So it’s that time of year again, where we look at what is in store for us from the two major mobile operating system giants, Android and Apple. Both companies are looking soon to release the latest iterations of their respective operating systems. But which will be better? Android L or iOS8. Lets take a little look at what each manufacturer has revealed to us so far, to see if we can find anything out.
Android L
Let’s first start by saying that we aren’t going to get into the old Apple stole feature X from Android, and Android stole feature Y from Apple. That has happened since the beginning of time, and is quite normal, and in my opinion, healthy. It pushes the market along, speeds up development, and forces companies to make radical and new progress. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to point out similarities, we’re just not going to get into a playground name calling fight.
The first major difference that we’re going to cover is one that I think is going to be a ground breaking one for Apple, and a change that I hope will mean a change in attitude in the future by the bitten fruit company. Apple, in the latest iOS8 have announced that they are going to allow people to use third party keyboards! That’s right, you heard us, something in Apple that will be third party!! Let’s hope this vein continues into the future and Apple begins to open itself up to more third party software.
iOS8
Ok, say fans of Android, big deal, that’s a feature we have had since 2009 and Android version 1.5, so what. Well as a major fan of Android for its openness, I am a major disbeliever in the closedness of Apple, so I’m glad they are choosing this step forward. Rumour has it that many popular Android keyboard companies are already migrating thir keyboards over to Apple, such as SwiftKey, Minuum, Swype and many more. It doesn’t stop there though, Apple has extended its extensibility API’s so that there can be more sharing between third party services, such as being able to share Evernote with Safari and share to VSCO Cam from the Photos app. Of course that has been a feature of Android since the year dot.
Siri has also received a little tweaking as she (can’t help calling it a she) can now operate hands free. As long as your device is powered on by an external source you can say “Hey Siri” and dictate to her as usual. This is a feature available in stock Android, from the home screen just say “OK Google” and Google Now will do the same thing.
Android L Material Design
On a similar note, the Android system is being equipped with the lock screen notification function. That will be nothing new to owners of Apple products, it has been around for a long time. Although the way you interact with them on Android will be slightly different, you will need to do a double screen tap to open the notifications and do a swipe to dismiss them.
It seems that as each operating system grows and develops, they become more and more alike. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don’t know. I think in some ways it’s almost necessary, and I hope that it will cause a future divergence or perhaps pave the way for a third contender to bring something new to the market.
Android is getting a bit of a face lift with this new version. Gone are the days of a flat android that has no life or depth. With the new design language, called Material Design the user interface of Android has been redesigned quite drastically. All of the items have depth, so much so that if you suffer from vertigo you may be as well migrating to Apple right now.
iOS8 Extensibility
Android L in my opinion is an absolute stunner. It is clean, sharp and very, very cool. Eveything has been simplified. The navigation buttons are now three basic shapes. We have triangle for back, circle for home and a square for the recent apps. When you touch the screen, some vibrant, 60fps animations take over that look like ripples of water in a pond. Very nice. Also many of the usual phone notifications have been simplified and made a lot less obtrusive. When you receive a call, instead of taking over the whole screen, you get a small icon notification in the top bar of the phone. This means that if you don’t want to take the call, you can just keep on doing what you were doing without being interrupted or having to wait for the person to ring off.
Regards the visual interaction of iOS8, it won’t see much changes from iOS7. After all, iOS7 already received a major visual overhaul so it is onlt getting a couple of minor tweaks.
Android L versus iOS8
Which is the more important update? In terms of radical changes it has to be Android. They are doing to Android visually what Apple did to iOS when they released iOS7. A major overhaul, and for the better. But to be honest, although Apple haven’t made that many changes visually the fact that they are allowing better third party integration means to me a lot. I have stayed away from Apple for many years because I don’t like their controlling nature. That I have to use their product as they tell me it has to be used. With this new openness (albeit small now), maybe they are paving the way to be a little more flexible, and that is exciting.
What do you think? Have you had any experience with the new operating systems? Which is the most important to you? Please feel free to comment and share.
Android Smartphones UK 