I recently made a video titled “why iOS
is better than Android” and I was really happy with your guys’ response. I honestly expected a lot of backlash and
hate and a really ugly comment section, but that wasn't the case at all, and I really
do appreciate that. Now at the beginning of that video I told
you guys I would eventually create a followup video for Android fans and I’m happy to
be delivering on that promise today, despite some healthy skepticism from the comment section. So in this video we’re going to explore
the strengths Android and find out what makes it better than iOS. This is Greg with Apple Explained, and I want
to thank IMStick for sponsoring this video. If you want to help decide which video topics
I cover, make sure you’re subscribed, and voting polls like this one will show up in
your mobile activity feed. Alright so I think the biggest advantage Android
has over iOS, and the reason why people choose the platform, can be boiled down to one word:
freedom. And that sense of having limitless options
and freedom of choice is clear from the very beginning. When shopping for an Android device, customers
have literally thousands of products to choose from. And that allows each person to decide for
themselves which hardware features are most important. Whether you want an SD card slot for expandable
storage, a headphone jack to charge and listen to music at the same time, a finger print
reader, no display notch, a larger battery, almost everyone Android customer can find
a device with just the right combination of hardware features that best suits their own
needs. Compare that to shopping for an iOS device. Where you have just four choices of smartphones. Leaving customers to live with the dramatic
choices Apple tends to make with their hardware, like removing the headphone jack before many
people wanted, using a proprietary connector, or being the last company to include more
storage space on their base model smartphone. But the freedom Android users enjoy goes much
further than hardware. In fact, the Android operating system itself
is open-source. That means developers have the freedom to
do things like use third-party tools for app development, which allows for unique features
and functionality that isn’t allowed on closed-source platforms like iOS. Now when it comes to the operating system,
Android users love its customizability. And one of the most common things to customize
is the launcher, or what iOS users call the home screen. Whether you want a grid-less launcher with
a focus on widgets, a quick launcher with a focus on gesture controls, or a more productive
launcher with an emphasis on enterprise integration, there is a suitable custom launcher out there
for you. But there’s even more you can change about
Android, like the appearance of your icons, the keyboard, the lock screen, and even setting
default apps. And that’s a level of customization most
iOS users could never even imagine. I mean, it was a big deal when iOS began allowing
custom wallpapers in 2010. Something users had been waiting on for three
years. And that’s a very common trend with Apple. They’re typically very conservative when
it comes to customization or more advanced features, since they don’t want to overwhelm
or confuse users who may not be familiar with the technology. For example, the iPhone didn’t have cut,
copy, and paste until iOS 3, introduced two years after the original iPhone. Which many Android users at the time found
to be quite amusing, since they’d had the feature since day one. And that has only continued throughout the
history of iOS, and it’s the reason why jailbreaking iPhones became so popular. Android was receiving features like grouped
notifications, settings shortcuts, multitasking, quick replies, widgets, and many many more
features that took Apple years to implement in iOS. So users took matters into their own hands
by jailbreaking their iPhones which removed Apple’s restrictions and allowed unauthorized
software to be installed on the device. That way, iOS users could enjoy many of the
advanced features Android already had. Now something that iPhone and Android devices
have in common is their growing size. Smartphones today are larger than ever before,
and this has likely caused issues when trying to hold or position your device. That’s why many accessories like the IMStick
have become popular. It not only works with Android devices and
iPhones, but it offers more versatility than other smartphone holder due to these posable
arms. I use it to prop up my phone when watching
videos, I attach it to my shower rack to listen to podcasts, and I can stick it right on my
fridge to easily follow recipes. But its potential use cases are endless. ImStick even features a port that allows my
phone to be mounted to a tripod. And what’s really cool is that it magnetically
attaches to your phone, instead of using an adhesive. That way, I can reposition it to my liking
depending on the situation or remove it altogether. Just be sure not to place the metal plate
over the wireless charging coil or NFC chip in your phone since it can cause interference. That’s why I applied it to the case and
simply remove my phone at night for wireless charging. So if you want this kind of versatility and
capability with your smartphone, whether it’s running Android or iOS, check out IMStick
by using the link in the description. L
Now over the years, Apple has took many of the most popular tweaks from the jailbreak
community and implemented them into iOS. Like the ability to install third party keyboards
or track battery health, which has led to jailbreaking becoming much less popular than
in the past. But it’s worth pointing out how long it
has taken Apple to bring these features to iOS. For example, they recently introduced iOS
14, which finally gives users the ability to set default apps, a capability Android
has had for over a decade. But it actually gets even more ridiculous
than that. Because even though Apple is allowing third-party
default apps, they’re limiting it to mail and browser. Instead of implementing it across the entire
operating system to include other apps like maps and music. And that’s something Android users really
disdain. They don’t like the feeling of being shackled
to one company, who decides what they can and cant do with their own hardware and software. In their opinion, they should have the power
to decide what their own smartphone does, rather than leaving those important decisions
to a faceless corporation who doesn’t understand their unique needs. And that’s why Android users typically have
a variety of devices from a variety of companies. Maybe they’ll have a Samsung smartphone,
a Dell notebook, and an Apple tablet. Because for them, that setup is the most suitable
for their circumstances. Another benefit of Android being completely
open, is that users have total access to the operating system’s source code. This allows for something called rooting,
which is usually compared to jailbreaking on an iPhone, but actually gives Android users
much deeper access to the operating system. Rooting can actually help overcome some of
the shortcomings of Android, like receiving updates much faster, removing manufacturer’s
bulky software skins, deleting carrier bloatware, and optimizing the battery life of your device. The last advantage of Android devices are
their price. It’s much easier to find a low cost Android
smartphone than a low cost iPhone. That’s a big reason why Apple released the
$400 iPhone SE earlier this year, which Tim Cook said he hopes will attract more Android
users to iOS. And while that’ll likely work to some degree,
many Android users simply view iOS as too restrictive, and would still refuse to switch
to the platform even if iPhones did become cheaper than Android phones. So I’m going to close with what I said in
my previous iOS video: I truly believe both platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses. And the decision regarding which one is best
for you, is your decision to make. Alright guys thanks for watching until the
end, if you enjoyed my take on Android please leave a like, don’t forget to subscribe
to help me decide what topics I should cover, and I’ll see you in the next video.
