iPhone vs. Android

Samsung is the largest maker of Android-based phones in the US market, distantly followed by Google themselves, Motorola, and a few others.

A Small Bit of History

Although comparatively primitive multi-function phones like the BlackBerry already existed, Apple unquestionably ushered-in the modern smartphone era when it released the iPhone in 2007. It was a revolutionary device that caused nothing less than a tectonic shift in consumer computing and communication. It truly brought useful mobile access to the masses in a way that previous devices never could.

Here was a company (Apple) that managed in considerable secrecy to create the device itself, a number of useful applications, and the operating system on which it all ran. Other phone makers were caught off guard and some struggled to bring to market their own operating systems and smartphones. No other OS, except for Android, was successful in taking on iPhone.

At that time Google had owned Android from a 2005 acquisition and was developing a mobile OS that was originally designed with a more Blackberry-esque interface. The introduction of the iPhone, however, prompted Google to pivot and accelerate development of a touch-centric UI and giving them a template by drawing inspiration from iPhone's look and feel.

Rather than try to quickly cobble together its own phone, Google instead wisely chose to license Android at no cost to existing phone makers who were already in a better manufacturing position to pivot to a smartphone design in the style of the iPhone. Google would control the OS (Android) which is where the real money would eventually be made in search and advertising.

Modern Times

The smartphone market is quite mature these days. Pretty much everyone has a smartphone. It's an integral part of life, seemingly no less important than clean air, water, food, and shelter. People are more likely to have a smartphone than a regular computer, a car, a bicycle, or even a place to live. Yes, many homeless people have phones even if only a low-cost model and relying on free wi-fi. It's among one of the most commonly owned consumer items not counting clothing.

That's because a mobile phone is essential to functioning at any level in today's society. Many of the services that people, including the homeless, need to access often must be conducted online. At the very least, you need a smartphone to do that.

Market share

The share percentages for iPhone and Android are pretty interesting and are indicative of national or regional spend power. These figures are current as of 2025, courtesy of statcounter.com

US: iPhone 58%, Android 42%

EU: iPhone 38%, Android 62%

Global: iPhone 25%, Android 75%

Pros and Cons of these top two platforms

OK, as implied by my "iPhone vs Android" title, here's a list of the pros and cons between the two major smartphone ecosystems. I'll list the feature or function, then describe how iPhone and Android fares on that.

Cost

Apple really doesn't offer many down-market options. All their products are considered premium and so are pretty costly. But even at that high level, Apple does offer somewhat less expensive models. Less memory, non-pro editions, previous year models, etc.

Buying a used iPhone on sites like Gazelle and Swappa can be a money saver compared to buying new and you'll still get a decent phone.

Android models, on the other hand, span a range from low-end budget models all the way to niche and concept models whose cost can exceed Apple's most expensive models. In this way, Android has more variety in both niche features and a wide price range. You can buy a fairly decent brand new Android phone for $200. Not so with Apple.

Advantage: Android

Updates

It's really important to be using a supported phone. "Supported" here means the phone receives updates from the manufacturer. These may be feature updates, bug fixes, and security updates. An unsupported phone, especially since it's not receiving security updates, is riskier as it may be vulnerable to newly discovered exploits.

Apple really shines here by supporting iPhone models going back six or even eight years. That's a remarkably long support tail for a mobile device. Additionally, since Apple manages the entire iPhone stack top to bottom then it generally releases updates faster and more often, making sure their iPhones runs optimally.

Android is severely lacking in this regard. Updates take longer to be deployed and are much farther apart time wise. Android phones usually have a shorter support tail as well. Perhaps as few as two years depending on the make and model of the particular phone. If you're lucky, you'll get maybe four years.

So why's that a big deal? Who keeps a phone longer than 2-3 years?

Answer: Lots of people. It's not like the smartphone early days when each new year brought revolutionary changes in storage, performance, and other features, contributing to rapid turnover. These days, annual updates are more evolutionary. A fair number of people keep a phone for 4-6 years.

Another benefit to a long support tail is a higher resale value. Selling your existing phone after upgrading to a new one will be easier and bring more money if there's still some support life remaining. With Apple's six year support minimum, you can keep a new iPhone for three years and it'll still have three-plus years of support life when you sell or give it away.

Advantage: iPhone

Privacy

One of Apple's well-known selling points is its greater focus on customer privacy. Apple isn't primarily an advertising or search company, after all. It doesn't focus on selling ads, metadata, or behavioral metrics to Big Data so it can afford to be more consumer-friendly in this regard. They make money from hardware sales, app store commissions, and various optional subscription services.

Some of the things Apple does to improve privacy:

• Opt-in for cross app tracking
• Opt-in to disclose the IDFA (ID For Advertisers) tracking number. Only 4% of iPhone users choose to opt-in.
• Apps have a harder time trying to fingerprint the device
• No 3rd party apps preloaded, including carrier apps
• Limits telemetry to diagnostic and device improvements, not used for ad-tech
• App store policies, especially privacy related, are stricter, and more likely to be enforced

This isn't to say that Apple is as pure as the driven snow, but they are far less abusive.

Google, on the other hand, is an ad-tech and data-mining Goliath. Google monetizes Android by collecting, using, and selling metadata about how you use your phone. Google monetizes the Chrome browser similarly but that's another topic. A lot of ink has been spilled enumerating how Google (ab)uses your privacy. You can find a lot to read on this simply by, erm, googling it.

