Apple iOS 4.3 vs Android 2.3 Gingerbread

We previously compared the latest version of iOS to Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the newest version of Android but a tablet-specific one. This time we’re comparing iOS 4.3 to the most recent smartphone build, Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Apps and Media:

As we mentioned in the Honeycomb comparison, one of the big features Apple seems very pleased about in this new version of iOS is the enhancements to its Airplay and wireless networking suite across all platforms.

Airplay was introduced in version 4.2 and allows users to stream real-time video, audio and images direct to Apple TVs.

iOS 4.3 expands on this to include web-based H.264 video content.

We can see this being a useful and frequently used setup but only if you’ve got an Apple TV in the first place, otherwise it’s fairly moot.

Also worth noting is that Airplay requires that web content uses permission tags to allow it to be streamed.

While Apple have gone to lengths to make this a simple process for web developers it is still no guarantee that it will take off or that the particular content you want at a given time will be usable.

Another new enhancement in 4.3 for the Airplay feature is that it now allows you to directly stream self-made video content where previously users had to undertake the laborious task of manually moving the file and re-synching it first.

The App Update tab has been changed but could be considered a work in progress and is rather clumsy as a result. It now uses a series of large icons with no informative text and an ‘Installed’ button which when pressed takes you to the update page.

Functional enough but not particularly intuitive or slick. Android’s brilliant multitasking features steadily improve with each new version and Gingerbread is no exception, not only does it handle it better but it has some tools to allow you greater control – notably the new manage apps utility on the homescreen.

Gingerbread actively monitors your running apps and if there are any running in the background which take up too much power it shuts them down, there’s also a new tab in the app manager menu showing all currently running apps as well as information about each including storage space and memory used.

Browsers:

iOS 4.3 has had some attention given to its browsing with an improved Nitro Javascript engine making it twice as powerful as the previous version, which was very good to begin with, but kudos to Apple for not resting on its laurels.

Browsing under iOS 4.3 is very smooth and responsive which is certainly something to recommend. Gingerbread’s browser hasn’t been changed much since the improvements in Froyo, which introduced Flash 10.1 support.

Apart from this browsing in Gingerbread can be clunky and temperamental even at the best of times, it isn’t until we get the changes made for tablets in 3.0 Honeycomb that smartphone browsing on Android will seriously improve – the interface improvements outlined further on in the comparison do help matters a touch but we’d still like to see browsing enhanced further.

In this category Apple has some major plus points over Google.

Social Networking:

Apple hasn’t made any huge changes here and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

What has been introduced, however, is Apple’s take on Google’s Latitude service.

The Find My Friends utility allows you to locate nearby contacts while you’re on the go – whether this is anything to write home about really comes down to personal preference and how you use your phone, we can’t really see ourselves using this feature very much but there must be people out there who do.

While not strictly social networking the new SIP support on Gingerbread fits better here than in any other category.

SIP is essentially a built-in voice-over IP (VOIP) platform which means you don’t need an account with providers such as Skype to make phone calls over an internet connection on your handset, you do however, need a SIP account from one of the many free SIP providers out there, as does the person you are calling, but once set up you can call anyone in your address book over a wireless internet connection quickly and easily.

The point of it, seemingly, is that it doesn’t bind you into using a specific provider’s app, such as Skype, Vopium and the rest.

There isn’t a lot of support for this feature though, even with handset developers, though the Google Nexus S does have it, so depending on how it develops over time it may be a very useful thing to have or virtually a no-go, time will tell.

Interface:

The interface has been darkened on Gingerbread, allegedly to save power, though this seems like pretty naff reasoning to us when you consider this will only work on OLED screens – handsets using LCD should actually use more power with the darker background.

Apart from this the keyboard has been significantly improved to be much smoother and more responsive, even to the extent that there are 2.3 keyboard apps available for Froyo to bring the experience to earlier versions, Gingerbread’s keyboard also now supports multi-touch input which is a welcome bonus.

Text selection and copy and pasting has been tweaked to be less fiddly than before – a big improvement.

On iOS the interface changes are a mixture, some seem quite sensible and helpful alterations whilst others come across as arbitrary – various buttons have been moved around or received new icons including FaceTime, the Notes app has had a visual redesign including a new font and parts of the camera interface have been updated with a new look.

In terms of the functional rather than purely visual the Message Alert settings have been modified and now allow you to set tones to play one, two, three, five or ten times per alert and replaces much more limited options from previous versions, it’s a small change but a welcome one.

System Requirements/Compatibility:

iOS has generally been pretty good on backwards compatibility but that’s set to change with 4.3 which will not support iPod touch 2G and iPhone 3G, both are being sadly left behind.

Android is used to being a fragmented platform and Gingerbread doesn’t yet buck the trend, though rumblings from Google suggest future versions will seek to rectify this.

In terms of what Gingerbread brings to the table on compatibility it now supports Near Field Communication (NFC) for phone based banking and transactions, though this doesn’t really affect us in the UK yet, and, more importantly for most of us 2.3 supports devices with additional cameras, so if you have a secondary, front-mounted camera on your handset Gingerbread can use it.

Gyroscope support is also part of the enhancements in 2.3 so games and apps featuring motion control will benefit.

Verdict:

Gingerbread is undoubtedly the best iteration of Android for smartphones so far but Honeycomb has shown us what an improved system could be like and in light of that 2.3 feels lacking in some areas, most notably the browser.

It is still a step forward though, the additional support for a lot of modern features such as multi-touch, secondary cameras and gyro sensors means this is a forward-looking OS while steady improvements of Android’s established features, the multi-tasking, the keyboard and so on are making it more and more versatile and user friendly.

iOS 4.3 hasn’t changed much but then, it didn’t really need it, the new Airplay and Find My Friends are good but nothing groundbreaking.

As we said in the Honeycomb comparison it’s testament to how good a system iOS already is that it hasn’t needed much tweaking this time round, it’s simply a system you can pick up and use easily and it integrates very well with other Apple devices.