I understand the difference between iOS and Android

In fact, before we get to that point, it’s important to know what everyone knows: iOS is better than Android for most people. This paper tries to talk about my understanding of the two mobile operating systems from the user’s point of view

Why iOS works

There are many factors that determine whether an operating system is good or not, such as the system’s functionality, user experience, stability, application and surrounding ecosystem, etc. In essence, iOS operating system is a closed source, highly unified and centralized operating system, which can be understood as centralized. Looking back at the iOS development history, you will feel that this degree of high concentration even reaches the degree of “centralization”. Apple has almost all control over its operating system, which makes iOS system have almost perfect consistency in UI interaction, design style and application ecology. The latest iPhone is a work of art when you hold it in your hand. At a deeper level, apple’s products can actively influence users in terms of aesthetics, rather than passively accepting users’ feedback

Everyone knows the iOS ecosystem is great, but what’s so great about it? I think it’s good in two ways

First, the application ecosystem. Apple provides many solutions for an application from early design, middle development and late operation. HIG in design, Xcode in development, in-app purchase, Apple Pay, Searchads in commercialization, etc., so we see a lot of apps made by independent developers that are very good or even better than some commercial companies. If you look closely, you’ll notice that there are echoes of the above on Android as well. But there is a huge difference, just as a code example written by a programmer is not of the same magnitude as an application running in a production environment

The second is ecosystem, which many people may not think about, but it is very important. The importance of the operating system as the foundation of all the upper-layer applications is self-evident. It is said that iOS 12 has reached a 50% install rate, and iOS 11 took a month to achieve the level that iOS achieved in 20 days. This shows its efficient update iteration cycle. An important concept in software development is the software life cycle. In fact, software and people are the same, people are born, old, sick and dead, software is added, deleted, check and change. Good software should maintain this balance. The old parts should be deleted, and the missing parts should be added and upgraded. But most of the time people just like to add features. Programmers should be well aware of this. Maintaining or working with older systems is a pain, but at Apple iOS is pretty well maintained. Of course, this is not only because of the centrality of iOS, but also because of Apple’s control over the marketing of its products and the expectation of users

Why is Android messy

The most impressive thing about Android is the domestic app market. The foreign app market is not as extensive as the domestic app market. The foreign app market is either third-party comprehensive download sites or manufacturers with the ability to make mobile phones. Mobile phone manufacturers all want to build their own closed-loop systems, but in fact only Google can fundamentally achieve closed-loop, mobile phone manufacturers are essentially a layer of ROM or UI, which is the application ecosystem mentioned above. In fact, many companies can’t even get their app ecosystem right.

Android system is essentially an open source, free operating system. This is in its DNA, but open source and freedom can sometimes be abused, even exploited. The freedom gene dictates that Android offers users almost all choices and paths. You like it or you don’t like it or you want it or you don’t want it. You have to choose for yourself. But when it comes to phones as tools, many users don’t need a Swiss Army knife, they just want a simple screwdriver. You can think of Android as a tiny computer, and you can customize it like a Raspberry PI, Web servers, smart homes, private clouds, etc., but only if you have the ability to do so

Another reason for Android’s confusion is that users’ needs are always diverse, and Andoird’s mission is to satisfy them. For example, some people look at the bangs on the iPhone and think it’s chic, and they probably can’t change the iPhone, and then assume that Android should have it because it’s trendy

While we’re talking about the iPhone, we should also talk about Google’s Pixel. Pixel recently came out with OS 3, and people have been making a lot of jokes about bangs being the default setting. Needless to say, of course. As a matter of fact, THE Pixel series phones have made me see a lot of bright spots, and Google seems to gradually understand the direction of making mobile phones. At the Launch of the Pixel 3, the concept of an end-to-end camera was mentioned many times, which can analyze buildings and people in a photo. To learn things about the character, such as its age, gender, clothing. Armed with this information, he can make some really useful recommendations. If you are a heavy User of Google you will notice that in the last two years Google has been systematically developing new technologies/software that you don’t see on Apple. For example, Siri for iOS and Assistant for Google. On the one hand, Google Assistant is smarter than Siri by a few blocks. On the other hand, you get the feeling that Google Assistant can actually do something useful rather than just be a toy. For example, when you receive an incoming call and recognize it as a nuisance call, Assistant can help you politely decline it

Google’s Android phone can well solve some of the problems of Android, but because Google itself is a company with technical genes, all its software will focus on functions. Design and user experience won’t be its strong points, which makes google-made phones uncomfortable to use. For example, the scrolling operation, iOS interaction processing is very good, not only the interface smooth operation, but also fast response, when it should stop immediately stop. On Android, although many users may not be able to see the difference between the smoothness and iOS, using Android always makes you feel smooth when you should, and “smooth” when you shouldn’t. There’s also the issue of comparing nighttime images to the iPhone on the Pixel 3. The Pixel’s ability to take nighttime photos is good in most cases, but if you want to take nighttime photos, it’s awkward

conclusion

In fact, a lot of times when people talk about iOS versus Android, they’re just talking about one thing or the other, because that’s what makes users tick. But it is strange that people tend to belittle each other’s shortcomings in order to highlight their own strengths, because no one is willing to admit that the things they buy are not as good as others

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