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It is important to choose the right smartphone or tablet system. If you want to switch from iOS to Android, or vice versa, you will need to purchase apps again in either the Apple App Store or Google Play. Android is the most popular smartphone platform in the world and is used by many phone manufacturers. iOS can only be used on Apple devices such as the iPhone app development company.
Contents: Android vs iOS
Interface
IOS and Android use touch interfaces that share many similarities - pinch-and-zoom, tapping, swipe and tap. Both operating systems boot from a home screen, similar to a desktop computer. Android supports widgets. While the iOS home screen displays rows of app icons, Android can display widgets that automatically update information like weather and email. A dock is where users can pin their most used apps to the iOS user interface.
On both Android and iOS, a status bar runs across the top. It displays information like the time, WiFi signal strength, battery life, and battery level. On Android, the status bar shows the number and type of new messages, emails, and reminders that have been received.
Here's a comparison of some features on iOS 14 and Android 11. Android 11 highlights include:
- Priority conversations
- Unified Device Controls and Payments
- One-time permissions.
- Native screen recording
- Controlled media.
- Support for foldable devices is enhanced.
iOS 14 Highlights:
- Custom Widget Stacks
- Picture in Picture
- For small calls, you can use a compact phone.
- Apps that default to Third-Party
- Apps search.
- Emoji Search
- Exposure Lock
- QuickTake Video
- Pinned chats are in Messages.
Many different manufacturers make android phones. They often offer some customization to the standard Android experience. e.g. HTC Sense or Samsung TouchWiz. Depending on your carrier, you may find pre-installed apps bundled with your Android phone development team.
User Experience
This article will explain how iOS and Android app design patterns are different. Android has a permanent back button that allows for navigation. Although the interface is different, many apps, such as TikTok and YouTube, will be familiar when you switch between Android and iOS.
Exclusive Features
iOS features are exclusive to it:
- iMessage: The most well-known iOS app, iMessage can handle SMS messages (when another party is using a non-Apple platform) and Apple-supported chat (when all parties use iMessage). It integrates with Apple Pay, making sending and receiving money via iMessage easy.
- AirDrop: AirDrop is a Bluetooth-based file-sharing service that allows you to transfer files, photos, videos, and other information from your iPhone to any Apple device. It's very simple to use.
- It's easy to share WiFi passwords between iOS devices. Hold the two devices together, and a popup will ask if you want to share your password.
- App offloading is a feature that iOS uses to automatically identify apps you don't use and remove them from your device. The apps' data is saved and can be reinstalled if you wish to.
- Easy setup of new devices: Apple makes switching from an older iPhone to a new iPhone very simple. Importing apps, data, and settings to a new iPhone is easy.
Exclusive Features for Android:
- Android allows you to customize the home screen by adding widgets or customizing its layout. Other apps can also be used to manage the home screen.
- Android provides file management. Users can choose a file manager and access the entire file system. Connecting an Android phone to a computer exposes its file system as a drive. This allows drag-and-drop access to move files between the phone and the computer.
- Expandable Storage: Many Android phones have expandable storage. Although the storage on your phone might be 32GB or 64GB, you can expand that amount by adding a microSD card.
- Multiple users and guest accounts: Although iOS is designed for one user, Android supports multiple users and can even create a guest account. This feature is particularly useful when sharing your phone with children or friends who might need it temporarily.
- Split screen: iOS does not support split screens on iPads. This feature is also available on Android phones.
Software Upgrades
This is an area in which iOS users have a huge advantage. All iOS devices can receive iOS updates. iOS 14 was made available to all iPhone models, including those released before Sep 2015. Apple points out that older models may only get some new features when they upgrade to iOS 14.
Google updates Android often, but some users might need the updates or purchase devices with outdated software. Phone manufacturers offer software upgrades. They won't offer an upgrade to the most recent version of Android for all phones or tablets in their product range. It is often several months after the new version has been released that an upgrade is available.
Speed
Apple's A-series chips are designed in-house and have a two-year advantage over top Android phones that typically use Qualcomm's Snapdragon series chips. In Geekbench 5 stress tests, the iPhone 12 beat Google's Pixel 5 and Samsung Galaxy 20 by a wide margin.
iOS Apps vs Android
Android apps are available from Google Play. The app store currently contains over 1,000,000 apps. Most of these apps will work on tablets. Some Android devices, like the Kindle Fire, use different app stores with a limited selection of apps. Many original iOS apps, such as Instagram and Pinterest, are now available on Android. Google's open app store also means that other exclusive apps, like BitTorrent and Adobe Flash Player, are available. Android offers access to Google apps such as Youtube or Google Docs.
Apple has over 1,000,000 apps in its app store, with about 30% available for iPad. Developers prefer to create games for iOS over Android. Wikipedia maintains a list of iOS-only apps.
When comparing Apple and Google's app stores, the bottom line is that both platforms have the most popular apps. For tablets, however, many apps are specifically designed for iPads. Android tablet apps are often scaled-up versions of Android smartphone applications. Startups often concentrate on iOS when they launch their first smartphone app. This is because they need more resources to support multiple platforms. Instagram launched its Android app with iOS first, while the Android app was developed later.
