When choosing your next smartphone, it’s not just the spec sheet that
you should look into. Aside from hardware, you also need to consider
the software included and there’s no denying that the two most prominent
mobile operating systems right now are Google’s Android and Apple’s
iOS.
Google’s latest darling is Android 4.0, also called Ice Cream
Sandwich (ICS). For Apple, it’s iOS 5.
Both
are leaders in mobile so it’s quite inevitable that they’ll be
pitted against each other. Let’s look at a rundown of some of the key
features of each platform. You might note that there are some distinct
similarities in the feature being compared but each side offers a bit of
a twist to its own take on it, so choose the one that fits your needs
better.
Voice Commands
Apple’s Siri is, hands down, one of the best features that iPhone 4S has to offer. It’s exclusive to the iPhone 4S for now, so that narrows down your phone
choices drastically if you want this feature. Of course, voice commands
are nothing new but Apple’s implementation of this kind of service made
it appealing to more people, especially since it’s front and center as
well as highly advertised. Siri handles your calendar appointments,
calls and texts your friends and even does some web researching for you
if you like. It’s just in beta though and its language and country
support is very limited at the moment.
For Android, there’s Voice
Actions, which has been available since Froyo (Android 2.2) and was
given some much needed polish in ICS. In terms of usage, Voice Actions
and Siri do lots of things similarly but whereas Siri comes out on top
in terms of implementation, Voice Actions has the better feature set as
it can do turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation. In the US, Voice Actions
is integrated into the Google Maps app which means that it can replace
your car’s GPS if you trust Google’s directions enough.
Overall,
Siri is more conversational and intuitive, which helps it produce
results that better match what you want from it. Voice Actions, though,
does very well in search as well as when it comes to navigation. Voice
Actions can also be activated using your voice while Siri needs a
specific action to activate such as holding the home button or placing
the phone by your ear.
Camera
Similar to
Voice Commands, it’s again clear that ICS offers more shooting options
and tweaks than those found on iOS 5. One of the added features in ICS
is a new panoramic mode where you can take multiple shots that are
stitched together for an easy panoramic landscape. Android’s latest also
allows the user to set image levels and filters, so there’s more things
to tinker with when improving your photos.
Apple
has also come up with some enhancements to its camera such as the
ability to crop and rotate images, red-eye reduction, auto enhancement,
and grid lines while taking a shot, but you’ll have to admit that these
are rather basic. That’s not to say that the iPhone 4S camera is not up
to par because as image quality goes, many reviewers have given it a
thumbs up, with some claiming that it could even be a replacement for
your average point and shoot camera. Comparing picture quality with ICS,
however, is not a valid point as this will depend on the device running
the latest Android version.
Notifications
If
you’ve already used an Android device, you already know that Apple’s
version of notifications on iOS 5–while executed very well–has very
striking resemblance to the same feature found on ICS and previous
Android versions. In ICS, there were only minor tweaks done on
notifications such as showing the thumbnails of apps currently running
and allowing a full drop down even while on your lock screen.
For
iOS 5 users, the presence of a notifications center has been a very
welcome development. Apple previously resorted to badges and
notification alerts scattered all over your springboard. But with its
latest iOS version, it added a notifications center that even pops up on
the lock screen.
Apple also added banner-style alerts that notify you of events in a
non-intrusive way. Badges and notification alerts are still present so
those who prefer using those are still welcome to use it.
Internet Browsing
One
of the key functions of your smartphone is accessing the web so it
makes sense for both platforms to add new features to an already very
capable built-in browser. For ICS, Google added Chrome bookmarks sync
and also allows you to save full web pages for later browsing. It’s a
very useful feature for those who do not have an unlimited data plan.
ICS also added an incognito mode to its browser for those in need of
privacy and security.
Apple
also got busy upgrading its mobile Safari by adding tabbed browsing for
the iPad and iPad 2, private browsing, Safari Reader and Reading
List–although the latter is quite limited in features compared to ICS’
offline viewer. Side by side though, each stock browser does pretty well
in terms of speed and navigation.
