The War between Operating

Systems: A look at the Android

Operating System and its
competition with IOS
By: Samantha Zake
April 6
th
2!"
Android Operating Systems# and IOS operating systems# these are two names that are
$ery well known to any smart phone# or tablet %sers& The problem is how does someone choose
o$er the two# which one is the better operating system' One has to be better than the other right'
This is e$er changing technology and e$eryone is dying to know what system is better (or their
needs& )any cons%mers these days with either Apple prod%cts or Android
capable prod%cts seem to be bias toward one or the other& In order to get
a good idea o( what is bene(icial to each side o( this Technology
war# yo% need to know the history o( each# how it r%ns# its sec%rity
and the ad$antages and disad$antages o( both&
There is ne$er a one sided war when it comes to
technology# not in this day and age*
+,planation o( Technology
-ot many people know m%ch abo%t the technology
behind the android operating system and what makes things tick
and tock& They are %naware o( all the power working inside o( their tiny smart phones& .irst to
%nderstand the concept o( operating systems yo% need to know what they are& An operating
system is a collection o( so(tware that manages the reso%rces and ser$ices (or the de$ices
programs& /Wikipedia# 2!"0 -ow the Android operating system has elements o( the mobile
phone also integrated with the other (%nctions like the to%chscreen (%nction# Bl%etooth# camera
and many other (%nctions&
An android operating system is said to be looked at in layers& This is called a so(tware
stack& What %sers see is what is at top o( the stack# and as yo% get (%rther down the stack is how
2
the system interacts directly with the hardware& /Strickland& 1ow st%(( works website 2!"&0 We
will (irst start with the bottom layer and make the way %p to the interacti$e layer& On the bottom
layer there is an operating system called (irmware which is so(tware that controls what goes on
in the interaction o( the hardware# which the Android modeled a(ter 2in%,3s& On top o( this layer
it is the Android3s libraries# which is a collection o( instr%ctions that the de$ice (ollows to
process the data it is
gi$en& All o( these
applications on this
layer are written in
4a$a# which is a
programming
lang%age& As well as
the libraries on this
layer yo% will (ind the
$irt%al machine5
Android3s $irt%al
machine is 6al$ik& The
$irt%al machine creates a $irt%al en$ironment# which means that it acts like its own de$ice with
its own operating system within itsel(& It also acts as a memory manager&
-e,t o( the layers is the application (ramework# this is the (o%ndation o( all o( yo%r
android applications& This layer is what works with the rest o( the operating system and the
applications in which the %ser %ses& In this layer 7oogle has set g%idelines (or the applications
that the de$elopers make b%t they don3t ha$e to worry abo%t the act%al hardware yo%r Android
"
OS is working on& And the last layer o( the system is the top layer that the %ser interacts with&
This layer is the %ser inter(ace that has all o( the apps and the pretty lights that the %ser interacts
with when %sing their de$ice& B%t behind all the pretty lights and (%n games there is a ton o( code
that goes into it& /Strickland#2!"0
Technology Iss%e
There are two $ery big names in the Smartphone ind%stry# Android and I8hone& These two
operating system companies are always
trying to be better than one another& They
are always trying to create new and e,citing
programs to make the cons%mer b%y their
prod%ct# b%t which one is %ltimately better
than the other' In an article# /.o,#3!2#0 they talk abo%t how no matter what brand yo% %ltimately
choose# there is always the opposing side attacking yo% (or the choices in technology chosen& In
other terms it3s basically a cage match between the two&
7ames and Apps# two things that the a$erage smartphone %ser is 9%ite (amiliar with# are
something yo% ha$e to compare to see who has the better OS (or the :;ob&< In 2!! according to
.o,3s article on IOS $s& Android he states that there was a better selection o( games (or IOS in
the library than in the Android library& )ost de$elopers (or applications will almost always
de$elop (or IOS (irst and Android second i( e$en that& B%t the IOS %sers will more than likely
pay (or their apps beca%se there is a s%r$ey according to .o, that o$er two thirds o( android %sers
did not a pay a cent (or their applications& .or this ro%nd it seems to be a tie beca%se both seem to
ha$e a pro side to them# the android (or the lack o( money being spent# and to IOS (or the amo%nt
=
and 9%ality o( their apps& This is also related to how their app stores compare to one another& The
