In the first half of this year, Apple and Google both released their latest iOS and Android operating systems, and both talked about the current addiction problem of mobile phones. Both also gave their built-in apps such as photo albums and news a revamp. As for AI and AR, the two hot areas, the giants will certainly follow.

If you watch both of these announcements and actually play with iOS 12 and Android P, it’s hard to avoid the question: Are iOS and Android too similar now?


One of the most obvious solution is in the digital addiction problems, apple and Google are in the system provides for statistical software, the frequency of the use of mobile phones with long every day you can see every detail awaken the frequency and number of mobile phones, various applications such as the number of push notifications, you can also set to a single class of applications using period of time, For example, it is forbidden to open wechat and Weibo before going to bed at night to reduce the time of dependence on mobile phones.

I don’t know if apple and Google have privately before do the function through the air, also don’t care about “mobile phone addiction” question whether really as silicon valley practitioners say that serious, but the present, the two companies this time standing on the united front, also chose the same solution, this is probably due to some kind of tacit understanding.


Another common trend is in the interface visual presentation and interaction system. If we take iOS 7 and Google’s proposed Material Design as a dividing point, iOS and Android have been on the road of flat style for 4-5 years. There are more and more frosted glass effects, large color blocks on white backgrounds and rounded corners of the card, with no sign of turning back or turning at all.

Although at the beginning of the elimination of analogization, this change in the general direction was questioned by a lot of people, but under the change of aesthetic concept, more and more people recognize this simple, light, easier to understand and highlight the content and information itself visual design, flat has become the mainstream design of smart phone system.


As for gesture interaction, in the era of full screen, mobile phone manufacturers are trying to eliminate physical buttons and try their best to develop into an integrated whole machine. Therefore, multi-layer vibration feedback is used to simulate the tactile sensation of physical press, and new components such as structured light are used to replace the old fingerprint module. It was a natural progression for iOS and Android to introduce gesture interaction.


On last year’s iPhone X, Apple first tried to eliminate the physical Home button on the front, replacing it with a swipe down the bottom and a swipe down the side. This year, it’s been further integrated into the iPad, with the Home button likely to be removed from the new iPad in September.

The situation is similar in the Android camp, where gestures have been included in most of China’s flagship phones long before Android P.

On a larger scale, such as integrating the mobile and desktop app ecosystems, and trying to integrate AR into more mobile devices, iOS and Android have the same goals. There are probably more similarities between the two systems today than there are differences.


This high degree of “consistency”, which can be felt across different platforms, brings back the idea of a few years ago: That Apple and Google are doing very similar things, or in other words, moving in the same direction.

After more than 10 years of development, it has been an open secret that iOS and Android cross complement each other. Moreover, such new features are not gimmicky features, and consumers are also happy to see such integration.

On the other hand, apple and Google, as big companies, no longer talk about grand visions or seek ways to get ahead of their rivals by a wide margin. Both are actually looking for some sort of “comfort” with iOS and Android right now — not boring, but it feels more like stability is the first priority and more cautious about riskier new features.


Choose to “maintain the status quo”, may be related to the market environment. According to Gartner’s 2017 data and a chart from Statista, Android has 85.9% of the smartphone market, while iOS has 14% of the market. The two account for 99.9% of the global smartphone market. For other systems like the blackberry or Windows Phone, the total was a negligible 0.1%.

That said, apple’s iOS and Google’s Android have enough users to support their ecosystems and business models, and it’s hard to find new users in the smartphone market. Nor can Apple or Google hope for another surge of growth — at least not in the form of smartphones.

At this stage, the mobile phone system has been fully functional and ecological, and users make less and less jokes about the system. Even if it is good enough, they are reluctant to change to a new mobile phone, naturally hoping that their mobile phone can be supported for a longer time. So any major change, or radical change, to iOS and Android will disrupt this sweet spot.


▲ Pictures from: Lifewire

Two years ago, Benedict Evans, an analyst, also made a point of saying that American bank managers won’t care how many Android users there are in China, and Indian product managers won’t care how many iPhone users there are in the US, until user numbers stabilize.

Rather than fighting for a fraction of the market share of the future, it’s more about what existing users can bring to Google. And how can Apple ensure that its iPhone users don’t defect to other brands?


▲ Images from Wired

At present, Google’s development goal is clear. When the user experience of Android has basically matched that of iOS, Google chooses to switch from mobile first to AI first, and the huge data of Android users can also strengthen Google’s advantages in machine learning.

Now that AI is increasingly embedded in native Android applications, including photos, photo albums, maps, and voice assistants, Google’s AI applications will evolve and improve themselves as it gets more and more data.


Apple has taken a different approach. On the one hand, devices like the Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod only allow the best experiences within its own ecosystem to prevent rivals from stealing its most valuable core audience. This will allow Apple to keep all of its core iPhone users in the iOS ecosystem as much as possible, while also attracting some Android users.

Apple, on the other hand, is betting that each iOS user will use more of Its devices and services — whether it’s computers, tablets, watches, headphones, or even forms of content like music or TV shows — which will generate sustainable revenue for Apple as long as existing users are willing to pay more.

This year’s iOS 12 is clear on this point, as Apple chose to slow down the iOS major upgrade and prioritise its existing users in order to ensure overall “comfort”.

While Apple will still target the high-end Android user base, the desire to poach isn’t as strong as it once was. The only thing that can probably be done is to mock the fragmentation of Android with the customary higher rate of iOS updates, but it’s hard for Android users to feel any kind of love for the iPhone.

So as long as Apple and Google make no big mistakes and continue to lead in technology, even if they can’t go any further, there’s not much room for anyone else to play, and the duopoly will continue. This is the current situation of smart phone development, which needs to face but is difficult to change. Perhaps the platform war is no longer limited to mobile, but that’s another story.

Author: Musi


Photo source:
CNET