In short, no big tech company is great on privacy. Of the big players, though, Apple is the best of the lot in that regard.

Advantage: iPhone

Security

Smartphones are generally more secure than desktop computers due, in part, to their comparatively cloistered nature. Unlike desktop-class operating systems like Windows and MacOS that were designed in the laissez-faire days before the rise of the internet and the malware that came with it, today's mobile operating systems are designed from the outset with mature security architectural concepts in mind.

But that doesn't mean they're equal.

The iPhone operating system is more locked-down. App developers are more restricted with what their programs can access. Also, since iPhone receives more updates and receives them sooner, any vulnerabilities discovered in iOS (iPhone Operating System) can be patched sooner and rolled-out faster.

Apple also has a better track record at keeping malicious apps out of their app store. Not spotless, but better.

Advantage: iPhone

Bloatware and Ecosystem Cleanliness

There's really no comparison here, it is absolutely night and day. Android models, especially from 3rd party OEMs like Samsung, Motorola, and all the rest, lard up their phones with enough bloatware to tear a hole in your back pocket. Google is one of the biggest ad-tech companies in existence. You can be sure that ad-tech is baked into Android and most of the apps that you're likely to install.

Additionally, phone makers and wireless carriers each layer their own bloatware apps and ad-tech to sell their ancillary services and monetize your activity.

There is so much ad-tech crap on Android that you should be paid to use it rather than the other way around.

Apple, on the other hand, doesn't do any of that shit. About the only on-phone Apple-originating advertising you'll see is an offer to buy AppleCare on a new phone.

Advantage: iPhone, by a country mile.

Complexity and UX

This is more opinion than authoritative pro/con.

With all the various Android OEMs* and the customization flexibility they were granted from day one by Google (who owns the Android OS), the result is a hodge podge of similar features but that work differently. This means that, say, you have a Samsung phone then decided to upgrade to a Motorola for your next phone, you can expect some of the core apps to be different, requiring you to relearn them.

Menus are not as coherently arranged with key settings more scattered about. The menu system is not nearly as well organized. And it's not just a matter of "not being familiar with Android" because every OEM's phone has differences, some of them significant.

That same ethos translates to 3rd party app developers, too. There's simply not the same expectation for adhering to a common design theme in the Android ecosystem as there is for Apple. This means spending more time and mental energy figuring out an app's structure than would otherwise be necessary. Imagine having to switch between using Windows, MacOS, and two or three flavors of Linux on any given day. That added cognitive stress on top of whatever stress is induced by the work you are doing isn't negligible.

Apple's entire UX (user experience) is superior pretty much across the board so you just don't see much Android-style chaos. Third party developers must adhere more tightly to standards on how apps are laid out. That means standard navigation patterns, consistent use of system controls, predictable (even if arcane) gestures, and not wildly reinventing the UI. This is why most iOS apps feel like they belong even though they come from different developers. The best apps feel totally natural as though they shipped with the phone.

Advantage: iPhone, for users for whom the phone is a device as a tool to do the things they want/need and not an experimental playground in its own right.

Advantage: Android, for computer geeks and tinkerers who enjoy greater control of their device to customize as they see fit. See next point.

* OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer

Geek Appeal

Apple is too closed and locked-down for most computer geeks and hobbyist experimenters' tastes. Apple does not allow unauthorized code to execute or user-initiated changes to be made to their platform no matter how advanced the user is. Apps can only be installed from the App Store with a few exceptions for software developers and large, enterprise users.

Otherwise, iPhone is a completely closed ecosystem. No hacking-type activities permitted. That's a good thing for ordinary users but maybe not for some geeks who may prefer a device they can modify outside of the manufacturer's control.

Android, on the other hand, is pretty easily modified. Some Android phones allow loading custom ROMs which is basically a brain transplant.

Many models allow the user to sideload -- which means installing apps from 3rd party repositories, not just the Google Play Store. Sideloading brings significant risks so it's disabled by default. But it can be enabled by those who understand and agree to the added risk.

Even though I'm a computer geek, I still prefer and use the iPhone. And many computer geeks feel similarly for the reasons I gave above. To me, the phone is a business tool and not an experimental playground. I have no desire to hack my phone. But it is possible for those inclined to do so.

Advantage: Android, for geeky reasons

Upgrading After Purchase

Sadly, neither iPhone nor Android* models can be upgraded with additional storage after purchase. So after deciding on which phone to buy, your next most important decision is how much storage you want. I recommend getting at least 256 GB of storage and as much more as you can easily afford. Pics and especially videos really chew up storage. The less storage you have on the phone the more often you'll have to export and delete some of those pics and videos.

* Some Android models have a memory card slot that lets you add storage. But this feature, never having been universal, is becoming ever rarer today. But even then, add-in memory cards don't really behave like regular storage. It's not as fast or easy to use. It's like adding a second hard drive to your computer. Yes, you'll have more storage, but that storage is separate from the main storage and using it takes a deliberate effort that most people will not do properly nor understand.

Caveat: Later versions of Android can treat add-in memory cards as "adoptable storage", integrating the extra space into the main storage pool. But due to the non-insignificant disadvantages of add-in storage, this really isn't a great idea or solution. It's doable in a pinch but far from ideal.

Advantage: Neither

Closing

If cost isn't a big deal then the iPhone in my opinion is probably the better choice for regular people for all the reasons I gave above. If money is a factor, and of course for many people it is, there is a thriving market of perfectly cromulent used phones to choose from. You don't have to buy a brand new phone.