Android vs iPhone in One Family: Is It a Road to Divorce?

I can hardly describe myself as an Apple fan: every time I buy a computer, I consider switching to a MacBook but invariably end with something Windows-based finding quite a number of excuses for why I would not do that right now. I have frequently criticized Google here for many things in their politics toward user privacy and their intention to eventually rule physical world in addition to the online one. So I hope it is obvious I can hardly be biased towards any of the two companies – but that does not mean that this post is going to be an unbiased comparison of the two mobile operating systems so don’t expect it or anything even relatively close.

It just so happens that my family now owns two fundamentally different gadgets: I have an iPod Touch (enjoying it immensely and actually waiting for a chance to finally unlock an iPhone 3GS I have also recently purchased on eBay) while my husband is a proud owner of Google’s Nexus One (most certainly the one and only owner of the gadget here in Novosibirsk where we live). And if anything, our family has definitely become an interesting playground of Google versus Apple where everyone supports one’s choice without ever planning to admit another one may have a better device.

So it somehow happens that Google now fights against Apple in our very apartment – as well as in our talks to friends who ask for advice on the smart phone they should buy. For example, when my husband is asked about his very unusual phone (“What? Google? You mean that Google actually manufactures cell phones?”), he invariably recommends the person get such a phone or any other Android-based device because nothing could be better than Android. And if the person asking for his opinion is still considering buying an iPhone, he would add with some sort of contempt that his wife is also using an iPhone so it is definitely a very ‘girly’ device (would he mention his wife writing a tech blog so being somewhat of a geek herself?).

Over the time it has become obvious to most people that Android is really more geeky than iPhone OS but that does not mean that iPhone is truly ‘girly’: really, a girl or a not so geeky guy – I can hardly imagine an ordinary user really caring so much about openness and ability to easily install jail broken applications. And who would deny the fact that Apple is the king in usability and ease of use when it comes to iPhone?

Honestly, to me our confrontation based on phone models looks a little like an argument of which one is better: comfortable boots or high-heeled shoes. After all, everyone chooses what’s best for one and if iPhone is comfortable, this is what I will use. But that does not mean high-heeled shoes should not exist in this world – if only to make one look better when this is the goal. But anyway it is obvious that both mobile operating systems are now mostly about the applications they run, so competing for the best (user friendly and feature-rich) applications is one of the easiest ways to define the winner these days.

It is not unusual for us now to have small conversations on Skype like this one:

Me: Try AccuRadio – they have an excellent selection of smooth jazz stations.

Him: Thanks, will do.

Me: Too bad they only allow for browser-based listening – can’t just copy links to play stations. Ad-supported, could have opened links on some premium accounts maybe but don’t.

Me (next day): AccuRadio has an application in App Store – listening on my iPod now. Feels better without an extra browser window opened.

Him: Again, what was the name, you say? Will check Android Market now.

Him (a few minutes later): Nope, nothing. Well, I can live without it anyway.

The number and quality of applications in the Apple App Store still rules and his attempts to find something I am very happy about on my iPod Touch frequently fail because the developers don’t always create the same (or similar) applications for the Android Market. Yet it is obvious the situation will not always be like this as the number of users of various Android-powered devices will be growing rapidly as it is doing now. After all, developers always follow the crowd and it is obvious they can’t ignore Android users even now – and they will have to offer users Android versions of their applications not to lose users to competitors who are not so blind to this specific audience.

I still find small things about iPhone OS that definitely make it more user-friendly than Android is, like when we switched to summer time here my husband had to change the time settings manually while my iPod Touch got the right time automatically without me doing anything which is definitely better for someone who may not watch the news that day and may miss some important meeting if not for iPhone reminding at the right time. I know this is a small thing but such small things determine user experience, after all.

At the same time I have to admit there are some things about his phone that are pretty impressive, including the amount of easily customizable screens to use and the native ability to add icons for specific contacts to call them or send them emails right from any screen you choose. But unfortunately the gadget still strikes me as not particularly user-friendly because finding out the features took my husband actually showing them to me while iPhone OS is generally intuitive and only some tricks actually take real learning.

Another advantage of Android that I can’t ignore is how easily he can transfer his purchased books from his computer to Android – while on iPod Touch I have to use applications like Stanza that offer tons of extra steps to begin reading from the moment you buy (I only enjoy reading in Kindle for iPhone because purchase and reading are both sleek and nice for me but I have to use other apps for Russian-language books and this is where I can’t avoid problems).

But I guess the only conclusion one can make here is that it is really impossible to determine the winner in the operating systems war: it is very similar to the age-old ‘I am Mac vs. I am PC’ confrontation which will now inevitably exist in the mobile device market. And of course no matter which device you finally end up buying, you will definitely insist that your operating system is much better than the other one though I will prefer to hope this is not a direct road to divorce as I certainly can survive with my husband reading books easier and he will hardly mind me listening to music with the famous Apple ease of use.