A Comparative Study Of The Android And IPhone Operating Systems

Today the world is moving towards mobility and becoming digital. Almost everyone has a mobile phone, especially a smartphone. A smartphone is a mobile phone which has highly advanced features. The features of a smartphone are the operating system used in it and the applications they support. Presently, there are 4 major mobile operating systems- Android, iOS, Windows and Blackberry. Here, we are going to compare Android and iOS mobile operating systems within specific issues.

Introduction

Mobile operating systems are used in mobiles.

They are light weight operating systems that require very less space and memory. These operating systems can be put into use in Tablets, PDA, Smartphones etc. These operating systems enable the mobiles to replace laptops and PCs. They include components like Touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Cellular Bluetooth, GPS, camera, music player and voice recognition. Mobile operating systems include multiprocessing, multiusers and multitasking. The 2 most extensively used mobile operating systems currently are Android and iOS. iOS was developed by Apple Inc. and designed only for use in Apple Hardware like IPhone, IPad, IPod etc.

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iOS includes frameworks like UIToolKit, CoreFoundation and QuartzCore frameworks etc. It also has classes like Cocoa touch and objective c classes. App Development in iOS is carried out under the Xcode IDE and objective c and swift are the languages used for the development. Appstore is a shop that contains all the IPhone apps. The apps may be paid or free. The user can download the required app from the Appstore whenever needed. Android which is developed by Google Inc.

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is an open source mobile operating system. It is based on customised java classes and the development is done in IDE like Android Studio and Eclipse. Unlike iOS, Android is not limited to specific users. It can be modified and developed to use in various companies. Google Play or Play Store is a shop that contains all the Android apps. Google tests the apps and then makes them available in the Play Store from where the users can download and use them. Apps from many categories are present like games, educational, shopping, productivity etc.

System architecture

iOS Architecture

Kernel - The iOS kernel is the XNU kernel. In iOS 6, the kernel is subject to ASLR.

Libraries - Using third-party libraries in iOS environment can save a lot of time and effort. There are 5 libraries that are used in every-day development. Some of them are AFNetworking, JSONModel, MagicalRecord, SDWebImage, ReactiveCocoa.

Framework - A framework contains a dynamic shared library along with associated resources like nib files, image files, and header files.

Android Architecture

Kernel - It forms an abstraction layer between the hardware and the rest of the software.

Libraries - Android has a set of C/C++ libraries that are used by different components. Android provide various applications with ability to open development called application framework. In Application Framework, the lifecycle of applications is managed by the manager.

Framework - Android SDK gives you the API libraries and tools for building and developing new applications on Android operating environment using the java programming language.

Platform comparison

The above graph shows the comparison of different mobile operating systems. In overall market share Android has 86.2% and Apple has 12.9% in Dec2016.

Cost

iOS is a not a freeware operating system. It is completely based on Unix platform. iOS can be used only the in the apple hardware. The devices that support iOS are costly as compared to Android devices. iOS is a mobile version of what is called as Mac.

Android is a free ware open source operating system. It can be downloaded from androidx86.org. It is compatible with any android device as well as Computers. It is developed using Linux and is free. The devices which support android are cheaper.

Hardware requirement

iOS – For the development of iOS, we require Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.6. As the apps in mobiles are relatively smaller in size, and run on slower processors, the computers themselves need not be powerful. The only difficulties arise in usability testing: using the mouse with a simulated touch screen feels unnatural and apps that require access to particular hardware (GPS, Camera, Accelerometer, and Magnetometer) cannot be realistically tested on the simulator.

Android can be developed using any of the current operating systems like Windows, Mac OS X (10.5.8 or higher), and Linux systems. This provides great flexibility as almost any modern computer science laboratory will be suitable. It does not require any specialised hardware.

Software development kit

iOS apps are written using Xcode which is a modern IDE that can be used to code debug, and lay out the interface. For sophisticated debugging, another application called Instruments can be used to detect memory leaks, profile where the app spends most of its time. Android OS is relatively newer than iOS. It has been under quick development from version 1.0 to version 2.2 from 2007 to 2010. Most of the Android devices now use 2.1 or above.

User interface

Android is highly customizable as compared to iOS. The appearance of the device can be changed according to the user’s wish while it's not possible in iOS. Third party launchers, lock screens, etc. can be used and gives a number of options to the user. This main reason that most of the users prefer android. Another advantage is that the Notification Bar in android shows much more information compared to the iOS. iOS has added a few customizations in their latest releases but still isn’t on par with what android provides. iOS devices have a similar UI on all the available devices. While each android phone have manufacturer skins on them.

Software updates

Both Android and iOS provide updates to the devices. But iOS is faster when compared with Android. The main reason behind this is that apple devices get updates directly from Apple Company. While android devices have to go through the manufacturer so that they can make modifications according to their devices. This delays the updates and sometimes some phones never gets the updates as the manufacturer is working for an update on a newer device or other reasons.

