OS face-off: Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5

by Lucy Hedges | Friday 21 October 2011

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – In use

Ice Cream Sandwich: Android's core user experience has never been as polished as iOS. But the times are 'a changing and improved multi-tasking means you can flit between apps and features at a satisfyingly fast pace. Like Honeycomb, widgets now have their own tab in the apps screen, too. Throw in Flash and you're looking at an all-round smartphone experience.

iOS 5: Leave a child alone with your iPhone and they'll master it in minutes. iOS 5 is that intuitive. Now that it's borrowed a few tricks from Android, its intuitiveness has gone up a notch. Chuck iCloud, Wi-Fi Sync and features like Newsstand into the equation and you’re looking at an extremely clever UI and a continued hassle free user experience.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – Staying social

Ice Cream Sandwich: Rebranding all your contacts as 'People' is very Windows Phone 7, but it does mean your favourite and most contacted pals are easily accessible from one place. Contact Cards take care of ICS's social side by pulling in photos and contact details from all your social networks and letting you have a nose through aggregated posts and updates.

iOS 5: Apple has finally caught up with the competition by throwing in Twitter integration – so sharing info from multiple platforms with strangers is even easier. Unlike Ice Cream Sandwich, social network contacts aren't integrated into the phone's contacts, so social networking information is only accessible via the dedicated apps. Not great if you're a social butterfly, but an absolute godsend if you like to keep social shenanigans, aggregated feeds and linked contacts as far away from your user experience as possible.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – Verdict

Google has tried time and time again to beat Apple at its own game, and iOS has remained victorious. But times are ‘a changing. Both operating systems have a vast number of identical features that make them equally appealing, but it feels like Android just has the edge when it comes to notifications, multitasking and web browsing.

A combination of iOS-inspired-instalments, complimented by its own non-Apple tweaks means Google has rolled out its most aggressive and advanced Android update yet, delivering something completely fresh to the forefront of Android smartphones.

Apple may rule the roost in the app department, but its user experience is fast becoming a little stale. With greater customisation options, more control and a complete overhaul – not to mention the fact that Apple has only just finished playing catch up – Ice Cream Sandwich is the undeniable winner of this match.

