If you ask anyone whether Android or iOS is better, you’ll generally get a fairly indignant response. Android users are devoted to Android, and iOS users are devoted to iOS. In my opinion, however, Android is very much the superior operating system. I have a few reasons for this - Android gives you so much more customizability, it’s open source, and it gets new features quicker. In fact, this shows when you see that Android enjoys a 89% user market share, while iOS controls a measly 11%.
Android gives you more OPTIONS. While iOS has slowly begun adding customizable options, it’s still limited. For example, Android allows you to place your widgets, shortcuts, and apps anywhere on your screen. In comparison, iOS forces you to use its row by row format. Also, custom launchers are amazing! On Android, you can change what your home screen looks like. This isn’t just changing the wallpaper or the icons. You can change what animations look like, what the font is, even what different buttons on your phone do. And besides software options, there are many, many more hardware choices with Android. Apple regulates its phones to kinda small, big, bigger, and biggest while its prices are kept to expensive, extravagant, a limb and a leg, and unreasonably high. With Android, a quality phone can go as low as $199 (the POCO x3). Additionally, there are folding phones (the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Moto Fold), swiveling phones (the LG Wing), phones with projectors (the Samsung Beam), and phones with styluses (the Samsung Note series and the Moto G Stylus). All this choice means that a buyer is almost guaranteed to find a phone they like.
Android is completely open source. This means that Android developers have a lot more creative freedom. Not only can they make apps, they can make software skins, phone accessories, and their own phones for less. Also, the open source nature of Android means you don’t have to download apps from the Play Store. Instead, you can bypass Google’s app catalog completely and download content straight from the Internet. While this does grant you less security, there are perfectly legitimate reasons for developers to want to independently market their apps. For example, both Apple and Google take a 30% cut from in-app purchases. Many developers oppose this, including big name brands like Epic Games, Spotify, and Match Groups. On iOS, there is no way around this (except for jailbreaking). Therefore many apps don’t make it onto Apple’s platform, while on Android, developers simply place their app on the web. But it isn’t just phones that can run Android. Android's open source nature allows you to put it on fridges, chairs, and tvs. Also, you can build a simple transmitter that lets you control an appliance from any Android device. This means that small companies can build “smart” appliances for cheap.
Phones running Android get new features sooner. When iOS got widgets with iOS 14, many users were shocked at the praise Apple was getting. In reality, Android has had widgets for over a decade, outpacing Apple by an unimaginable amount. But it’s not just widgets. Android got home screen customizability, a files app, fingerprint sensors, face unlock, and app drawers generations before Apple. Additionally, because of the more open nature of Android, it got third party keyboards, gamepad compatibility, and phone to desktop connectivity before any iPhone! But software isn’t the only thing that comes to android first. Instead, many hardware features, such as folding phones or swiveling phones come to android. This actually ties back to the software, since having these crazy designs means that custom UIs are needed.
In conclusion, Android has a leg up over iOS because of its options, open source platform, and tendency to receive new features sooner. All of these reasons tie together to provide Samsung (the world’s biggest Android maker) with an 22% market share, crushing Apple in sales. And should you still not be convinced, many Android phones come with a headphone jack, and all of them come with a charging brick!
However, iOS is not without its merits. One of the main reasons iOS is always so late to the game is because they work tirelessly to make the feature as intuitive as possible. In other words, you can pick up any iPhone and immediately know how to use it, while operating a Samsung phone is more complicated.
Additionally, Apple’s hardware disabilities are well-countered by their software. For example, Apple’s phones claim they are able to take video in 4k 60. In reality, they take video in 4k 120 with every second frame being under exposed to prevent overexposure in the final product. However, Apple doesn’t tout this, or even mention it! Additionally, iPhones used to be crushed by Samsungs on spec sheets. However, they’ve always had tighter integration than Exynos or Snapdragon chips, meaning they might lose on numbers, but win in real life performance. In fact, the new M1 Macbooks continue this tradition of software over hardware by being completely blown away by high end PC’s but still loading apps or processing files faster. This ties into the whole reason why Apple fans stay Apple fans, no matter what Apple does.
Unconsciously, everyone who buys an Apple device begins to exist in this parallel universe, where the only tech products are Apple products. A popular name for this phenomenon is Apple's “walled garden.” Apple does this by encouraging simplicity. While Android makers bombard you with options (with Samsung literally currently selling 35 different phones), Apple just gives you 4. And you may have noticed that Apple never compares their phones to any phone except their own (other than 2019/2020).
To add on, when Apple does innovate, it’s groundbreaking. They did it with the first iPhone. They did it with the MacBook Air. And they did it again with the Apple Watch. Sure, they come once in a decade, but it just makes you hang on that much longer.
Finally, iOS ties all Apple devices together. While Android might have choices, it actually might suffer from such a variety of devices. With iOS, all Apple devices run together. You can start working on a project on your phone, put it down, and continue on your Mac. Or you could AirDrop a video to your iPad and watch it on your Apple TV. Android can’t do this because there’s too much variety.
When you have an Android phone, you trade ease of use for features. And with an iPhone, you get a phone that lacks features but even a toddler could use. But iOS is slowly but steadily catching up to Android in every way (Yes, I know iOS was originally ahead, so they’re technically mounting a comeback). So is Android really the better choice?
In the end, the best choice for you depends on your situation. If you want a phone that “just works.” iOS might be for you. But do you really want a phone that just barely makes the cut? Yes, iPhones are easier to use, but they lack the base to build new features. Android, on the other hand, is a tad bit more complicated, but has much more in terms of use cases. And there’s more. Apple will never offer that next crazy design, whether it be a rollable phone or a swiveling phone, because those just aren’t simple. So if you want a phone that pops, or an interesting phone, go with Android. To most people, a phone is more than just a tool. It’s a statement. Sometimes, entire relationships have a base in the phone that people use. And when it comes to statements, Android just has so much more.
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