Unlocking devices

Apple does not support unlocking their devices because it causes security threats but the third party developers have found a way to do that by jail breaking the device. It is an unofficial process and voids the warranty of the devices. Android on the other hand supports unlocking devices officially (nexus devices). Manufacturers may decide if they want their devices to be unlocked or not unlocked. Some manufacturers like One Plus officially provides ways to unlock their phones and some of them are pre-unlocked according to the region.

Sharing data and apps

As we all know that android device users can share their applications, images, audio files, documents and videos with each other and to the computers and laptops also through bluetooth and sharing applications like SHAREit and xender etc. But the apple devices does not support sharing their applications, audios, images and video to any other device except apple devices (in apple devices above 5s). This is also a major feature or drawback of android devices. It is up to the user that whether they thinks this sharing among devices is a feature or a drawback of the android devices. The apple device user could download it directly from the net because apple thinks sharing of apps or any other things between devices is a major security threat to its devices as well as user data. That’s why the apple makers does not provides the sharing options to its users and also the apple users doesn’t ask for this feature because they also feels that apple is working very well in the field of data security. Apple is also doing well in the field of data security and the apple devices in the market really meant for offering the users high security to their confidential data and their other information. The android device makers have to work a lot on the security related to their smartphones and user data as well. So as to keep themselves in the race to compete with the apple devices and to maintain their market shares and values.

Affordability

Android devices range from minimum 6k to more than 50k while apple devices are mostly priced at high range as compared to the others. Price range is very crucial matter in India where people are mostly from middle income family. So the android users are very high as compared to other countries in India.

Security models

iOS: The iOS is considered as one of the most secured OSs for smartphones. It has a strict control over its different components: hardware, OS, and applications. The Apple's designers enhanced their model to reach to a model which can dispense any third party antivirus. Two different views of iOS security model are presented. The first model stands on four pillars that are mentioned in and are Device Security, Data Security, Network Security, and Application Security. Following is the security architecture of iOS model. Android: Android is a famous OS and is developed by Open Handset Alliance (led by Google) to be a competitive mobile OS. One of its well-known facts, is that Android is an open source OS. Both talked about the details of Android security features. The security features are Application Permissions, Components Protection, Memory Management Unit (MMU), and Type Safety. The following is the security architecture of Android model.

Conclusion

In this paper we have compared iOS and Android and we find the both have their advantages and disadvantages. iOS development requires a specific type of hardware that may be more difficult to obtain — but that might encourage cross-departmental collaboration and expose us to another operating system. The bar for Android is somewhat lower, as development can take place in any modestly equipped computer science laboratory. If we compare according to cost Android is much cheaper than iOS as android is freeware and device that support android is cheaper compared to iOS devices. The error reporting feature of iOS is much better then android as it give a live support to the users. And the hardware used to install iOS is much better then android. Regarding security issues iOS is fully secured and there is no need of any antivirus while android have some security issues. Overall comparison state that iOS is better than android but by cost wise android is better.

Phases Android iOS Development Application sandboxing in Android is controlled by each application and required permission and approval to continue accessing what the application needed. Each app has its own sandbox. In iOS application sandboxing is a set of fine-grained control that limits the application access to the file system, network and hardware. iOS has a robust sandbox model Shares a same sandbox model which is more secure and less open to the crowd. improves security tighter Uses file system encryption only Uses file system encryption and hardware encryption Publish No Code Signing. Account on developer console and App should have a valid certificate. Has code signing technology which is a process required to allow unauthorized applications running in a device. Account on App store and App must be code signed. Installation All types of permission are assigned to the App at installation time. User denies the permission then App installation will be aborted. Minimal set of permission are automatically assigned during installation of App. User will not be asked for any permission. No deny option is there Execution Seamless execution of App as no permission interruption are there Less secure as user will not be aware that the App may be using that resource which it is not intended for The user will be asked for permission during execution time when the App actually uses the resource. More secure as user will be notified if any resource App want to use The above tables show the comparison of Android and iOS operating systems under various criteria. Both OS’s uses encryption techniques but iOS considered a high secured smartphone as compared to Android. In iOS Applications Apple apps can only be developed on a Mac OS system while android can be developed on windows as well as Mac OS.Apple Apps are mostly Piracy free unless the Device is JailBroken while Android Apps can be tinkered with. Both OS have many other applications presents in their own app market. The interface of iOS devices has a similar UI on all the available devices making it easy for people to understand while android provides full customization option.

Finally, as a conclusion both smartphones provide better and interesting interface and UI to work easy for peoples. Both Android and iOS provide proper updates to the devices but iOS is much faster as compared to Android. Apple does not support unlocking devices while android is supported.

Works cited

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Updated: Feb 02, 2024
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A Comparative Study Of The Android And IPhone Operating Systems. (2024, Feb 11). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/a-comparative-study-of-the-android-and-iphone-operating-systems-essay

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