The Android vs iPhone debate – or reasonably, the Android vs iOS debate – has raged for so long as each working programs have been out within the wild, however new figures counsel one camp would be the a lot happier of the 2 in 2023. 

In response to a brand new report (opens in new tab) from Shopper Intelligence Analysis Companions (CIRP), the final 12 months have seen Apple lure extra customers away from Android than at some other level within the final 5 years. The analysis institute discovered that, from March 2022 to March 2023, 15% of people who bought an iPhone indicated that they’d switched from an Android telephone. 

In different phrases: iPhones are profitable the struggle. However why? On this article, we spotlight 5 doable causes – some goal, some subjective – why Android telephones proceed to lose a lot floor to Apple’s pocket-sized marvels. 

1. iPhones supply longer software program help

The strongest maintain iPhones have over Android telephones is their superior longevity. Apple typically helps new iPhones with iOS updates for 5 or 6 years after their launch, and people updates come to all units in a single fell swoop. Positive, the oldest units don’t at all times help each new function of a given iOS replace, however their safety and primary performance are maintained to a excessive normal for an impressively very long time (there’s a purpose why you continue to see so many banged-up iPhone 8s knocking round).  

Android telephones, however, aren’t supported for anyplace close to so long as iPhones. Samsung, as an illustration, provides 4 years of software program updates and 5 years of safety updates for the very best Samsung telephones, whereas Google provides Pixel customers three years of software program updates (and the identical safety dedication). You do the maths: you’re in a position to make use of iPhones for longer.

As TechRadar’s US Mobiles Editor, Philip Berne – a loyal Android fan – just lately wrote in an article pleading with Google to offer Android its day within the solar at Google I/O 2023: “We respect issues which are dependable. We respect merchandise that final and final, proving their worth. We respect units that exceed our expectations and don’t allow us to down. 

“If I purchase an iPhone 14 at the moment, I do know that Apple will help it for 5 or 6 years to return, possibly extra. […] That’s lengthy sufficient to be a hand-me-down, which is game-changing when a telephone prices a lot. I can use my iPhone 14 Professional for Three years, then give it to my baby to maintain for an additional few years. I do know that I’ll have the identical parental locks and safety that I’ve at the moment as a result of Apple will preserve updating.

“If I purchase a Samsung or Google telephone at the moment, the very best I can hope for is 4 years of updates, and that’s provided that I purchase the very best telephones. If I purchase something much less, that lifespan for help will get lower significantly.”

2. iPhones supply higher resale worth 

As a by-product of their superior longevity, iPhones supply higher resale worth than Android telephones. They’re smarter investments for many who commonly chop and alter their units, being a number of the most costly telephones to purchase second-hand.

Take the iPhone 13 sequence, for instance. At launch, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Professional value $799 / £779 / AU$1,349 and $999 / £949 / AU$1,699, respectively. Two years later, and also you’re nonetheless capable of get round 75% of that value again, relying in your chosen market.  

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Instance iPhone trade-in / sale costs

Service	iPhone 13 Professional	iPhone 13
Apple Commerce-In	as much as $500 / £485 / AU$830	as much as $400 / £390 / AU$655
GadgetGone (US)	as much as $704	$531
Carphone Warehouse (UK)	as much as £530	as much as £430
JB Hello-Fi (Australia)	as much as AU$700	as much as AU$550
eBay (typical value)	as much as $849 / £700	as much as $599 / £525

For comparability, Samsung’s 2021 flagship telephone, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely, value $1,199 / £1,149 / AU$1,849 at launch and retails for some 60% much less on the second-hand market in 2021 (and that’s going by eBay – the place used iPhones value probably the most). 

3. iPhones supply iMessage 

iPhones supply iMessage whereas Android telephones don’t. Why does this matter to individuals? It’s exhausting to say for positive, however we suspect that the explanations transcend a easy desire for blue-colored messaging bubbles. 

