Apple iOS 6 Vs Android Ice Cream Sandwich: Battle of OS

Apple iOS  6 has been launched and the entire mobile phone and tablet industry is buzzing over the launch. iOS 6 is the new OS of Apple with more than 200 new features. Apple unveiled iOS 6 (beta version) on 11th June at Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). iOS 6 will be accessible this fall for the users of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It will be accessible as a free software update. iOS 6 comes with all new Maps app, Facebook  integration, improved Siri, new Passbook app and much more. Currently, two major players of the mobile world are Google and Apple. They both have their own Operating System such as Android and iOS. Here we have provided the comparison of Apple’s latest OS, iOS 6 and Google’s latest OS, Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

 

Comparison of Apple iOS 6 and Android Ice Cream Sandwich

1. Maps

Apple iOS 6 includes new mapping solution. The company has designed its own maps along with “3D Flyover Mode”. Users are able to see the areas throughout the world in 3D photographic view. Users can get visual and verbal turn-by-turn directions and traffic updates narrated by Siri. Google Maps is already having a strong place. The overall functionality of both maps is almost same but Google Maps is considerably less polished and requires upgrading its navigation & 3D maps.

2. Facebook Integration

Sharing is simpler on Android ICS compared to iOS 6. iOS 6 comes with deeper integration of Facebook. Users have to log in once and they can easily post to Facebook from within their apps like Siri, Notification Center and Facebook-enabled apps. Users can share a photo to Facebook directly from Camera/Photos and “Like” any thing from the App Store and iTunes. The information of users’ Facebook friends will be updated in Contacts automatically and events of the Facebook will be also integrated into Calendar. Whereas the little share icon of Android allows you to share anything from anywhere in the OS. Android can share an app to integrated social networks and third party apps.

3. Mobile Payments

The new iOS 6 includes Passbook feature, which allows the users to get into a movie or a concert, cash-in a coupon, check into your hotel and check in for a flight, just by scanning their iPhone or iPod touch. It is equipped with a built in GPS so the users get information (theoretically) when they require. It will alert users, if their flight delays or gate changes. Android comes with NFC payments feature, which allows the users to make payment through their NFC-enabled phone, but still NFC is not accepted at many places. Compared to NFC payments, Passbook feature is better.

4. Siri VS Voice Actions

Siri and Voice Actions make the life easy by allowing users to speak instead of typing. iOS 6 sports greatly improved Siri with more restaurant info, more languages and new capabilities on sports scores and movies. Siri is also available for the new iPad 2. For you, Siri can open applications as well as post updates on Facebook and tweet on Twitter. Android’s Voice Actions also lets the users to control their phone using voice/speech commands but it pales when compared to Siri.

5. Google Drive VS iCloud

The online storage service of Apple (iCloud) provides 5GB storage space to each iCloud user for free as well as Photo Stream for your photos. Users can access to iWork and iMessage. You can sync bookmarks, reading list, contacts and calendars with other apps among the iCloud account and all enabled devices. Google Drive provides Gtalk to compete iMessage and Picasa for all your photos along with 5GB free storage space for all the Google docs and files. When it comes to file storage formats, Google Drive is more open and when it comes to presentation, iCloud is more refined.

6. Browser Sync

iOS 6 lets you to sync your browser tabs among all the devices, which means you can easily open the tabs on iPhone or iPad, that you opened in Safari. Ice Cream Sandwich OS allows you to sync tabs, search terms, bookmarks and much more between Chrome and your desktop. Ice Cream Sandwich OS is better than iOS 6 OS as no one uses Safari.

7. User interface

Apple has not changed the overarching design with the launch of iOS 6. iOS 6 and Android ICS both mainly depend on horizontal swiping. iOS 6 pans throughout the applications while ICS uses the whole home screen. iOS 6 comes with static apps and folder menu system while ICS includes five home screens. Home screens let you to arrange shortcuts and widgets which link you to applications right from the home screen. Notifications bars are provided by both operating systems. Users can pull down these bars for getting an expanded view and to incorporate smart-search bar.

8. Video Chat

With iOS 6, users are able to make and receive FaceTime calls from anywhere and on any device whereas with ICS, users are able to chat only with the people who have Gmail.