Gadgetory

brought to you by the US Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration you drive you text you pay now normally when you hear people like me talk about Android versus iOS you hear something about flexibility versus simplicity we're gonna do a lot more than that today now before we get into comparing software features we first got to define the term geek versus civilian you see this this is a lion steel s r1 with d2 steel and a mono frame handle now if you are a knife geek you gush over this knife and will fall in love with it just like I do I carry this knife with me everyday everywhere if not this knife one other knife very similar to it why you saying why do you care a big-ass knife in your pocket Jase well like you I need to cut things everyday packages cardboard string paper envelopes you name it you use some cheap-ass dollar store scissors I have a cool knife with a story about the fit and finish in the design and the intentions behind all this cool subtle features and the craftsmanship that went into it I'm a knife geek you are a knife civilian no right or wrong just a totally different perspective on what we use to cut stuff you see I will submit to you that iOS is most enjoyed by civilians people who just want to get that cheap pair of scissors to get the job done iOS does the job and it does it in a stylus fashion Android on the other hand are enjoyed by Android geeks people who want to get into the nitty-gritty because it's fun and now to dive deep we first have to talk about androids double edged open-source sword the ability to take the base version of Android and expand upon it has resulted in wonderful and diverse device experiences sadly however this has also meant some seriously strange and problematic situations and at the core is what is called the AOSP or Android open source project built and maintained primarily by mother google open-source essentially means that anyone can download android and install it on their devices even manufacturers for free now if they want to have access to certain essential Google services like Gmail and Google Maps then they have to adhere to certain standards and pay certain licensing fees but it is still free to basically download and use and this has allowed for an amazingly vibrant and diverse developer community that's created widgets and totally different versions of Android forked versions of Android like CyanogenMod it's been amazing but the other side of the sword is it can be a bit chaotic while many us believe that a lot of options is a good thing there are those that feel that there are just too many options under the Android banner with something north of 5,000 unique Android devices available for purchase it's no wonder that there's some confusion around consumers when you buy an Android device exactly what are you going to get whereas with Android you never quite know what kind of user experience you're going to get with the device with iOS it's like McDonald's wherever you go in the world you're going to get the exact same experience or very close to it now with Apple's iOS on the other hand there are only three current generations of smartphones and three sizes of tablets apple's latest and greatest offerings are easy to choose from for many there's no need for more options and variables they just want a simple device that gets the job done and they know exactly what they're going to get when they buy an Apple device now let's talk about features that I will argue we both use more than any other feature on either smartphone platform and that's notifications on both platforms you can swipe down from the top of the screen to access your notifications on Android they call it the notification shade this is a drop down menu that houses current notifications from the apps and services on your device Android includes a quick settings menu at the top when you do a second downward swipe and iOS put there quick Settings panel at the bottom Google has implemented rich notifications enjoy quick replies to messages music playback controls and more all without having to actually open the apps in question now iOS also does this but they split up the functionality while swiping down gives you your notifications swiping up from the bottom gives you access to quick settings we can't deny that we like the iOS quick settings bar but we do wish we could slide from any part of the display and not just the dead center with a small indicator arrow now it's important to note here that when it comes to notifications and widgets Android takes the cake because it minimizes the steps you need to engage with your content with iOS when you want to get to a widget you have to swipe down to get to the widget whereas with Android the widget is just right there it's one click away to get what you need done and for geeks that's important now a major advantage with Android our launchers a launcher is a full desktop environment for your device you may have heard the term skin as well which is appropriately descriptive of how a launcher works providing different and extra tools for controlling apps icons folders numbers of screens on your home screen layout and more launchers open up a whole new world to the Android experience now let's talk App Store's and ecosystems first let's start off with Apple's App Store it is possible to own and operate an iPhone or iPad without a PC but you'll never be able to get full functionality of services without the old program called iTunes it's not just for buying music iTunes is the program on your PC that will allow for full device backup and recovery syncing of apps and songs and so much more without it all you have is the Apple App Store on your device and the ability to do some basic backups and syncing through iCloud the Apple App Store contains that last recorded measure 1.5 million apps many apps are free but more will run you at least $0.99 now the Google Play Store at last measure contains over 1.6 million apps in addition to installing these apps directly from your device you can also install them from the web there's no need for the average user to ever connect their Android device to a PC if they don't want to all app installs backups and recoveries can be handled from your phone or tablet in hand now let's talk about what most of you are here for performance as you can see here for basic day-to-day tasks our sample iOS and Android devices perform admirably you need to get down and dirty by loading heavy games and other large apps before you can really feel the performance reference Apple's latest does outperform a one-year-old curing device and a brand new Intel power device but that margin is reduced greatly when flagship Android devices are considered alright let's talk price and the fact is with Android you have far more options you can get a $700 phone right down to a $50 Android phone not that I would recommend that Apple on the other hand focuses on the more high-end market even their cheapest phone is still a few hundred dollars so that's something to think about alright I did want to talk about some practical options when weighing the pros and cons of Android versus iOS and let's talk about expandable memory many Android manufacturers provide expandable memory internal memory right I can take my Sony Xperia c3 and extend it to 128 gigabytes that significantly extends the life of my phone really increasing the value of that purchase Apple doesn't do that at all you can also have dual SIM card support that's fantastic you can really expand the options of your phone you can have two different numbers for one phone that's great you also have waterproofing options Apple doesn't do that kind of thing at all now let's talk about pros with Apple at least for me one thing that Android just doesn't do and can't do with their ecosystem is sync my content so when I am downloading podcasts on one device and I go to another iOS device it is automatically synced that is that's massive for someone like me who listens to podcasts and you know whole bunch of stuff books on a constant basis that's really practical that's one of the reasons that I love my iPad so much consider that what do you guys think let me know in the comments below I want to hear it alright let's admit it we all know it we've all texted while driving what you may not know is that thousands of people a year die from distracted related crashes like texting while driving and law enforcement right across the US have really upped their game and they've initiated an intensive campaign whereby they're searching for those of us texting while driving and if they find you they will write a ticket so be smart be safe don't text while driving remember you five you text you pay for more information visit distraction.gov you