The mega OS
comparison:
Apple iOS 8 vs Android 5.0 Lollipop
Apple iOS 8 vs Android 5.0 Lollipop
Android is the world’s
most popular mobile operating system, running on 84%
of smartphones globally. With Lollipop, Android just got a facelift with plenty
of design improvements, new features and security upgrades.
It’s also been two
months since Apple launched iOS 8 for iPhones and iPads, which the company
calls the biggest update since the launch of the App Store.
With both Apple and
Google coming out with their respective mobile OSes, it’s time to see who
copied from whom, who did a better job at making their platform fun to use and,
ultimately, which mobile OS has an upper hand.
Look and feel
iOS 8 is just like iOS
7 in terms of the overall look and feel. It uses colourful and flat
vector-based icons, while other aspects of the UI stick to basic colours of
blue and black with a white background.
While iOS 8 continues
to be conservative with subtle colours, Android has always been the more
colourful one. However, we’ve noticed Android steadily toning down its colours
with each iteration.
Android 5.0 Lollipop
uses subtle yet attractive colours
Android 5.0 Lollipop
goes a step further in that direction. While it uses a fantastic colour
scheme as part of its ‘Material Design’, the colours are lighter and you see a
prominent white background instead of black (except for the app drawer, which
still uses a black background). It’s also good to see other Google apps
including Gmail, Google keyboard and Google Maps, carry on the same design
language.
Features
As always, Android
offers lot more features than iOS 8, including the option to add multiple users,
the ability to cast the screen to a separate device without the need for
installing a third-party app and making calls from the lock screen. The latest
Android 5.0 Lollipop update takes this one step ahead by making these features
easier to use.
In terms of
refinements, again, both are pretty close to reach a level where it gives users
enough control without overwhelming an average user. For example, with
Lollipop, you now see how much more time you have before you’ll need to charge
the device again, which is missing in iOS 8. However, iOS 8 tells you exactly
which apps have been consuming battery and by how much, so you can delete
unnecessary apps – a feature we would have liked to see in Lollipop.
A transparent
notification dropdown with new quick settings
Android Lollipop now
lets you control which notifications can appear on the lock screen. iOS 8 also
gives you this option, but it also lets you dictate which apps can push
notifications on a locked screen.
iOS 8’s built-in
keyboard lets you send voice clips other than photos and text. However, voice
clips can only be sent through iMessages i.e to a fellow Apple users and not to
non-Apple devices. It introduced predictive text, which does a great job
at helping you complete the words you are about to type. You can also disable
the suggestions while you are using the keyboard. If you’re unhappy with the
keyboard, you can switch to third-party keyboards apps.
Predictive text in iOS
8
Android Lolliop’s
stock keyboard is very different from the one on iOS 8. It’s flatter and, as
usual, lets you ‘swype’ instead of typing individual keys. While iOS 8’s
built-in keyboard does not let you swipe text, both keyboards are equally
accurate and intuitive to use.
Unlike Android
Lollipop, iOS 8 separates the notification and shortcuts for quick settings.
While notifications appear on the top dropdown, the Control Center lets you
swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen to give you quick access to
Bluetooth, Airplane and Sleep modes, Wi-Fi and auto-rotate options. However, it
lacks the GPS/Location setting which you’ll find on Android 5.0 Lollipop.
iOS 8 separates quick
settings and the notification area
Android Lollipop has
uncluttered its notification dropdown and includes essential quick settings
such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Auto rotate and Location. Like iOS, there’s now a
flashlight option. Plus, there’s more you can do now – you can switch between
users directly from the notification screen, tap to reply to message
notifications and cast the screen on to a connected device.
To put it in a
nutshell, Android has more features to offer, while iOS 8 has limited features
that are a bit more refined.
Verdict
It’s a tough call.
Having used both iOS 8 and Android 5.0 Lollipop, I must say that I’m impressed
by both. The latest mobile OSes from Google and Apple, take inspiration from
each other to make their existing mobile platforms even better. The complete
design overhaul in Lollipop shows that Android is trying to refine its features
and make them easier to use, while Apple is being more open and trying to give
users more control over their devices. You can tell this from the addition of
widgets, support for third party keyboards and the battery-usage feature.
Similarly, both operating systems have some useful features that you won’t find
in the other.
In the process of
one-upping each other, both are getting to be more alike, which should help
those who are looking to make a switch from iOS to Android or vice versa.
However, this also means that there’s no clear winner among the two major
mobile operating systems.