Both Apple iOS and Android use a touch screen interface that you can swipe, tap and zoom on. 

An Apple iOS home screen typically displays a row of four icons (which you can customise to pin your most used apps) on the bottom with all of your other apps above which you can flick through. 

An Android home screen uses “widgets” that displays information like the date, weather and emails which you can set to automatically update.

Like most phones, a status bar appears on the top of both Apple and Android phones. It displays information on your battery life, signal and Wi-Fi. On the lock screen of an Android, you can see in dim light alerts for messaging, emails and other notifications.

As multiple phone manufacturers host Android software, no interface is exactly the same, but are very similar in logic and easy to learn

iOS uses a virtual assistant called Siri that can be activated by a voice command. This is generally activated by holding down the “Home” button (on older versions of the iPhone) or by saying “Hey Siri”. Siri is capable of recalling recommendations for local areas, books, calendar reminders, navigation and much more.

Android phones offer a similar virtual assistant called “Google Assistant” which retains the same features as Siri. 

Both virtual assistants let you use your voice to search for a myriad of online resources as opposed to typing them in. It can be activated by saying the phrase “Ok Google”, followed by your command.

Android can use Google Hangouts to video chat to other Android users.  Apple users can use Facetime and can only be used to communicate with other Apple devices.

You must be connected to the internet or have your data enabled to use both of these services.

Both devices can have WhatsApp installed, a popular messaging service that you can text, call and video chat on.

Android has a bank of texts (which you can add to) that can be used as an automatic reply if you cannot answer the phone.

Apple devices allow you to set a reminder to call the person back, or respond with an automated text message.

Both operating systems have a “Do Not Disturb” function so that calls do not come through to either device.

Mobile gaming has changed radically over the years, especially so when the iPod touch and the first iPhone was released. Thousands of games were created off the back of this - think classics like Temple Run, Candy Crush and thousands upon thousands of free games ready to download.

Nintendo and EA have even released their own mobile games based off console ones such as Super Mario Run and The Sims respectively. iOS users get games first, Android users get them second. This is due to the ease in developing the games.

Despite this however, there are far more games available on Android. This is because Apple decided to remove games that were “no longer supported by Apple”.

Complex games run into bugs slightly more often on an Android device. For indie developers, this can present quite a challenge, hence their affinity to developing games for iOS.

Both Apple and Android devices allow you to sync your current account and pay by tapping your phone at checkout. 

Android uses Android Pay and Google Pay to allow for mobile payments. Its NFC feature, available on some Android phones, lets you make contactless payments. Samsung Pay (for Samsung devices) and Google Pay are only available in 24 and 29 countries respectively.

Apple have a mobile payment system known as Apple Pay. It came about after Android’s NFC feature, however Apple Pay is integrated with fingerprint identification, making it much easier to make payments. Although this is now available on Android, Apple were the first to introduce this. It’s available in 41 countries.

Apple and Android phones offer a “wallet” that collects tickets, rewards and vouchers and stores it in one place. Apple’s version is called Passbook, whereas on an Android device you’d have to install one via the Google Play store.

Apple currently uses the App Store which, as it stands now, has over 2.1 million apps (with some unavailable to iPad devices).

Android devices can access and download apps via Google Play, which houses around 2.7 million apps. Despite this large number, many developers still wish to program for iOS first due to ease/lack of resources to serve two operating systems.

According to Blancco’s analysis of diagnostic reports from mobile devices, “apps crash almost three times more on iPhones than on Android devices”. It does mention, however, that a good OS doesn’t mean bad apps still can’t crash.

For both operating systems, Business Insider have reported on the increased outages of popular apps such as Facebook and Instagram over the last three years and recorded a whopping 281% increase in app crashes.

Android typically suffers from high memory consumption, RAM and CPU problems, so shutting down unused apps is a must. iOS updates on Apple devices are one of the main causes of crashes due to the frequency of updates/fixes required.

Both operating systems release updates regularly, however it’s apparent that Android users might not receive an alert to update as often as Apple users. With the amount of phone manufacturers to support the Android OS, some choose when to release the latest update over others (depending on the product line).

iOS devices receive updates at the same time, however, older models may not receive them due to hardware capabilities.

Device Selection

Apple’s iOS are only available on Apple devices such as iPhones , iPads and iPod Touch to name a few. The price points of Apple devices are generally higher than Android devices.

Android devices are available in various sizes, manufacturers, price points and hardware capabilities. They’re easy to customise depending on user preferences.

Apple is well known for the customer service of its Apple Store. You can take your Apple device to the nearest Apple Store and book in at the Genius Bar. We recommend visiting stores as early as possible, as appointments book up fast!

Android does not have a dedicated store you can take your device to, however you can take your phone to the nearest retail store of the brand you use. There is the risk, however, that the staff may purely work in sales and not have a dedicated support desk.

Early iPhones were notorious for dying within hours of charging, though the latest models are so robust that they can go days without charging, especially after fixes in the latest iOS updates. 

Due to the amount of manufacturers hosting Android OS, battery life varies between each brand. Android phones are typically larger than Apple phones, meaning a larger chassis for an ample battery. Although iPhones have become increasingly large, Android phones dominate in the battery department.