Apple applications are stricter with their limitations and the same is not to be said abo%t android
systems beca%se they ha$e $ery broad
ranges in terms o( leniency&
The map applications on IOS
and Android are $ery di((erent& In the
article that talks abo%t the di((erences
in the maps they basically (lat o%t say
that Androids map program is more
e((icient beca%se IOS3 maps always
seem to not work correctly& /See
pict%re&0 The android maps seem to be clearer and easier to see beca%se they are not linking %p
to the same satellites Apple is %sing&
.acetime and 1ango%ts both seem like really good ideas (or $ideo chatting with (riends
and (amily b%t these are only good i( yo% are %sing the same plat(orms& The a%thor o( the article#
(o,# says yo% might as well ;%st get Skype so
yo% can go across the plat(orms& These apps are
%sed to comm%nicate and they can only work
with others with the same compatibility as
them&
>
In concl%sion
the two operating
systems seem to be
both good in their own
rights# beca%se they
each seem to ha$e a
strength that the indi$id%al %ser can see& In the map abo%t yo% can see what kind o( dominance
the states (a$or their (a$ored OS&
?onnection to 8ersonal @al%es
To me the operating system that I personally ha$e a bias toward is the android operating
system& I ha$e many reasons why I belie$e that this is a more s%perior operating system than the
IOS& One o( the main reasons I (ind mysel( liking Android
more so than IOS is that it seems to be an easily
comprehendible operating system to work on# b%t to others it
seems the opposite& I (ind that e$en tho%gh Android basically
gets what the IOS team gets second# they ha$e the chance to
%pdate and make the application better& There are some things
like .acetime and 1ango%t to be able to cross systems that
wo%ld make each o( the OS stronger as well as IOS (i,ing the
glitch in their map&
+$en tho%gh I o$erall like Android Operating systems another thing I think that I like
abo%t Apple is IT%nes compared to Android3s m%sic player& I think that I like it better beca%se I
6
was $ery (amiliar prior to my p%rchase o( :Smart< electronics& I ha$e no problem with those who
(a$or Apple prod%cts5 they ;%st seem to not be my kind o( thing& B%t like I stated abo$e (rom
.o,3s article# it really is a cage match& I ha$e met people who look at yo% (%nny i( yo% don3t ha$e
the latest i8hone or pad# and the same with some android %sers& I mean come on they are a h%ge
part o( li(e (or many people these days# b%t yo% don3t need to lose sleep# and (riends (or the sake
o( a smart phone# that regardless o( how yo% treat it acts kind o( d%mb& The last reason I like
Android powered de$ices is the (ace that I can easily c%stomiAe my things& I wo%ld think that i( I
tried to do all o( things I do on iOS it wo%ld sh%t down beca%se e$erything I ha$e needs to be
c%stom to (it my needs in some way& In concl%sion I am c%rrently an Android bias b%t I can also
see mysel( p%rchasing things like i8ods in the (%t%re (or the simple (act that some programs in
iOS are ;%st a little more easier to %se than in Android&
S%mmation
So to s%m %p things an operating system is something that takes care o( so(tware that works hand
in hand with not only the %ser b%t the hardware as well& The technology o( an Android operating
system is made o%t o( so(tware stacks# which are the layers within a smart de$ice& Another thing
is that Android %sed a piece o( 2in%, to base one o( the important layers on& There is the e$er
waging war between Apple and Android (or which one is better& They both ha$e good points to
them# like Apple has a great app store# b%t the maps are aw(%l# Android makes %p (or the maps
with their na$igation app# beca%se they lack apps in their store& This is d%e to the (act that since
IOS was aro%nd longer they are %s%ally chosen (irst to get apps created (or them& B%t at the end
o( the day I am more towards the Android beca%se it seems to me to ha$e an easier learning
c%r$e compared to iOS# they are more c%stomiAable and they are more la, on accessibility&
B
Bibliography
4&.o, /2!2# September 2>0 iOS 6 $s& Android 4elly Bean
Cetrie$ed (rom http:DDwww&ign&comDarticlesD2!2DED2>DiosF6F$sFandroidF;ellyFbean
Spyrest%dios/2!!0 Android @s& iOS a Gsability Battle
Cetrie$ed (rom http:DDspyrest%dios&comDandroidF$sFiosFaF%sabilityFbattleD
Android S%pport /-DA0 6al$ik Technical In(ormation
Cerie$ed (romhttp:DDso%rce&android&comDtechDdal$ikDinde,&html
1aas#4& /2!"0 The Android OS
Cetrie$ed (rom http:DDlin%,&abo%t&comDodDmobilede$icesDaDTheFAndroidFOs&htm
Strickland#4&/2!20 1ow Android Tablets work
Cetrie$ed (rom http:DDwww&howst%((works&comDtabletsDandroidFtablet&htm
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