iOS vs Android, a non biased comparison with pics :)

Hello everybody,

I'd like to compare iOS and Android in a non-biased comparison because if you go on the Internet and search for such thing you'll probably get a lot of fanboys saying that one is better than the other.



First thing:

The devices it runs on,

Android: Runs on many devices, good or bad. Cheap and expensive. It's good because you have a lot of  options to choose from but bad because apps are rarely properly optimized for said phone, this also makes OS updates harder to obtain.

Borred from xda devs

iOS: Runs on a handful of different devices, the iPad, iPad Mini,iPod Touch and the iPhone. Options to choose from are limited but because of this, most apps are optimized for the devices and the OS is very snappy because it's properly optimized for the most part.

Borred from evasi0n 7

Interface, this topic is controversial since it's a matter of opinion mainly,

Android: A UI change every major version, it's very customizable and many launchers can be used for customizability. However, many launchers are only compatible with only one major version (mostly 2.x). The UI is divided into 2 phases, Android 1.x to 2.3 and 4.0+, the UI on 4.0+ is mostly the same throughout all 4.x versions. A thing to note is that the UI is not properly unified since you'll often find Android 2.x elements on 4.x especially in older apps but also some stock apps like the web video player.

A typical Android 2.x scene

Apex Launcher on 4.4 (Apex is very popular)

iOS: If it's not jailbroken, customizability is next to zero, your stuck with what you got and that's not  necessarily a bad thing since you won't be trying out a lot of things that don't work or you don't like so you won't slow down your device that way.The iOS interface is mainly divided into 2 or 3 phases,
iOS 1-3 (Primitive ones), 4-6 and 7. iOS 7 provides a complete interface overhaul. iOS 7 provides a flatter interface look and feel.

iPhone 3GS with iPhone OS 3(iOS 3)

Left: iOS 6, Right:iOS 7

Apps, this topic is important since you'll use a lot of apps/games on your device if it's good enough.

Android: I'm going to talk only about ONE app market, the Play Store since the others are normally bad and no device specific ones (The Amazon market doesn't work properly for me). The Play Store has categories and the normal things and it's updates don't need an OS update. It has many apps but it lacks showing new/featured apps and I have found the categories to miss many good games/apps. Some apps aren't available on a device (even though they run properly) and some apps don't show up in all countries, some apps may contain viruses.

The Play Store on Android 4.0

iOS: The App store is pretty good and it's bundled with every release since 2.0. The app store from 2.0 to 5.1.1 didn't change an awful lot but it has been good and it's good to not change good things. It starts with a section of new/featured apps and games. The Categories could get in depth but the simple categories are also very good and give you a good app coverage. The App store from 6.0 and up is different and it's a bit slow under older devices (iPhone 3GS and the 4th gen devices) but it's bearable, it sports a fresh new look that makes it easier to install many apps at the same time and the start screen is pretty good as well. No viruses whatsoever.

iOS 6+ App store

iOS 4 App store

Modding, this section only applies to people that like to mess with their devices.

Android: You can root Android and get many custom Roms, and you can over clock and do some other cool stuff (xda developers is an awesome website to start from).

iOS: Jailbreaking, you can jailbreak iOS and it grants you access to a ton of features. You get a new app called Cydia that acts like Synaptic in a way, it uses APT since Darwin (the iOS kernel/ underneath OS) uses .deb. Many jailbreak apps can be installed (like Mobile Terminal, iFile, Emulators, games etc). An app that many people like is Winterboard since it allows customization to the device by the use of themes, many repos can be added. Cydia is also a good way to see what apps/themes are new.

Cydia

Exclusive apps:

Android: Some root apps

iOS: A whole slew of apps and games

Conclusion:

Both OSes are good and it's a matter of opinion frankly and what you want. iOS offers more apps and it's simpler but Android offers easier customizability and OC'ing (something that you won't find in iOS).