Point: Android is Better than iOS

By Sam Cooperman ‘22

    In these unprecedented times full of heated political discussion and massive waves of social activism, there is one thing we can all agree on: Android is simply better than iOS. Some of you may disagree, but you simply need to be informed of the amazing qualities that make Android the superior operating system.

    There are only two things you could argue iOS does better than Android. Apple has built an entire ecosystem integrating iOS and the iPhone almost seamlessly with all other Apple devices like MacBooks and AirPods. Also, iOS is better optimized than Android will ever be. Unfortunately, that is all it has over its competitor. Besides those two things, Android dominates iOS completely in sheer quality. 
    The main feature that Android users can flex on their iOS using peers is Android’s superior looks. Yes, how pleasing something looks is subjective, but Android plays to this subjectivity by being completely customizable by the user. This means that when you buy an Android phone, you have more control over how it looks.
    ​The only aesthetic ability you have on the iPhone is changing wallpapers. And while iOS 14 introduced widgets to the iPhone home screen, Android has had them for years, meaning that there are more apps that support them, along with their being more customization options than just three sizes. Moreover, you can place an app icon wherever you want on the page, unlike an iPhone which forces them to line up. 
    With the apps that are necessary on a phone yet are never used, such as Apple Music because most use Spotify, Android remains supreme. Apple has introduced an app library in iOS 14 for all the apps not wanted on the home screen, something Android has always had. On Android, it can be accessed from any home screen by simply swiping up rather than swiping left through every home screen. Apple doesn’t let you adjust how your apps are sorted in its app library and doesn’t just have one big folder for all your apps. Again, Android has both of these features.
    While iOS features appear good at first glance, they are not truly good in comparison with Android. One of them, the Apple ecosystem, how different Apple devices interact, is cool but can get irritating. For example, it can be very frustrating when AirPods refuse to flip between the MacBook and iPhone – this happens to me often – or when a text received on your phone takes an extra five minutes to come up on your laptop or watch.
    If you, like many others, think the Airdrop feature can save iOS, know that Android has it too. Sure, Apple was ahead of the curve for this, but it’s a much bigger challenge (and achievement) for Android because there are so many different versions of Android active at once.
    ​There are multiple versions of it that run across hundreds of phones, compared to iOS that gets minor updates every few months and only needs to run on a few different sizes of iPhones. However, the iPhone is full of bugs, so the difference isn’t always noticeable, and this can be flipped to an advantage for Android because it means you can get Android software on any kind of phone. 
    If you want a foldable phone, then get the Galaxy Z flip running Android 10. How about a dual-screen phone that rotates into a T shape? Get the LG Wing running a modified version of Android 10. What about a phone that you can slide down to reveal a front-facing camera to get that coveted all-screen design? Look no further than Android. 
    How about the craziest phone ever made: one that also comes with a laptop with a battery on the inside that you can put the phone in and use as a laptop? While it sounds like science fiction, that actually exists and runs a modified version of Android. It’s called the ASUS PadFone and it is glorious.
    ​Long story short, Android is more customizable inside and out, and any feature Apple has, Android can match or improve on. The Apple ecosystem isn’t enough to elevate iOS to a higher status than Android.