iPhone vs Android: Which One Should You Choose?
Android or iPhone? It’s a very simple question, but the answer to it is very difficult. Should you buy an iPhone or Android in 2024?
If you ask me personally which one I use, I like Android, but I always carry an iPhone with me. One thing that is very important for me, is videos. If I want to shoot a video, I don’t even have an iPhone with me. So before I get into it, I’d like to tell you what’s important for you. This is the most important question that you have to ask.
You have to ask me what’s important for me, and you have to buy it accordingly. Secondly, I’m going to discount those who buy an iPhone as a brand. So I’m not going to talk about that. There are a lot of people like that. So I’m going to properly compare & tell you. For a normal user, should you buy an iPhone or Android?
1: Customization
You probably love customization too. So, digging into the settings, messing around with the home screen and lock screen, and tweaking things and behaviors to make the device perfect for you is a hobby all on its own.
Now, at first, in 2024, it might seem like iOS 17 and Android 15 are pretty close, right? I mean, let’s be real, iOS just added a bunch of really well-done features. The new lock screen update gives you the ability to change all these clock fonts and colors, put various super useful widgets on your lock screen, and then save a bunch of different lock screen setups for different situations and different focus modes.
Widgets were also added to the home screen less than two years ago, which unlocked a ton of customization options for home screen setups displaying glanceable information.
A lot of this really just comes down to the fact that Apple keeps adding all these abilities, but you’re always restricted to doing it the Apple way—the correct way. That’s why a lot of iPhone setups still just kind of look the same.
Even if you take stock Android 14 from the Google Pixel, which isn’t even the most customizable version of Android, there’s still way more that you can change—from the colors of the OS theme matching the color of your wallpaper, thanks to Material You, to icon packs and custom widget sizes.
I mean, Android will just let you do whatever you want. On the iPhone, you can’t expand a widget to any size you want. You can’t put an app just on the right side of your home screen for reachability.
You literally can’t even place an app wherever you want on the home screen—it must be the next up in the grid of Apple’s choosing. You can’t change the grid size. You can’t change the icon sizes. I mean, it just takes a whole bunch of extra work and a Siri Shortcuts hack just to use a custom icon—just basic stuff.
Now, I think the other side of that coin is that you can make a truly ugly, horrible Android setup, whereas you can only mess up an iPhone home screen a little.
So, while you argue that iOS does it prettier, Android is the winner for most customization.
2: Features
This has been one of the hottest debates at the forefront of iOS versus Android conversations. You always hear it, mostly because both platforms at some level launched missing features, especially the iPhone. Like, you’d always hear, “Wow, can you believe the iPhone can’t even set wallpapers?”
You always see a new keynote with new stuff on Android, and you’re like, “That came from iOS.” And then you’ll see stuff from the iPhone keynote and be like, “That came from Android.” But there’s even some new stuff now that the iPhone has that Android doesn’t. A pretty good one recently is Focus Modes, which give you super-high control over notifications in different situations with your apps and your contacts.
More than ever in the smartphone world at this point, neither OS is missing any gigantic features anymore. They’ve both matured to this level where they’ve become their character. They both do a lot of stuff, but I still have to give the edge to Android in this one, just because there are so many little OS-level features, just little things that you can tweak and change on Android that still aren’t on the iPhone. I’m talking about battery management features to customize charging speeds or set manual charge limits to preserve battery life. There’s also an actual file management system.
If you want to, there are gaming-specific features like game modes, the ability to dial up and down your screen’s refresh rate whenever you want, and independent volume controls for phone calls, ringtones, and alarms.
It just comes down to the benefit of Android having so much feature choices. That’s kind of the point. And this also bleeds into hardware too. So even though they both offer all of the basic features and they appear to copy each other all the time on little added stuff, the winner here again is Android.
3: Ease of Use
Ease of use is very valuable to a lot of people—like, a lot of people. The thing about ease of use is that it often has an inverse relationship with customization and a ton of features because there’s a delicate balancing act you have to perform between giving flexibility to the user and not overwhelming them with a ton of buttons and settings. This is really where the iPhone excels and has excelled for years as a high priority.
Even in the most fundamental ways, the home screen on the iPhone has had up to four icons in the dock on every iPhone since the beginning, and the phone icon has always been green and always been on the left every single time for 17 years. The iPhone’s camera app has also stayed fundamentally the same with the viewfinder and the sliding modes.
It’s been like that for years, and that kind of tucks away a lot of the settings into a separate settings app. It can feel like it’s missing features, but honestly, it’s still the most straightforward for most people to use. It’s like they hate changing things for no good reason. The calculator has been unchanged for years.
Now, there are also downsides to that—like how Siri has been ignored since it was introduced—but still, Apple moves the call end button by like 200 pixels to the middle of the screen, and people freak out about it.
Sometimes it feels like Android versions will just move stuff around to try it out and for the sake of changing things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and they’ll move it back. That’s interesting and exciting sometimes, but it does hurt user continuity and ease of use.
Then, on top of that, there’s never any bloatware loaded onto the iPhone. And customer service is always better for an iPhone because Apple Stores are everywhere, and Apple controls that entire experience, for better or for worse.
So they get to do great work with customers. For people who are not enthusiasts and just want to get the thing and not think about it anymore, they pretty much always go with the iPhone.
So, ease of use is a checkbox for the iPhone.
