The most iconic product for which Apple is known today is the iPhone – a series of smartphone lines, first introduced in 2007. It is also well-known that a distinct feature of iPhone smartphones is iOS or iPhone Operating System. Nevertheless, before iPhone and its OS were introduced, a company that dominates smartphone OS systems – Android – was founded. Currently, the smartphone industry is split into two camps Android and iOS, both of which are significantly different in their affordability, interface, hardware, and applications. However, the main difference lies in the variety of manufacturers available and associated consequences,
Android technology is an open-source product that allows engineers to incorporate it into various types of platforms. Consequently, the range of Android-based products is vast, and besides smartphones, the OS powers tablets, computers, laptops, and media players. Hence, it is evident that numerous different companies design and manufacture Android devices. On the other hand, the iOS system is limited in its application to Apple products such as iPhone, iPad and iPods. Apple’s concerns about its intellectual property are great as a result development of iOS is not available to third parties. Consequently, this aspect manifests itself in the difference in the level of customization available.
Android smartphones are generally more customizable as the interface which is seen by the end-user could be changed in practically any imaginable way with the installation of the brand-new interface or creation and adoptions of personally designed interfaces. iOS is significantly limited in this aspect as the apps which are configured as default are not replaceable. However, third-party applications could still be used but not as the default programs. However, the customization is not limited to the internal program interface. Design is the key feature of Android devices as the OS is available to everyone. There are numerous smartphone manufacturers that produce smartphones of different sizes, form-factors, and hardware. Consequently, iOS smartphones are limited to 29 different iPhones, while by 2015, Android inhabited over 24000 varieties of devices.
In terms of battery life and charging capacity, the hardware which manufacturers use varies greatly. Some of the Android smartphones, such as Vivo iQOO 7, offer the fastest phone charging devices in existence, which allows full recharge from 0 to 100% in under 20 minutes (Minkov, 2021). At the same time, the average charging time for iPhone 12 is approximately 2 hours despite having a lower battery capacity than Vivo iQOO 7. The smartphone market is expanding exponentially as a result is new niche products are developed. For example, smartphones are used for gaming, media production, and more where hardware is essential. Android smartphones target these segments, with such companies as Asus launching the line of gaming smartphones or ROG phones. Asus ROG (Republic of Gamers) is a brand that specializes in manufacturing gaming products. The smartphones of the brand contain top-notch processing hardware, high refresh rate displays, and additional trigger buttons for an improved gaming experience. iPhones are not as specialized because production targets the general needs of the customers that are much more subtle.
On account of affordability and inclusion, Android and iOS demonstrate similarly great differences in variety. Nevertheless, iPhone remains a premium product in relation to Android devices, the price range for which is generally low due to the aforementioned contrast of variety. Currently, the price for the base model of the latest iPhone 12 is 800$, the cheapest iPhone SE 2020 costs 400$, while it is possible to encounter brand-new Android for under 100$ and over 2000$ (Hill, 2021). This reaffirms the general affordability of Android devices which is often a lucrative point during the smartphone purchase.
In conclusion, Android and iOS continue their rivalry on the smartphone market and beyond. Even though Android phones continue to engulf the major portion of the industry due to the numerous companies utilizing the product, the success of iOS is apparent. Despite the limitations which follow iOS powered utilities such as design variety, affordability, customizability and hardware, it retains over a quarter of the market share. This demonstrates that the product quality of iOS devices is high and sought by the considerable part of the customers worldwide. Nevertheless, the function of two operating system remains one – to provide customers the tools to utilize the phone in its full potential.
References
Hill, S. (2021). Android vs. iOS: Which smartphone platform is the best? Digital Trends. Web.
Minkov, R. (2021). Fastest charging phones. Phone Arena. Web.