Android vs iOS: All OSs are not Created Equal

Technologically Google’s Android, and Apples iOS 4 are equal. However, when people go to buy a new phone they do not treat phones with these OSs the same. Here’s why.

First I must make a key distinction. If you read this website, you know that Google makes Android, and then other manufacturers produce the hardware. You also know that Apple makes the software and the hardware when it comes to the iPhone. However, my mother and people like my mother, do not know this. They just know that they are buying an iPhone, or they know that they are buying a “Google Phone”. In terms of volume, we know that because of the significant amount of devices on the market, Google is shredding Apple when it comes to market share. However, so did Motorola’s RAZR, if you just compare numbers.

Yes I know, technologically the Android OS is much more advanced than the RAZR. However the RAZR was another phone amongst many, it was popular, but it really wasn’t special. People really didn’t line up for the RAZR, and when they went to purchase their new phone, most likely their choice of the RAZR was just based on impulse or because their friends had one, not because of the mass market appeal of the device. This is where I see Android.

People did not know that Motorola made the RAZR, and they don’t know the HTC Makes the Incredible. They know that Android is on the device, but, like the RAZR, they do not know what skin is on the device, or what version of the OS. This becomes a major problem when a device becomes mainstream. It was NOT a problem for the RAZR, since lets face it, you couldn’t do anything but make phone calls on it. On Android, some Apps in the marketplace work only on certain devices. While the App may say “Only on FROYO,” what average customer knows what FROYO is?

Another difference between the iPhone and Android, is that people are used to buying things in iTunes. App buying becomes an extension of what the phone is capable of. On Android it is not nearly as easy to buy something. If people even venture into the poorly organized and nearly unsearchable MarketPlace, they have to set up a Google Checkout account, enter their credit card number and all that jazz. On the second time they do this, it’s easier. They only have to press buy, then they have to go to another page to confirm their purchase then they have to download it. On apple, press buy twice, enter your password, and BAM, you’re done. Almost everyone has an iTunes account, and if they don’t it seems easier to set up than the Google option.

Now everyone knows that Apple is a closed system. This is a bad thing in some aspects, but it also a better solution for non-technical people. In the Android Market, there are all kinds of potentially harmful applications. In Apple’s closed space, there is hardly any chance of malware being snuck into the AppStore. Openness only matters to geeks. Regular people care more about reliability and usefulness. Android is perfectly useful for anyone. However, when you have non-technical people buying your phones like they are the newest Nokia dumbphone, you have to know that people are going to get in trouble because of the inherent openness of your platform. This is much more dangerous when you have a platform that is as capable as the Android system is. People get curious, and download something that bricks their phone.

For the haters out there, I would like to say that I love Android. I just see that people buy Android in the same way they were buying dumbphones five years ago. I also see that being a dangerous thing, when non-technical people grab a device that is by its own definition a geek-standard. Android is selling like a consumer phone, it should not be until it can address its friendliness towards those customers.