have some drawbacks of using iOS for mobile devices. These include:

1. In iOS, there are expensive apps and lacks widget support.
2. iOS has less apps compared to Android, and it’s kind of closed source software.
3. In recent iPhones, they eliminated the touch ID.
4. The iOS supports iPhone devices only. Lacks flexibility for all mobile phones.
5. The iPhone’s design hasn’t changed much for the past two years.
6. They don’t offer any fast chargers in the box.
7. Lastly, the iPhone’s cost is much higher than other Android phones with similar or better specifications.

Android vs. iOS: More Differences and Comparison

– Customizability

Although Android and iOS have evolved, Android has always been recognized as the ideal platform for users who prefer to tinker and personalize their particular devices. This begins with the home screen launcher. It provides dynamic widgets and allows you to place apps anywhere in a drawer or on a page – something the iPhone is trying to catch up to.

What’s more, Android allows you to download third-party replacements when it comes to core services – such as media players, keyboards, and web browsers – and set them as your default versions in case you like a third-party app instead of one that was preinstalled on your device. In this regard, iOS has improved over the years, but the implementation is a bit clunky.

Lastly, we have to look into manufacturer skins – Android system software and bespoke user interfaces customized by specific phone makers.

This provides additional features and, usually, the ability to make themes for your experience from up to down.

Other Android fans like the “stock” interpretation of Android from Google. However, many users prefer phone makers’ custom software, such as OnePlus’ OxygenOS or Samsung’s One UI, because of their additional capabilities.

These might include the ability to hide videos and photos in password-protected folders and taking scrolling screenshots.

– Performance

If you’ve used both platforms daily for years, you must have realized that you experienced much fewer slow-downs and hiccups using iOS. Performance is one of the many pros iOS has over Android. This seems ridiculous given iPhone internals.

The fact is that we tend to get a bit lost in the specs and usually don’t remember to look at what actually matters.

Furthermore, powerful specs are not the only contributing factor for performance. There’s more to processing power than speed clocks and cores. It has actually been proven that Apple processors are significantly better than processors used in Android devices.

Regardless if Apple processors are much better or not, what really matters is, iOS is well-optimized to function perfectly with specific devices Apple makes.

Android is, on the other hand, dropped into a sea of tablets, smartphones, and other products. OEMs primarily help in optimizing the software for the hardware, and, at times, they do a poor job.

Since Apple has a closed ecosystem, it allows a tighter integration. For this reason, iPhones don’t require powerful specs to compete with high-end Android phones.

Generally speaking, it is all in the optimization between software and hardware. Apple controls the production process from the beginning to the end; therefore, they can ensure that resources are used efficiently and adequately.

With that said, it doesn’t mean that all iOS devices will outperform every Android device. Since there are lot of options in the Android universe, specific phones are made with powerful internals and excellent performance. However, iOS devices are smoother and faster than most Android devices at comparable price ranges.

– Development Complexity

For iOS, app development is less complicated than Android, primarily because Apple comprises fewer devices – iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

Fragmentation is one of the major problems with Android app development since there is a wide variety of devices, tablets, and smartphones, besides differences in operating systems, aspect ratios, and screen sizes.

– App Ecosystem

It was known that apps would be introduced to iOS first, and would then make their way to Android. That remains the case with a few major providers such as Adobe, which has introduced the Photoshop tablet version.

However, other major apps have begun appearing in Android first. For example, recently, the Facebook Gaming app appeared first on Google’s mobile platform.

Android has another distinguishing factor from iOS in that it allows you to install software from other non-Google app stores.

You can even side-load them, which bypasses the store altogether. Another convenience you won’t get from Apple’s store is that it won’t allow you to remotely install applications onto your phone through the web.

For instance, you might come across an application in a blog that you’re reading on your laptop. So, if it’s Android, you could visit the Play store’s website and then install it immediately. However, with iOS, you have to go to the device itself to access the app installed. Android wins by a nose.

– Security & Privacy

When it comes to security, both iOS and Android have good records and safeguards. But, since Android is more open, it has more vectors for some malware to enter your device.

In particular, applications are more vulnerable to cause trouble in Android, specifically if you install from some alternative app store.

In recent Android versions, privacy has been the principal focus – with many new protections when it comes to third-party app abuses.

However, since Google’s whole business model deals with gathering info about every user, it’s difficult for the search ad company to even compete with Apple. Apple’s profit model doesn’t entail profiling or surveillance.

So Which Is Better?

Although there’s no definitive answer as to what particular model is ideal for you, you could use the pros and cons list above to help you in your decision.

In case you’re already familiar with the Apple brand and ready to incur extra cost for an easier and smoother mobile experience, iOS systems (iPhone) may be the right choice for you.

If you have more experience with smartphones and want one that enables you to customize your interface at an affordable cost, then Android models like Samsung Galaxy may be your best bet.

Stats about Android and iOS Software and Devices

• On average, Android app development is 30-40 percent slower than iOS. (Source: https://www.techaheadcorp.com/blog/android-vs-ios/)
• In the United States, iPhones market share accounted for 39% of all smartphones sold in the third quarter of 2019, which is the largest share of any manufacturer. (Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/face-off/iphone-vs-android)
• After some changes introduced since iOS 8, thieves are more likely to think twice about stealing an iPhone which is unusable without that same passcode. (Source: https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/feature/google-android/android-vs-iphone-which-is-best-3625657/)
• Worldwide market share: About 75 percent of people use Android and only 19 percent use iOS. (Source: https://rubygarage.org/blog/ios-vs-android-development)
• It’s also a fact that the average iOS app makes 45 percent more profit per customer than the average Android app. (Source: https://rubygarage.org/blog/ios-vs-android-development)
• 12% of Android people are more likely to have an introvert type of personality (Source: https://lanars.com/blog/android-vs-ios-which-platform-to-build-your-app-for-first)