4: Security and Updates
Security is important to you. So, up until this year, I’d say iOS wins. Android phones and brands are getting closer, though. First, they used to offer 1-year updates, then 2 years, then 3-4 years. Now, some brands like Samsung and Google give you major updates for 7 years. iOS regularly gets 5-6 years of updates. Even today, if you buy an iPhone 13, you’ll get iOS 18. But typically, you get updates for 4-5 years. If you look at the track record, I’d say iOS is better when it comes to updates.
In terms of security, Apple has a closed ecosystem, so I’d still say iOS wins here. And remember, Android is very fragmented. Sometimes there are security issues. Even today, you’ll find people who are still using 3-year-old versions of Android, like Android 11 or Android 10. But with iOS, that generally doesn’t happen. An app running on Android 14 won’t run on Android 10, so those issues are there.
5: Apps
This one is actually kind of fascinating. We have the standard apps that we all use every single day on our phones and are used to, but sometimes it’s fun just to pop around in the respective app stores, discover new things, and find fun apps.
At this point, both platforms are flourishing. There are millions of apps now—over three and a half million in the Google Play Store and over a million and a half in Apple’s App Store, which, if you stop there, looks like a win for Android. But, quality over quantity, my friends, quality over quantity.
Image Credit: Statista
Every major app is available on both platforms, which means there are many more niche apps or relatively unknown potential diamonds in the rough on the Google Play Store, sure. But the difference is, when you talk to developers and observe the cycle of how these apps get made and updated, the truth is that so many of them are prioritizing iOS, and really, it’s purely for efficiency.
Think about it: if you just have to update one version of your app, and it works with all the newest iPhones instantly and perfectly for millions of people who all have the same aspect ratio, of course, you’d do it. Flip that switch. But with Android, there are naturally many more complexities.
Apps often come to the iPhone before they come to Android. I wish that wasn’t true. I wish it were just as easy to do one or the other, but that’s just the truth of it. So, the slight app advantage is going to go to the iPhone here. And interestingly enough, this also generally applies to accessories. Again, same reason, same efficiency—that’s a win for the iPhone.
6: Ecosystem
We’ve heard this word before ecosystem. So, okay, say what you want, but there are a lot of people who will not buy a phone if it doesn’t have iMessage or FaceTime, whatever it is. Apple has weaponized this, building walls around it and closing it off as much as possible. Technically, you can join a FaceTime call from an Android phone, but you can’t start one.
Now, the thing is, Apple is not the only one with an ecosystem. Look at Samsung, for example. Apple happens to build bigger walls around keeping people in their ecosystem, but Samsung has a lot of equivalents to all the same pieces. You could get a Samsung Galaxy S flagship and quickly and easily connect your Galaxy Buds, just like AirPods.
You could put on your Galaxy Watch with many of the same features as the Apple Watch. You could tether to a Samsung Tab just for entertainment purposes, like an iPad.
Then, you could get a Galaxy Book Pro with cellular internet sharing and wireless Quick Share, just like a MacBook Pro with AirDrop. You see where I’m going? It just keeps going and going. I’m sure Samsung will eventually come out with a smart speaker to match the HomePod—it’s coming. On paper, the idea is that they are surprisingly congruent.
But the main advantages of Samsung’s ecosystem would be things like, one, USB-C across literally everything, so you can use one charging cable for all of your devices. Two, they make more versions of devices that fit into the ecosystem. There are a ton of different phones, a bunch of different watches, and various headphones and laptops, etc. So, there’s more flexibility and hardware choice—classic Android. Plus, Samsung also makes other stuff that connects, like dishwashers and refrigerators.
But then the advantages of Apple’s ecosystem, not just in the US but especially here, are, first of all, ease of use and seamlessness. It is genuinely crazy how good some of the continuity features are in Apple’s ecosystem. Something like Continuity Camera is so impressive; every time you push one button to use a super high-quality iPhone camera as your webcam, it works very, very well.
Then there’s the popularity factor, especially in the US, which makes things like FaceTime, iMessage, and the Find My network super strong.
Picking an Actual Winner
Now, when deciding between an iPhone or Android, it comes down to what you prioritize. The iPhone is excellent in terms of security and consistency, while Android excels in user experience and customization. Some people prefer the iPhone for its robust security and seamless performance, while others lean toward Android for its customization options and the ability to use apps outside the Google Play Store.
If you value security, a well-performing camera, and a phone that just works without the need for much customization, the iPhone is a great choice. However, if you enjoy customizing your device and want the flexibility to install different apps, Android might be the better option. Additionally, you can often get an Android phone for less money, but keep in mind that an iPhone purchased for the same price may not match the performance of some Android models.
There are many aspects of both iPhone and Android to consider, so understanding your own needs and preferences will help you make the right choice between the two.
However, there is no objective winner in a decision as personal as this, especially when the options are so close.
I mainly use an iPhone as well as an Android phone most of the time. But my main phone and my most customized setups are on Android phones. So, what gives? Picking a de facto winner sort of suggests that this one winner is best for everyone. But we already know that some people don’t care about certain features that others might say they can’t live without.
For me, I care the most about customization and features. Then I care a lot about apps, and excitement and updates are decently important. For me, the winner is Android. But hey, for you, maybe you care a lot about the ecosystem and nothing else.
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Alvi Hosain
I am a tech enthusiast with over 1.5 years of experience in phone reviews and gadgets. Passionate about making technology easier for everyone, I focus on creating smartphone reviews and detailed tech guides. Whether exploring the latest devices or providing tips on how to get the most out of your gadgets, I love helping others navigate the world of technology. Known among my friends for solving phone-related problems, I enjoy discussing technology and staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends.
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