An impartial Windows phone user tries to settle the polarizing Samsung/Apple debate.
Pictured above: An Android and an iPhone stand side by side, animosity radiating. Image credits: Robert Triggs/Android Authority.
The debate between Android and iOS is one that divides our entire school. On the one hand, many people don’t care and are more concerned with their grades and social life. However, the people that do care seem to care a lot! So today, we will be talking to students about some of the reasons they prefer Android or iOS. (You can trust that there will be no bias in this article, as I prefer the Windows Phone.)
Our resident Android user for the day is Avika Sharma. One of the reasons she likes Android is because of the quicker feature cycle that allows Android devices to be generally quicker at adding new features. Because of the more competitive phone launches that take place in the Android world, features such as USB-C, Always-On Display, and Widgets make their way onto Android devices before Apple implements them into their phones. This seems to be generally agreed upon by the majority of Android users. Avika also mentions the aspect of customizability, which is one of the bigger reasons that people get an Android over an iPhone. She says, “Compared to an iPhone, my Samsung has a lot of different themes that I can choose, that change icons and other cool stuff.”
This seems to contrast with what today’s iPhone user says. Lohitaksh Arige, more popularly known as Loki within school circles, argues that an iPhone’s user interface is more aesthetically pleasing and that he does not mind the lack of custom icons. Loki also says that one of his main reasons for using an iPhone is due to the existence of FaceTime and iMessage, some of the iPhone’s strongest features. FaceTime integrates video chatting as if it were a phone call, and iMessage integrates directly into SMS, upgrading conversations from texts limited to 160 letters to texts with replies and reactions. Many users within our school prefer iMessage and like the feature on their phones. Loki also makes the point that even though the App Store might have fewer apps than the Play Store, those apps tend to be safer to use since the concentration of malware on the App Store is much less. This also connects to his statement about how the iPhone is more stable, and has more battery life because of iOS being specifically designed for it.
Overall, we can see that Android versus iOS seems to be more of an opinionated discussion, meaning for a reader shopping for a new phone, personal preference is all that matters. According to each’s customers, Android has more customizability and features and iOS has better communication methods and stability.