Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and the
software powering our beloved gadgets isn't an
exception. With each new release, mobile
platforms are growing sleeker, faster, and more
versatile than ever before. That's mobile OS
evolution we're witnessing, and we're calling it
evolution not only because software is constantly
being improved, but also because the fittest are
the ones that survive, while those who can't
keep up eventually meet their demise. So, which
is the best survivor of them all? The ultimate
mobile operating system? Well, that's one of
those questions that seem simpler than they
actually are. Many would give Android 4.4 their
thumbs-up, while others are really into Apple's
iOS 7. In reality, these two platforms have
become quite similar on many levels and there's
a lot to like about them. However, there is a
number of things that make them different –
things that make one of them better than the
other in one way, or inferior in another. Allow us
to elaborate.
Lock and home screens
Simplicity is the fundamental concept, around
which iOS 7 has been designed. This becomes
evident as soon as an iOS device is picked up
and turned on – the first thing displayed is a
seemingly basic lock screen, inviting you to “slide
to unlock”. We said “seemingly” because the iOS
lock screen is a tad more advanced than it
appears to be. A swipe from the top displays
the Notification Center and a swipe from the
bottom brings forth the Control Center menu.
There's a shortcut for the camera as well. And
that's what makes the iOS lock screen so great –
it is intuitive and uncluttered, but highly
functional at the same time.
The Android 4.4 lock screen is just as
straightforward to interact with – pull the ring in
any direction and you're good to start using your
device. Yet functionality hasn't been sacrificed.
The slide-down notification panel is accessible,
and so is Google Now with a swipe up from the
bottom. A camera shortcut hasn't been
forgotten either. That's pretty much all that a
typical smartphone user would require, but for
those who are serious about personalization,
Google has added a handful of useful lock
screen widgets. With their help, the user has
near-instant access to their notes, their email
inbox, social network updates, and more.
What's even better, new ones can be
downloaded from the Play Store. A small
downside to Android's lock screen widgets is
that setting them up can be somewhat
unintuitive, but other than that, we love the
functionality that they add.
Once past the iOS 7 lock screen, the user is
introduced to a minimalist home screen menu
with large, easy to hit icons and clearly legible
labels. Again, Apple is keeping it all as simple as
possible, meaning that even first-time users can
get the hang of the system's UI in no time,
while experienced owners have quick, hassle-
free access to their apps. Android, on the other
hand, puts the highlight on functionality and
personalization with its option to populate home
screens with widgets of all shapes and sizes.
Downloaded and pre-installed apps are listed in
a separate drawer, which leaves more room on
the home screens for widgets, shortcuts, and
folders. Speaking of folders, we tend to like
their execution in iOS 7, where there's no limit
to how many apps we can place inside one.
Android 4.4 lets you place no more than 16 apps
inside a folder, which is okay, yet somewhat
limiting.
Search is deeply integrated into the UIs of both
platforms, which is great to know considering
how people love to Google anything nowadays.
In iOS 7, a swipe down on any home screen
displays a search bar for looking up stuff online
and for finding a specific app or contact – an
elegant solution that doesn't occupy any screen
real estate, but is always there when you need
it. In Android 4.4, a search bar for apps,
contacts, and Google queries is permanently
affixed to the top of any home screen. Some
might find this annoying as it eats up more
space than it probably should, although we
don't thing that its constant presence is too big
of a deal.
#Appearance and customization
features
Apple's iOS 7 was launched to mixed reviews,
regarded by some as fresh and stylish, but
dismissed by others as flat, too childish and
cartoonish-looking. In our opinion, the
appearance of the platform is more than
acceptable. In fact, we're perfectly fine with the
way it looks now that we've grown used to its
interface and layout. Stacked against iOS 7,
Android 4.4 looks pretty lifeless with its black
and gray theme. But there's a number of neat
things about its UI as well, including the
translucent status bar and the redesigned icons.
Customization is, without a doubt, one of
Android's major advantages over iOS. And that's
not only because of the widget functionality we
mentioned above. Android users are free to use
third-party lock screens, on-screen keyboards,
live wallpapers, and launchers that alter the way
the system's UI is organized. In other words, if
you've grown tired of its plain old look, or if
there's something about Android that you don't
quite like, a replacement for it is likely available
at the Play Store. We must mention that with
Android 4.4, Google is making it even easier for
users to switch back and forth between
launchers with a new “Home” option in the
settings menu.
There isn't much about iOS 7 that a user is free
to modify. Sorry, that's just Apple's way of
doing things. Looking at it from the bright side,
the company's tight control over the feel and
appearance of iOS prevents customization apps
of sub-par quality from affecting the user
experience in a negative way. There are things
one can change, of course, and make their
phone or tablet more personal. iOS 7 brought a
few new personalization features, including
dynamic wallpapers – animated background that
behave a lot like Android's live wallpapers.
Sadly, no new ones can be downloaded from the
App Store, at least not for now. Still wallpapers
have been spiced up with a so-called parallax
effect, which shifts the background image
depending on the angle, at which the handset is
being held. That creates an illusion of depth and
the effect is really nice in our opinion – pretty,
yet unobtrusive.
# Quick controls and notifications
Apple did the right thing by adding a menu with
quick controls and toggles to iOS with the
platform's seventh major release. Called Control
Center, it is easily accessible by swiping up from
the bottom of the screen – this gesture works
from the lock screen, on any home screen, even
while running a game or an app. But while this
feature is a major and welcome advantage to
iOS, it has been available in third-party Android
UIs for quite a long time. Even the stock Android
4.4 interface has a menu with toggles and
shortcuts accessible from the notification panel.
However, we don't find it neither as pretty, nor
as functional as iOS 7's Control Center.
The overhauled Notification Center in iOS 7 now
takes the user straight to their agenda. That's
very convenient for people who actually use the
Calendar app. Those who find it too crowded in
there are free to pick what notifications are to
be displayed – stocks information, unread email,
Game Center alerts, reminders, and more. While
the Notification Center is not too bad of a
solution as a whole, it leaves room for
improvement. For example, we see no benefit in
having the weather forecast displayed there in
plain text – text that we actually have to stop
and take a few seconds to read – when a simple
weather icon with a digit for the temperature
would do just fine. Android's notification bar is a
bit different for it doesn't display much if there
aren't any pending notifications. If there are
new ones, they can be easily dismissed with a
swipe to the side, or tapped on, which takes the
user to the app that displayed the notification. A
neat improvement brought by Android 4.4 is the
option to access the notification panel even
when a full-screen app is running, meaning that
you can read notifications without exiting that
game you're playing. In iOS, the Notification and
Control Centers work in a similar fashion.
