Switching between mobile operating systems? Prepare yourself for a learning curve! However, transitioning from iOS to Android may be less challenging. At least, that’s what the recent study regarding Android vs iOS is showing.
On the other hand, if you are switching from Android to iOS, you need to go through a steep learning curve. After all, the user interface of iOS is very different than Android. Even the study indicates that Android’s user interface is more intuitive compared to Apple’s OS, making it easier to navigate.
But is that all that the Android vs iOS study has to show? Not really. There are many more interesting things that it has shed light on. Let’s take a closer look.
What Did the Study Consider
So, the study basically revolves around the usability of Android and iOS. To understand which mobile operating system is easier to use, the study looked into the tasks and functions users were having trouble with. Wondering how did the study gain insight into that?
Well, the Android vs iOS usability study has taken data from Google searches made by iOS and Android users. And it’s worth noting that the data taken by the study is from the users that reside in the United States. The results could be different if it had considered data from other regions.
However, in my view, the results from the United States are more reliable than results from other regions. Wondering why? According to the latest statistics report, 43.72% of United States smartphone users are using an iPhone. On the other hand, 46.30% of United States smartphone users are on Android devices. That makes the Android vs iOS comparison fair.
Methodology of this Android vs iOS Study
To come to a finding, this Android vs iOS analyzed the average monthly search volume for the previous 12 months. The study utilized different search keyword formats for different tasks. However, it utilized the same format for the term of Android and iOS. That kept the findings unbiased.
For example, when this Android vs iOS study was analyzing “how to screenshot on Android,” it compared the data with “how to screenshot on iPhone.” Of course, the term Android here is a bit. After all, there are multiple Android manufacturers. On the other hand, iOS is only found on iPhones. So, Apple’s OS had an advantage here.
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To compensate, this Android vs iOS study has increased the Android-related figures in order to account for the keywords related to specific manufacturers. That is, the study also considered “how to screenshot on Samsung phones” and “how to screenshot on Google Pixel.”
Android vs iOS – The Results
From the data that the study has analyzed, it’s quite clear that Android users face fewer problems than iOS users while using the OS. For example, 84,000 iPhone users have asked Google how to record their phone’s screen. On the other hand, 24,000 Android users Googled the same phrase.
Screen recording is a basic task. But in comparison, there’s a 60,000 difference in terms of queries. And 60,000 is not a small number by any means. And it’s not just about recording screens. The story is similar for the “how to factory reset” query. In that case, iOS has 61,000, and Android has 8,400. Here, the difference is 52,600.
Among all the queries that this Android vs iOS study has considered, Android is shown to be better in 10 of 12 queries. Android has higher values on “how to take a screenshot” and “how to scan a QR code.” In the case of these two, iOS is the clear winner on “how to take a screenshot.”
On the other hand, the difference in “how to scan a QR code” is just 9,000. So, according to the results found by the study, Android is more intuitive than iOS. On the contrary, the study shows that iOS requires a steep learning curve to get used to the basic tasks.
A Closer Look Into the Study
Although the Android vs iOS study shows that iOS is easier to use than Android, you need to consider one thing. That is, more users switch from Android to iOS. In other words, the number of users that switch from iOS to Android is considerably lower than users who switch from Android to iOS.
To be exact, another recent study showed that the percentage of users who have switched to iOS from Android has increased in the last five years. As I mentioned in the beginning, everything will seem new to you when you are switching from one OS to another.
That could explain why there are so many queries on iOS than on Android. Moreover, even though the iPhones are a little difficult to start with, things get smoother as you get the hang of iOS. So, keep that in mind before drawing a conclusion from the Android vs iOS study’s result.
