The war between iOS and Android has been raging for many years now, but as someone who sits firmly in the ‘Android’ camp I have a hard time understanding how anyone could prefer Apple’s OS any more. Sure, at one time iOS was the faster operating system and many people preferred the look of it, but since Android has been sped up and refined it really wins hands-down in terms of what it’s capable of.
The problem of course is that Apple fans are incredibly loyal, and most won’t have looked into Android or seen just what it can do. To help illustrate the chasm between these two operating systems then, here is a list of things that Android can do that iOS can’t. When you get to the end of this list you’ll probably be surprised at just how behind Apple are. And this isn’t even the half of it…
Change the Home screen
One of the coolest things about Android is the fact that you can completely swap out the homescreen launcher to give yourself a different way of launching your apps and to change the look and feel of your phone. This is what allows true customisation and means that every Android phone looks different and much more personal – but with iOS you’re stuck with that grid…
Add Widgets
Widgets are another cool feature of Android that allow you to create a more information-rich and attractive looking homescreen. With iOS you’re just stuck with icons in a grid…
Communicate Between Apps
If you take a photo with your camera in Android you can then hit the share button and open it in a picture editor, hit the share button and open the shared picture in Instagram, then upload it there before sharing to Facebook and Twitter. In iOS you have to open each app individually then load the file, and you can’t even browse through a proper file explorer when you do so. Good luck with e-mail attachments!
Choose a Different Screen Size
One of the most limiting things of iOS of all is the fact that it only comes one a couple of lines of hardware. That means you can’t opt to run it on a device with a 5” screen, or on a device that has a stylus, or on a device that has a flip out keyboard… you get the idea. Basically with iOS you are stuck with the one form factor that Apple deems appropriate – and it’s a form factor with a tiny screen you have to squint at at that.
Multitask
Sure, iOS can multitask in that it can have multiple apps open at once, but if you want to view two of those apps at once then you’ll need an Android device. Most Androids now come with some form of multi-window multitasking built in, but even those that don’t will allow you to download ‘popup’ apps from the Play Store. No equivalent exists for iOS…
Drag Files
The fact remains that the only way to copy files between your iPhone and PC is via iTunes. Sure, you can use cloud services like Dropbox or your can e-mail files to yourself, but when you want to quickly drop a bunch of photos or music files into a folder these are fiddly methods at best. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to access your own files however you want? With Android you can…
Run Emulators
There are a lot of good games available for iOS to be fair, but the simple fact that there are no emulators available puts it miles behind Android as a gaming platform. On an Android you have access to every PSOne, N64, Megadrive, Gameboy, DS, SNES, Spectrum and DOS game available which means there are thousands and thousands more classic games you play completely for free.
HDMI
Another thing you can do with a lot of Android devices that you can’t do with the iPhone is plug them into your TV’s HDMI port and then stream whatever’s on the screen to your TV. With an Android you can play Mario 64 on the big TV with a Wii controller.
This is really only scratching the surface of the things that Android’s flexibility allow it to do over iOS. Now that it runs buttery-smooth too, there really is no compelling reason to choose iOS instead…