Moderately than simply being a elaborate model of SMS (Quick Message Service), iMessage behaves in an analogous method to Fb Messenger. Messages, images, and movies despatched between iPhone customers use Wi-Fi and knowledge as a substitute of consuming into customers’ textual content message plans, and this dissociation with mobile networks permits for a bevy of iMessage-specific options. You possibly can react and reply to iMessages, translate them, and even ship cash within the Messages app utilizing Apple Money.

None of that is doable by primary SMS messaging, and though a brand new communication normal – RCS (Wealthy Communication Service) – might finally enhance the messaging expertise between Android and iOS units, Apple has thus far proven an (comprehensible) reluctance to degree the taking part in subject. 

4. iPhones are extra fashionable with younger individuals

We’ll rip the band-aid off: iPhones are nonetheless seen as cooler than Android telephones in 2023. Why? It’s exhausting to say, however their recognition amongst younger individuals is simple. 

As Phil places it in his aforementioned article: “The Wall Road Journal (opens in new tab) says that Gen Z leads the cost towards Apple dominance. I can personally attest to that, as my son is 14 and he has an iPhone 11. It isn’t his first iPhone 11, it’s his third, since he’s damaged a pair over time.

“Each time he breaks his iPhone I ask if he needs to commerce it for one thing else. ‘A greater iPhone?’ He asks. Properly, no, I clarify. A Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus. See, Samsung gives you good cash to your iPhone, even when it’s damaged, and all it’s important to do is change…

“He waves me off with a flap of his hand. This dialog ended earlier than it started. He wouldn’t change from his iPhone. There’s no likelihood, I needn’t counsel it. He can’t even clarify why. His associates all have iPhones. Does it hassle him when a pal exhibits up with a inexperienced bubble in a chat? He doesn’t know, as a result of it hasn’t occurred but.” Ouch. 

5. iPhones boast a greater app choice 

This one’s just a little subjective, however iPhones supply a greater app choice than Android telephones. To be clear: we’re not speaking about numbers right here – in reality, some studies (opens in new tab) have it that the Google Play Retailer boasts nearly two million extra apps than Apple’s App Retailer. However the unprovable reality is that App Retailer apps are usually of a better high quality than their Google Play counterparts. 

Why? There are two causes, in our ebook. The primary is that app builders sometimes earn more money by iOS, so that they prioritize the App Retailer on the subject of the velocity and polish of their merchandise. The second is that Apple’s App Retailer provides a bigger choice of pro-level creativity and productiveness apps – these that are optimized for the respective display sizes of the iPhone and iPad, whereas Android pill apps usually are not at all times optimized. 

The takeaway

It is no secret that Google faces an uphill battle if it hopes to shut the hole between Apple and its iOS-powered iPhones, not least as a result of recognition breeds extra recognition. The extra those who use iPhones, the extra fashionable iPhones change into – and it isn’t an awesome look when these customers proceed to defect from Android in rising numbers.

So, what can Android builders do to cease the exodus? They need to begin by taking a leaf out of Apple’s ebook and streamlining the entire working system. The primary time you boot up an Android telephone, you are met with tons of rubbish – video games, in-house apps, third-party apps – that simply aren’t of any curiosity to most individuals. Who wants two picture gallery apps, anyway? 

To its credit score, Android is unquestionably a extra versatile platform than iOS, however nice customization should not come on the expense of usability, and there isn’t any denying that Apple has nailed down the ‘anybody can use this’ aesthetic of iOS. Your grandma or teenage daughter in all probability would not have a tough time organising a brand new iPhone straight out of the field, however Android telephones are nonetheless seen as way more complicated units crammed with choices and shortcuts that baffle and deter the unfamiliar person.

Lastly, there’s the “Which Android are you utilizing?” query. As a result of Android is obtainable from all kinds of handset producers, there isn’t any telling which model of Android you may get. With iPhone, in case you purchase a brand new one, it’s going to have the most recent model of iOS. Even in case you get a used one, you possibly can immediately – assuming it helps it – improve to the most recent model. Android might by no means catch as much as Apple if it might’t get each associate (and the carriers who usually management updates) on the identical web page.