Cloud Storage
Just
like with their notifications center, Apple seems to be a step behind
on cloud storage as it only introduced iCloud recently on iOS 5 while
Android users have been enjoying that feature for some time already.
Android’s cloud storage, however, was limited to apps and Google only
updated it recently to include music and photos.
iCloud may be
late but it certainly arrived with a heap of features, including iTunes
Match and Photo Stream, to name a few. The counterpart for iTunes Match
is Google Music, with the latter offering its service for free and Apple
charging around $25 for a one-year usage.
If
you’re already using many of Google’s other services like Gmail and
Google Docs, then you might be leaning more towards ICS but if you rely
heavily on iWork, iLife or use a Mac, then iCloud makes a strong case
for going with iOS 5.
Extra Features
While
the two platforms have a lot of similarities (though with different
implementations), there are also a few nifty features that Google and
Apple added to their respective mobile operating systems. For ICS
there’s Face Unlock, which, as the name suggests needs you to put the
phone in front of your face to access it. There’s also a new People app,
which is actually the Contacts app that now has a new magazine look.
Here your contacts are all integrated together, including those from
your social media accounts, so it’s easier to contact your family and
friends. There’s also no need to tweak your device to allow you to get a
screenshot as it is now natively supported (admittedly though iOS
already has this feature for quite some time).
Apple
also threw in some neat features for iOS 5 including Newsstand, which
is similar to iBooks but is geared towards magazines and publications
instead of books. iOS 5 also has Twitter built right into it so frequent
users of the social messaging service can share their photos, videos,
links, and contacts much more easily and quickly. There’s also a native
Reminders app for todos, Find My iPhone for locating missing devices.
Apple also introduces a number of wireless connectivity features such as
AirPlay which lets you wirelessly share your screen to an Apple TV,
AirPrint which enables wireless printing and wireless sync which lets
forego the cord when doing backups, syncing data and doing remote app
installation.
Hardware Comparison
Android
offers more options for those who want to get a taste of ICS, with the
latter to be rolled out to older models before the Nexus. Among those
expected to get ICS are Motorola’s Droid RAZR and Droid Bionic, LG
Optimus 2X, HTC’s Vivid, Sensation, Amaze 4G, Rezound, EVO 3D and EVO
Design 4G. For iOS 5, Apple released the update to the iPhone 3GS and
iPhone 4 (and to the iPhone 4S as well) and the original iPad and iPad
2.
A direct comparison of features and specs will always fall on
current flagship models Galaxy Nexus by Samsung and Apple’s iPhone 4S as
they both arrived with the latest operating system in tow so it’s worth
noting how they stack up against each other.
Some
of the advantages of the Galaxy Nexus is that it has more RAM (1 GB
compared to 512MB on iPhone 4S); Faster downloads at 21.0MBits/s
compared to 14.4MBits/s by the iPhone; and better screen size with a
higher screen resolution. The Nexus has a 4.65-inch display at a
resolution of 720×1280 pixels while the iPhone 4S has retained the same
3.5-inch screen size with a resolution of 640×960 pixels. The Galaxy
Nexus also has an HDMI output built-in while you need an adapter for the
iPhone 4S.
The
iPhone 4S also has some parts that are better compared to the Nexus,
and this includes the camera, with the latest iPhone packing in an 8MP
shooter while the Nexus only has 5MP. The 4S also offers more internal
storage with up to 64GB while the Nexus can only offer up to half of
that.
Conclusion
It’s not always black and
white in determining which is the better mobile operating system, Ice
Cream Sandwich or iOS 5, or the better phone overall, Galaxy Nexus or
iPhone 4S. As the rundown of the features of each OS shows, there are
similarities and unique features as well so it’s up to you to really
find out which features are a match to your needs. Each platform offers
several hundred thousand apps to its users, so that’s one way to level
the field with third-party developers filling in the gaps of each
system.
One thing that might help you decide is how much you use
the halo of services and products surrounding each platform. If you’re
an avid Google user and want to have seamless experience between their
browser-based services onto your mobile, buying an ICS tablet or phone
should suit you well. On the flip side, if you own a Mac and use it as
your main computer, getting an iPhone or iPad might be a wiser decision.
