New versions of the operating systems for Android and for iPhone are released every year, which promise to introduce new features and increasingly excellent performance. Just to find out who is the best system between Android and iOS, in this guide we will compare the latest versions of Google's Android system and Apple's iOS to see which one has improved the most and which, trying to be objective, is today the winner.
At the time of writing this article, the iOS operating system is the iOS 12 (stable) version, while the latest version of Android is known as Android P.
1) Notch and gesture
To start, let's talk about notches and gestures, which are from Android P as well as from iOS 12.
Both features are now associated with the iPhone X of the previous generation, and which quickly spread to Android on almost all high-end terminals.
On iPhone the notch is physical, so it cannot be removed in any way; on some models of Android smartphones, however, the notch is virtual (i.e. drawn on the screen), so you can remove it directly from the phone settings.
Side note for the fingerprint reader: Android is ready to support the fingerprint reader under the screen, while on iOS 12 this possibility is not yet provided.
2) Siri vs Google Assistant
Another component much sought after by users is the voice assistant, increasingly controlled by artificial intelligence, therefore able to respond as if it were a real "human".
Siri on iOS 12 is able to predict our needs through the app called Shortcuts, which will allow you to start a specific request using a certain type of words or by visiting certain places.
Google Assistant has evolved a lot to become Siri's bitter rival: not only is it already able to guess the best choice based on the words said, but it has new voices to choose from and is able to handle more questions and orders even if all done together.
Truly a spectacular evolution, which could bring Google Assistant to the top of AI-based voice assistants.
3) Messages
Although everyone now uses WhatsApp and the like, Apple has invested a lot of time to renew its Messages app, effectively transforming it into a new chat (in addition to being able to manage normal SMS).
Apple's iMessage allows you to take advantage of (with other iPhones) unique features such as animoji, peer-to-peer payments (to pay small amounts of money), high quality video calls, WiFi messaging system with other users present on the net and the possibility to send SMS also to iPad and Mac.
On Google there are very few innovations from this point of view, since the apps used are always the same: Hangouts, Android Messages and Google Duo are the competitors of iMessage, but they do not come close to the quality offered by the unique app integrated in all iPhones.
4) Augmented reality iOS 12 on the new iPhones offers a function that allows users to interact with each other simultaneously in an augmented reality field: point the camera of the iPhone and you can play all together with Legos or play ping pong simply using augmented reality, in direct contact with the surrounding environment.
Android P also integrates something similar with Cloud Anchors: augmented reality for games and anything else, with the advantage of being able to use it on all devices (including iPhones).
From this point of view Android definitely wins, since it is freely accessible whatever the device in our possession.
5) Face Unlock
The best Face Unlock is certainly found on Apple, given the success of this technology on the iPhone X (so much so that it is also present on the models of this year in an enhanced version).
Facial recognition on Android is less reliable also on this new version, which will surely gain something on very high-end devices such as Samsung devices, which have had iris recognition since the previous version.
6) Maps
There really is no game here: Google Maps is always the best navigation system on any device (even on iPhones), even if it integrates perfectly only using Google Assistant and the latest version of Android (where we can get the results of Maps already during voice search without even opening the app).
Maps from Apple is discreet, but nothing more: the scandals of the past seem to have definitively buried this type of app, which has never fully relaunched despite the new versions of iOS we have improved the quality.
7) Dependence on the smartphone and controlled times
We are too attached to the smartphone and we can't stop using it ">
8) Who is the best?
Deciding the best of the two operating systems is not easy, since the personal tastes and preferences of those who have been using the same system for years and are comfortable are also involved.
iOS 12 has the advantage on the social side thanks to the increasingly complete Messages app (to the point of being able to replace WhatsApp) and is ahead with facial recognition and innovative gestures, but for its part Google and Android P can boast support for the fingerprint reader under the display, an augmented reality exploitable by all, a more complete map system.
Taking into account that iOS can only be installed on iPhones and not on other phones, there is also an obvious advantage from the point of view of updates, which instead on Android smartphones depend on the manufacturers.
It so happens that a month after the release of Android P, there are still very few updated phones.
The two systems are practically equivalent in terms of voice assistance with artificial intelligence and control of usage times, so this year too there is no real winner, both systems have strengths and weaknesses that we must accept when we choose one system over another.
