iOS 7 vs Android 4.2

Android-versus-iOS

iOS 7 vs Android Jelly Bean 4.2

In case you were saying to yourself “what are the differences between iOS 7 and Android 4.2” Well I did just that so you can stop searching.  Ok, lets step back for a second and start looking at the comparisons of what Apple is going to offer in their latest iOS 7 release that is not yet available and what Android Jelly Bean 4.2 now offers.  Android is ahead of the curve with its own unique features Android Fans come to know and crave each time Android puts out its updates. Starting with some Apple’s new features (not yet released) and a few of Androids features Android Fans are already enjoying.

iOS 7: Claims its going to Make the things you do every day even easier, quicker, and more enjoyable.  And while many of the apps may a look a bit different, the way you do things feels and looks the same.

Android 4.2: Jelly Bean improves on the speed and simplicity of Android 4.1 and also includes new features like Photo Sphere and a completely redesigned camera app, new Gesture Typing keyboard, Google Now with all new cards, and much more.

Everything in Android just feels fast and smooth. Navigating between home screens and switching between apps is effortless and a real time saver.  Jelly Bean improves features and performance throughout the system, including faster orientation changes, quicker switching between recent opened apps, and smoother and more consistent rendering across the system.  Jelly Bean has more reactive and unique touch responses, and makes your Android device even more responsive by revving up your device’s processor in an instant when you touch the screen, and slows it down when you don’t need it to improve life of the battery.

iOS 7 introduces some great new features like Control Center, AirDrop and Multitasking to name a few.  I have compared these iOS features and others with Androids Jelly Bean 4.2.

Control Center vs Android Widgets

Control Center gives you quick access to the controls and apps you always seem to need right this second. By simply swiping up from any screen, including the Lock screen, to do things like switch to different modes like Airplane mode, turn Wi-Fi on or off, or adjust the brightness or contrast of your display.

Android also makes it easier to customize your home screen.  As you have the ability to place widgets on the home screen, everything else automatically moves to make room.  When they’re too large, widgets resize by themselves automatically. If you choose to resize a widget, apps and widgets will now also move out of the way to make room.  This is a very smooth transition.  You can now quickly remove apps or widgets from any home screen by  moving them to the edge of the screen instead of moving to trash icon.  Launching apps and returning back to the home screen are now faster and effortless with Android.

Quick Look

Allows you to turn on or off different modes like Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb. Lock your screen’s orientation or adjust its brightness.  You can also Play, pause, or skip a song  with ease.

Android 4.2, on the other hand, lets you place widgets on your device’s lock screen to give you quicker access to your calendar, Gmail, SMS messages, and even third party app widgets that you can download from Google Play.  Quickly launch Google Now by swiping up from the bottom edge of your secure lock screen.  You can even easily access the camera straight from your phone’s lock screen.

Notifications

iOS Notification Center  lets you know about new mail, missed calls, to-dos that need doing, and more.  And a new feature called “Today” gives you a convenient summary of today. You can access Notification Center from any screen, including the Lock screen. Just swipe down. And get up to speed.

With Android, and a swipe of your finger, you can get to your notifications as well.  You can now take action on notifications directly from the notifications shade.  Notifications from the same application are grouped together, and the first item is automatically expanded. You can also pinch out notifications to expand or pinch in to collapse them.  You now get an image preview in notifications after taking a screenshot. You can quickly share the screenshot directly from the notification.  You can now touch-hold a notification to identify the application that created it and turn off notifications from that application if needed, or just simply uninstall the application.  You can also remove Notifications that you read by swiping them away.

Camera

Camera in iOS 7 puts all your shooting formats from still, video, panorama, and now square  in plain view. With a swipe, you can capture what you want the way you want .   There are also new filters that let you do even more with each image. Give it a natural feel.  Increase the brightness or contrast.  Or just go to black and white.  You are the Artist and you have the ownership and what you desire is all yours.  You can apply many filters to still and square photos. You can pick a filter and see the effect before you even take the picture. Or just take the shot after shot and apply it later as you edit your visions. If you ever change your mind and decide no filter is the best, you have the opportunity to simply remove it.

Android 4.2 features a  redesigned camera with new tools for taking photos.  Tools like High Dynamic Range or HDR mode (on supported devices) that lets you see more detail in your shots by expanding the exposure range.  There is also a new photo editor that features new filters, borders, and other tools to easily customize your photos.  With the Photo Sphere feature, you can take panoramic images and wide angle shots that you can view and share on your phone, tablet or desktop computer or favorite social media.  If you so desire, you can quickly review photos you’ve taken without leaving the camera app, you can swipe from the camera viewfinder. To continue taking photos again, just swipe back to the camera viewfinder.

 iCloud Photo Sharing vs Google +

With the use of  iCloud, you can share your favorite moments with your favorite people by creating a shared photo stream which is pretty cool.  Allowing others to post photos, videos, and comments to your stream, and it all appears on everyone’s iOS devices automatically which is very similar to the Mac. The new Activity view lets you see the latest updates from all your shared streams in one place.