A second consideration is the ability to run Android apps on Windows computers. Android apps downloaded from Amazon's app shop are compatible with Windows. Android has an advantage in some cases for paid apps you wish to run on your tablet and your PC.
Stability of Apps & the Operating System
Crittercism Mobile Experience Report, March 2014, ranked Android KitKat higher than iOS 7.1. The report also contains other findings:
- Android 2.3 Gingerbread has a 1.7% total crash rate. Other Android versions -- Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean -- have a 0.7% crash rate.
- The crash rate for iOS 7.1 is 1.6%, while iOS 5's rates are 2.1% and 2.5%, respectively.
- Both Android and iOS phone versions are more stable than those on tablets.
- App crash rates vary depending on the category. Games have the highest crash rate (4.4%), while e-commerce apps have a 0.4% crash rate.
Selecting the Right Device
Many Android devices are available in various sizes, prices and hardware capabilities. iOS is available only on Apple devices. These are more expensive than similar hardware made with Android.
Call Features
Android lets you send an auto replies text you have written to the recipient when you decline a call. The iOS phone app offers many capabilities, including the ability to reply to a phone call with a canned message rather than answering or setting a reminder to call back. You can also set a reminder or disable the Do Not Disturb feature.
Messaging
Android users can log on to GTalk to send instant messages. iOS doesn't offer an option to chat with non-Apple users. You can chat with non-Apple users via iMessage or use apps from Google and Microsoft to communicate with Apple users.
Video Chat
Google Hangouts for Android can be used for video chat. Users can chat over 3G or WiFi. Facetime is an app that can make video calls over 3G or WiFi. It does not allow users to communicate with other Apple products.
Voice Commands on Android vs iOS
Siri is a voice-based virtual assistant that iOS uses to understand and respond to both spoken commands as well as dictation. Siri has many functions, including the ability to read sports scores and standings and make reservations at restaurants or find movie times at your local theater. You can also dictate text and email, set up calendar events and interface with navigation and car audio. Google Now is a similar assistant for Android. It can track your calendar and send verbal reminders when it's time to go. It supports voice search and dictation.
Maps
IOS and Android users can access apps such as Google Maps, Waze, and Bing. The iOS version of Google's maps app was released in December 2012. It had more features, design, and ease of use than the Android version. The Android version will likely be caught up. Apple's mapping app is included with every iOS device. It was widely criticized when it was released with iOS 6.
Web Browsing
Android uses Google Chrome as its web browser, while iOS uses Safari. Both Internet browsers have similar capabilities and quality, and Google Chrome is available for iOS. Safari is not available on Android.
Integration with Facebook
Android integrates with Facebook. Users can update their statuses, upload photos, and pull contact information from their Facebook friends. iOS also integrates with Facebook. Users can update their status, upload images, sync contacts with Facebook and have their Facebook events added to their iOS Calendar. Because of the way it is integrated into core iOS apps, iOS offers a deeper integration with Facebook/Twitter.
Mobile Payments
Android has Google Wallet, which allows mobile payments. NFC chips (near-field communication) are available on some Android phones. These chips allow for wireless payments by simply tapping the phone at the check-out counter. Although this service is available on most Android phones and wireless carriers, it does not work with Google Wallet. Mobile payments can be made on Android phones with an NFC chip, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 smartphones. However, they must run Android 4.4 KitKat.
Apple Pay is the iOS mobile payment system. Apple Pay launched more than a year ago after tap-to-pay features were available on some Android phones. However, fingerprint identification makes Apple Pay much easier to use. Apple Pay usage is certainly higher. Apple Pay has sparked interest in mobile payments. This has prompted Android users to discover the feature on their smartphones, which in turn led to an increase in Google Wallet's use over NFC. iOS has Passbook, an app that collects tickets, reward cards and credit/debit card information in one place.
Security
Android apps are isolated from all other resources unless the user grants access to specific features. Although this makes the system less susceptible to bugs, developers often ask for permissions that are not necessary. One of the most common malware on Android is where text messages are sent to premium rates numbers without the knowledge or consent of the user. This also allows the sending of personal data to unauthorized third parties. It is more likely to be attacked because it is the most popular smartphone operating system.
Apple reviews all apps and verifies the identities of app publishers to ensure that malware writers are less likely than iOS developers to create apps. An iOS device jailbroken or downloaded apps from an outside Apple store can be vulnerable to malware and attacks. Both iOS and Android can be affected by bugs, e.g. Phones crashing while playing a particular video is one example of a software bug that can affect both iOS and Android.
The software updates applied to an Android or iOS device are what make it secure in the real world. Because of the fragmented nature and functionality of the Android ecosystem, iOS shines. Apple releases software updates that are available simultaneously to all iOS devices. Google provides software updates and security patches for Nexus devices via Android.