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shamaka 21 October 2011	One of the concern I have with Android is the compatibility issues. I have colleagues who have downloaded apps only to find that one person will wax lyrical about how great it is while someone else tries it to find that the phone crashes repeatedly. Its hard to tell if its the junk put on by the carriers and their custom interface, a hardware issue or something else. I think the Samsung galaxy is a great phone and the equal of the iphone. However, its the software incompatibilities that drive people away and hinder the uptake of others. I think Google needs to sit down and do some real solid testing. Forget about introducing new features and perhaps even set strict guidelines for software developers (and phone companies) and hardware guidelines to ensure compatibility. Perhaps they need to make a set of tools like the ones for comparing browsers and only license the ones that meet the minimum criteria for each app! Its nice to hear about new features, but there is nothing worse than finding it wont work because it wont work on your phone (or network carrier). Comment made about the PC & Tech Authority article: OS face-off: Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5? Google has just unleashed Ice Cream Sandwich – or Android 4.0 – and it's ready to take on iOS5 in the battle for smartphone supremecy. But how do they fare in the ring? What do you think? Join the discussion.
MarauderDeuce 21 October 2011	Your looking at it a little wrong shamaka. The comparison is actually better if you think of Android as being a generic PC OS and iOS as being a console. The strength of your xbox, ps3, whatever is that developers have only 1 platform to develop for. If it works great on Bob's ps3 then it's going to work great on Jill's ps3. On the other hand, earlier this year I bought a new computer. The old computer was running Windows XP. The hardware in the machine was, generally, at least 3 years out of date and I'd almost given up trying to play games on it. I could have been running the same software on a cutting edge machine with the same OS on it and have a massively different experience - but it wouldn't have been the fault of Microsoft for allowing either my old hardware or for not preventing someone else's new hardware. My Galaxy S is awsome. But I don't expect it to perform as well as a Galaxy S2, even though it's running up to date software - and I fully plan on installing Android 4 on it when it's available. Different android phones are always going to give different experiences - it's both the strength and the weakness of the platform. iPhones - less so - although I bet there's plenty of stuff which runs on an i4 which won't run or runs poorly on an i3.
photohounds 22 October 2011	+1 MD. My Galaxy S is also awesome for such an 'old' phone - still finding all the nifty things it can do - except go faster than the newer phones. Have you tried customising folder icons? There's SO much choice: http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=android%20icons&order=9&offset=144 you can do it manually as well if you prefer to hack. Here's a simple way to find a zillion icons https://market.android.com/details?id=com.droidicon.launcherproicons&hl=en and of course you could make your own if thousands of icons isn't enough choice. Whatever path you tread, the outcome REALLY makes the phone 'yours'. Try replicating THIS freedom with a locked down phone ... ii plain vanilla, albeit a good phone is your bag you can just leave it. Now ... as long as no-one claims to have invented that 'speaker at the top and microphone at the bottom' design we'll be OK :) ICS presumably also gets around the minor patent issues and on with maintaining the lead. I will put it on as well, but have skipped honeycomb.
ColinWardle 22 October 2011	One thing that is missed is the Cloud strategies, which should be treated as integral to the operating systems. The I-Cloud looks attractive take a photo on on your phone and view it quickly on the I-Pad, Mac, PC or I-phone. (Though I am unclear whether you have to be on the same network) What we want is to type documents on one device and later see be able to use them on another device later on. The I Cloud seems to be able to do a lot of this in a seamless way. I am unclear how the android strategy will work? Although Google docs is good. It still a pain dealing with browser restrictions (e.g. no cut and paste without using short cuts)and off line versions have been problematic. The other thing that concerns me about Android is that often the carriers put their flavour of software on and you are then beholden to the carrier before the upgrade comes out, sometimes this has been a year after the release of the new version of Android software. I am also concerned about the quality of the apps on Android and indeed the download platform to purchase Apps. Though I understand Amazon Android platform is making progress on this front. Buying an Iphone today makes me feel comfortable it will be upgraded to IOS 7 without a problem, I am not sure I share the same confidence with Android phones due to the number of variables. Apple also is much better for music play back. It's just a pity Apple does not offer a bigger screen phone on it's current line up. At the end of the day it's good to see competition and the main looser will likely be Blackberry and Nokia.
photohounds 23 October 2011	Dropbox might do a lot of what you want ... platform agnostic - even Linux support is great - clever people. I've used it for docs, images, video, music etc. - even disk images - all with no problem. It can also be encrypted if you choose. It makes the cloud easy enough. You can buy extra as you wish and rates sit somewhere between the pricey icloud and the longer-standing and more economical google cloud offerings.
amcmo 23 October 2011	The compatibility issues are a genuine concern. Reality is that each mfr puts it's own skin on Android and it can be a suck it and see job to see if the app works on your device. OS upgrades have been an issue with some mfr's not even going 1 point upgrade with a device, though most seem to give 1 or 2 point upgrades. Apple seem to be consistently doing point upgrade or patches for want of a better word for any supported device. Full version upgrades (ie 4 to 5) seems to be supported for current version and 2 older models which is not too bad. Don't know what the WinPhone upgrade policy will be. We use Dropbox and it's not too bad, though we now have 3 devices using iCloud. No don't need to be on same network, just internet connected. iCloud seems to work just fine and will be getting more of a workout over the next few weeks. I believe you do get a free component on iCloud (3-5 gig or some such) but can pay for more. As Photo points out, if you want to spend your time playing with a phone, you can put fancy icons on Android and a pile of other shit (including Malware!). Yes, you can replicate much of that if you want to hack an iPhone, however if you want a smartphone phone that just works and is good at what it does from all reports, iPhone does certainly fill that bill, and the Android 'freedom to do anything' becomes nothing more than a marketing phurphy and fanboy war cry! From my point of view, I don't want to muck around putting pretty icons on a phone, tweaking this and that, just to prove how cool I am (at my age 'cool' is a distant memory:d ) All I want is a phone that works as good as or better than any other as both a phone and a business tool. Easy and fast setup, a strong app store, including business apps, that you know will work on your phone straight up, minimal malware threat. I've been going through this iPhone or Android exercise for the past month or so, came close to the G2S, however Thursday had our Telstra business manager send out an iPhone. Yes Fanboys, Apple have finally sucked me in to their hype:lol: (It was a couple of the Android fanboys here that tipped me over the edge - if you're so worried about a product that you have to heap unsupportable shit on it and it's maker (it's a toy, monopolist... I could go on for pages) then it must be a seriously good piece of kit) Real Reason - after going through hands-on with both, checking (unbiased) reviews, it came to next to nothing between them. I found the Samsung felt a little plastic, was a little on the large side for the pocket test, and I like the solid feel of the iPhone. The screen size is no issue for me, it's resolution is great. I have an Air and the iPhone plays nice with both it and my PC's plus our Exchange server, right out of the box. Apple Mail on the phone is brilliant - instant server access. Wish Outlook on PC was as easy to setup. It is a work phone after all. Our IT mgr also had some concerns with an Android phone connecting directly to our mail server. It did synch my music on the 'terrible, buggy, monopolist iTunes' across both the Air and the PC's no pain - Easy access to my over 4,000 tracks (you wouldn't like them - half the artists were dead - air crashes, drugs - before most of you were born), with Apple only having their fingers on 3 of them (didn't someone claim iTunes locked you into Apple or some such??) Plus of course in public, it looks like the old model, - no 'latest and greatest' wank factor.:d
photohounds 25 October 2011	Don't drop it AM, it'll smash to pieces on a hard surface. It isn't pretty. Put a plastic case on it as many Android users do, makes phones safer, but ALL feel plasticky then :-) Maybe you're perfect and never drop stuff as you get out of the car ... Oh yes, there's a way to hack around the itunes lock down. Love that G search engine ... I also love being ablt to replace a battery wih a new one ... remobable backs make a phone 'weaker', but I am not using mine as a lever. A more robust mail server is in order, if your IT manager is frightened?