With Google +, you can also share Photos with your community, circles or publicly, and anyone you share with can experience them on Google+ view them on their desktop.  Photo Spheres are now also saved in Instant Upload.  As you swipe through the stream, large bold photos now fall into place with animations giving you a more unique browsing experience.  Google+ on tablets features a new magazines layout in the stream.  You can now create and manage Google+ Events right from your device. Posts and photos are saved to the event so you can relive it at any time.  There is also a Party Mode that lets you instantly upload and share photos during an Event so you capture all the right moments in one place.

 Air Drop vs NFC

The idea of sending a photo, video or a document to someone through a  text or email is great. But if that someone is right next to you, a text or an email suddenly feels like too many steps. With AirDrop for your iOS device, it lets you quickly and easily share photos, videos, contacts and anything else from any app with a Share button.  You can simply tap and  share, then select the person you want to share with. AirDrop does the rest using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There is no setup that is required.  And transfers are encrypted, so what you share is highly secure.

With Android Beam, it’s a bit different,  you can also easily share your photos and videos via NFC not Wi-Fi.  You can instantly pair your Android phone or tablet to Bluetooth devices like headsets or speakers that support the Simple Secure Pairing standard by just tapping them together.  Android Beam is ideal for sharing content like web pages, maps, videos, photos, and more with other people’s phones and tablets. You can quickly transfer content between nearby devices without a long setup process.  And transfers are also encrypted, so what you share is highly secure.

iTunes Radio vs Google Play Music

iTunes Radio features streaming radio stations you’ll love from day one  from the best selection of music. The more you listen, the more personalized it becomes. And it’s available on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, and Apple TV for free. It’s radio re-imagined.  You can access Featured Stations, stations inspired by music you choose or already listen to, and more than 200genre-based stations.  Build new stations while you listen, and control the balance between playing the hits and discovering less familiar songs.  View the History of everything you’ve heard or added to your Wish List. Then tap to download the songs you want from iTunes.

With the Google Play Music widget, now lets you give a  thumbs up to songs as they are playing and features a new design for better readability.  Playlist art is automatically created and is based on the album art of your songs in that playlist.  In the now playing bar, you can simply swipe between screens.  The Recent screen features larger album art.  You can also delete tracks within the app.  There is a Now Playing queue of tracks.  You can set a song as your ringtone from Play Music, and the new ringtone editor lets you crop that ringtone to the exact section of the track you’d like to use.  You can now discover all new music in Google Play by touching ‘explore similar artists’ and swiping between artists to instantly listen to previews of their music.  A new Sound Search widget lets you identify songs you hear and gives the option to purchase them directly from Google Play.  Google Play Music has come a long way and is getting better.

App Store vs Google Play

Apps Near Me is a new feature of the App Store in iOS 7  and it shows you a collection of popular apps relevant to your current location.   There is a new Kids category that spotlights the best apps for children based on age.   iOS 7 also keeps your apps up to date automatically, so you don’t have to bother.  You will no longer see that you have updates available like in the past.

With Android, there is a new set of recommendation widgets that use a variety of signals and content that people with similar tastes have purchased, like stuff that’s popular and interesting around where you live, and content people in your Google+ circles.  A new My Library widget, which displays all of your recent movies, books, music, and magazines and dynamically changes based on what you’ve been entertaining with recently.  Smart App Updates ensure that only the parts of an application that have changed will be downloaded when you next update it, saving time, bandwidth, and battery life.  This is very nice and saves lots of time.

 iOS in car vs Google Maps

iOS in the Car seamlessly integrates your iOS device and enhances the iOS experience with your in-dash system.  Now you can easily and safely make phone calls, access your music, send and receive messages, get directions, and more.

With Android you have Google Maps, you can upload your Photos to Google Maps directly from your phone, so others can view them on their desktop.  With support for offline maps, you can select an area  and later access it even when you don’t have a connection.  There is also a Compass Mode for indoor views and street view is more accurate and responsive.    You can also get indoor walking directions in Maps.

In Summary, how open is iOS 7 compared to Android.  Both iOS and Android have more features that differ slightly is some cases and significantly in others.  I think iOS 7 is getting better, however, it’s still playing catch up with Android.  The bottom line is you have more control over the features with Android compared to iOS.  If you are lucky enough to have an Android Smart Phone with a 5” display your experience is even that much better.  Do the “Jelly Bean” dance.  Bigger and better is yet to come in the very near future with Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie to be released, and that is when you will crave Android even more than you do now.  That is when it starts to get really interesting.

 

About Frank LaTorre

I live for every little technological advances we are making to make things better and easier. You can almost say it consumes me. I used to be a die-hard PC guy, building from the case up to the motherboard and installing software over and over again. Now I am all about the MAC because it just works with no questions asked except when it comes to Smart Phones I am all Android. Android is like art and the greatest masterpiece the freedom of expression. I have designed websites, and dabble in video editing trying to capture life’s most precious moments. I will give you the good the bad and the ugly. There will be some spilled milk along the way as we learn from our mistakes. As an AFN writer, I will tell you how it is and let you make the ultimate decision and make you feel confident that you did. Just keep in mind, I am not only human but part Android.

  • Praneeth Kancherla

    Nice comparison Frank