Devices made by other manufacturers are often behind, as they must apply these security updates to their devices "in the wild". This is a common problem for almost all manufacturers. Many manufacturers only provide patches for devices older than 12-18 months. These security updates are not released to Nexus devices older than 12-18 months.
This bounty program also shows that Android devices are less secure. A company that acquires security exploits from hackers to sell them to governments receives a bounty of 0-day exploits for iOS ($1.5m), Android ($200,000), and Flash ($80,000). These bounties provide a rough indication of how easy it is to exploit these platforms. Security-conscious individuals and companies should choose between iOS and Nexus devices.
Privacy
Both Android and iOS are vulnerable to privacy leaks. An app on one platform can access the list of all apps on another device. Your calculator app could discover that Tinder is installed on your device and send that information to its publisher. They are free to use the data in any way they wish. Twitter announced in November 2014 that it now tracks the apps installed on its users' phones. This is something that Twitter does with others.
Pandora's Android App requires permission. Without accepting these permissions, an Android user can't use Pandora's Android app. iOS is the best app when it comes to protecting users' private information. Before Android Marshmallow was launched in 2015, users were presented with all permissions required by the app when they installed apps on Android. This was a one-size-fits-all approach.
You have the option to either accept or decline permissions from the app. App developers use this "feature" to request lots of user information. Pandora's Android mobile app developers ask permission to access your Google identity, contacts, calendar, media files, files, and call information.
Pandora's iOS app does not require such permissions. An iOS app can request additional permissions, such as access to Contacts and location. The user can reject these permission requests. iOS users can view the Contacts of their location data and quickly turn off apps that have access to this data.
Android M (or Marshmallow), introduced a new permissions system that allowed apps to request permissions according to their needs. Most Android apps still request permissions upfront. Although it is possible to control permissions on Android at an even more detailed level, this option is hidden deep within the settings.
Android vs iOS: Publishing and Building Apps
Android apps can be programmed in C++, C++ or Java. It's an open platform; anyone can download the Android SDK and source code for free. Anybody can create and distribute Android applications for free. Users are also free to download apps from any other Google Play Store. Developers who wish to publish their apps on the Google Play Store (paid or free) will need to pay a $25 fee. Google reviews all apps published on Google Play. Android SDK is available on all platforms: Mac, PC, and Linux.
Objective-C is used to program iOS apps. Developers pay $99 per year to access the iOS SDK, and to publish apps in Apple's App Store. Only the Mac platform has the iOS SDK. PhoneGap and Titanium Appcelerator offer the ability to create one line of code in Javascript or HTML and then convert it into native code for Android and iOS.
UI Design for Android vs iOS 7
How Android and iOS approach design and what that means for app developers Take this example:
- Buttons - Android buttons are often monochromatic, with a tendency to use iconography whenever possible. The iOS 7 standard button has plain monochromatic text without any background or borders. Button borders in iOS 7 are usually simple.
- The Action Bar of Navigation Bar - The nav bar on iOS usually has a Back button that links to the screen before it. The navigation bar in Android developers usually contains several buttons.
- Intents - Intents allow applications to interoperate easily with one another. Apps can be "registered" as capable of sharing, allowing users to share this app with any other app idea.
Choose Between iOS or Android
Here are the main pros and cons of iOS and Android:
iOS Pros and Cons
- Massive app Ecosystem: A distinct advantage for tablets apps, while popular apps for smartphones are often available for both platforms.
- Deeper Integration With Facebook and Twitter: It is much easier to share updates on iOS than on Android due to how integrated these platforms are with iOS.
- iOS-Only Applications: Such as Passbook, FaceTime and the mobile payments app Square (available for iOS 3GS,4,4S and five and higher, but not for limited Android phones).
- The interface is Locked Down: There are very few customization options available for home screens. Only rows of app icons can be used. The wireless carrier does not pre-install third-party apps. Only the App Store is available for users to install apps.
- Software Upgrades: Apple offers software updates to all devices with the hardware that can handle the new software. This ensures that devices can stay up-to-date with new software features for at least two to three years.
- More Privacy Controls: iOS gives users more control over how apps access their private information, such as location and contacts.
Pros and Cons of Android
- Huge Hardware Selection: Many Android devices are available at different price points. They have varying screen sizes, hardware capabilities and other features.
- A Highly Customizable User Experience: The home screen can now be customized with widgets and app icons that allow users to stay informed or connected. SwiftKey is another example. It modifies the keyboard on your Android smartphone and emulates older gaming consoles. Google places fewer restrictions on the types of apps that it allows in its Play Store than Apple. You can also install Android apps elsewhere than the Google Play Store.
Last Thoughts
Mobile apps are an integral part of our everyday lives. The mobile app development industry will continue to be a major player in 2023. Although mobile penetration and usage are at an all-time high, every bit of data we analyze shows that we are still on the rise. Anyone building or intending to create a mobile application will find this encouraging. You can only develop an app and keep up with the latest trends and research market.
This guide will help you understand the mobile type of app industry from both a download- and usage perspective. Sign up to BuildFire if you are ready to create an app by 2023. With our easy-to-use platform, you can create iOS and Android app development in one go.
