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00:00All right, welcome to the definitive iPhone versus Android video.
00:07It's the impossible debate, right?
00:09In a lot of ways, people just get so entrenched on one side that they never want to flip to
00:13the other side, to each their own, you hear that all the time.
00:17But I have a solution.
00:18So here's how we're going to do this.
00:20So I'm going to break this down into seven actually meaningful categories.
00:24So it's an odd number, so there has to be a winner, no tie.
00:26But since we're not psychos, and we know that one winner doesn't automatically apply
00:30to every human on earth, I'm actually going to give you a system, a rubric, to help figure
00:34out the real winner for yourself.
00:37You'll see what I mean.
00:38Let's get into it.
00:39So all right, category number one, customization.
00:43Basically, if you see this icon and you get excited, then you probably love customization
00:47too.
00:48So digging into the settings and messing around with the home screen and the lock screen
00:52and tweaking things and behaviors to make the device absolutely perfect for you, it's
00:58a hobby all on its own.
00:59Now, at first, in 2023, it might actually seem like iOS 17 and Android 14 are pretty
01:07close, right?
01:08I mean, let's be real.
01:09iOS just added a bunch of really good features that are very well done.
01:12The new lock screen update gives you the ability to change all these clock fonts and colors
01:17and put various super useful widgets on your lock screen, and then save a bunch of different
01:22lock screen setups for different situations and different focus modes.
01:26And then widgets were also added to the home screen less than two years ago as well.
01:29So that unlocked a ton of customization of home screen setups, displaying glanceable
01:34information.
01:35But the more you look into it, the more you realize it's not actually that close.
01:39And a lot of this really just comes down to the fact that Apple, they do keep adding all
01:42these abilities, but you're always restricted to doing it the Apple way, the correct way.
01:48And so that's why a lot of iPhone setups still just kind of look the same.
01:52Like, even if you just take stock Android 14 from the Google Pixel, which isn't even
01:56the most customizable version of Android, there's still way more that you can change
02:01from the colors of the theme of the OS, matching the color of your wallpaper, thanks to Material
02:06U, to icon packs, custom widget sizes.
02:10I mean, Android will just kind of let you do whatever you want.
02:14On the iPhone, you can't expand a widget to any size you want.
02:17You can't put an app just on the right side of your home screen for reachability.
02:21You literally can't even place an app wherever you want on the home screen.
02:24It must be the next up in the grid of Apple's choosing.
02:28You can't change the grid size.
02:29You can't change the icon sizes.
02:31I mean, it just takes a whole bunch of extra work and a Siri shortcuts hack just to use
02:35a custom icon, just basic stuff.
02:37Now, I think the other side of that coin is you can make a truly ugly, horrible Android
02:42setup where you can't really mess up an iPhone home screen that much.
02:47So while you can definitely argue that iOS does it prettier, the winner for most customization,
02:54that would be Android.
02:55So then, category number two, features, all right?
02:58Just straight up, which one can do more stuff?
03:00This has been one of the hottest debates at the forefront of iOS versus Android conversations
03:05you always hear, mostly because both platforms at some level launched missing features, but
03:11especially the iPhone.
03:12Like you'd always hear, wow, can you believe the iPhone can't even set wallpapers?
03:17And then it was, can you believe the iPhone is just now getting copy and paste, seriously?
03:22And then it's, wow, it's crazy that iOS is just getting widgets now a decade later.
03:26But hey, now it's 2023 and they're both very complete.
03:29And even in the ways that they're not, they're copying each other all the time.
03:32So you always see a new keynote with new stuff on Android and you're like, that came
03:35from iOS.
03:36And then you'll see stuff from the iPhone keynote and be like, that came from Android.
03:40But there's even some new stuff now that the iPhone has that Android doesn't.
03:43A pretty good one recently is focus modes, which gives you super high control over notifications
03:48in various different situations with your apps and your contacts.
03:52There are also a lot of privacy features, things like hide my email with iCloud Plus
03:56and iCloud Private Relay.
03:59You could even argue that Dynamic Island on the pro iPhone is a future if you want to.
04:04But I mean, I just, I couldn't because only a small handful of apps support it.
04:07But it's something pretty cool and unique, which is more and more rare than ever in the
04:11smartphone world.
04:12At this point though, neither OS is really missing any gigantic features anymore.
04:17They both matured up to this level where they're their own character.
04:20They both do a lot of stuff, but I still am going to have to give the edge to Android
04:27in this one, just because there are so many little like tweaky, like little OS level features,
04:32just little things that you can tweak and change on Android that still just are not
04:37on the iPhone.
04:38So I'm talking like battery management features to customize charging speeds or set manual
04:42charge limits to preserve battery life.
04:45There's also an actual file management system, so you can drag and drop things onto your
04:49phone into certain folders if you want to.
04:52There's gaming specific features like game modes, the ability to dial up and down your
04:57screen's refresh rate whenever you want to, independent volume controls for phone calls
05:02and ringtones and alarms.
05:04Also reverse wireless charging comes up a lot for charging wireless earbuds without
05:07breaking out a separate cable.
05:09Really it comes down to the benefit of Android is having so much feature choice.
05:15That's kind of the point.
05:16And this also bleeds into hardware too.
05:18So even if the feature you want is a huge camera with no notch, then you have to get
05:24an Android phone, right?
05:25So if the feature is super fast charging or a 10X camera or USB type C, as of right
05:34now it's got to be an Android phone.
05:36So even though they both offer all of the basic features and they appear to copy each
05:40other all the time on little added stuff, the winner here again is definitely Android.
05:45Now number three is ease of use.
05:48Now ease of use is very valuable to a lot of people, like a lot of people.
05:54And the thing about ease of use is it often basically has an inverse relationship with
05:59customization and a ton of features because there's this delicate balancing act you have
06:03to do of having flexibility, giving flexibility to the user, but not overwhelming them with
06:09a ton of buttons and settings.
06:11And this is really where the iPhone excels and has excelled for years as a high priority
06:16for sure, even in the most fundamental ways.
06:19The home screen on the iPhone has had up to four icons in the dock on every iPhone
06:24since the beginning.
06:26And the phone icon has always been green and always been on the left every single
06:29time for 17 years.
06:31The iPhone's camera app, we've all seen that stay fundamentally the same with the viewfinder
06:36and the sliding modes.
06:38It's been like that for years and that kind of tucks away a lot of the settings into a
06:41separate settings app and it can feel like it's missing features, but honestly it's still
06:45the easiest and most straightforward for most people to use.
06:49It's like they hate changing things for no good reason.
06:51The calculator has basically been unchanged for years.
06:54Now there's also downsides to that, like Siri has basically been ignored since it was introduced,
06:59but still, like Apple moves the call end button by like 200 pixels to the middle of the screen
07:04and people freak out about it.
07:06Sometimes it feels like Android versions will just move stuff around just kind of to try
07:10it and for the sake of changing things and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't,
07:14they'll move it back.
07:15And that's interesting and exciting sometimes, but that does hurt just user continuity and
07:21ease of use.
07:22Maybe not for you watching this video, but just think for the average person, like for
07:26your five closest friends, think about how they use their phone.
07:29Yeah.
07:30Then throw on top of that, there's basically never any bloatware loaded onto the iPhone
07:35ever.
07:36And then customer service is basically always better for an iPhone because Apple stores
07:40are everywhere and Apple controls that entire experience for better or for worse.
07:45So they get to do great work with customers.
07:47So it's just for people who are not enthusiasts, who just want to get the thing and not think
07:51about it anymore.
07:53They pretty much always go with the iPhone.
07:55So ease of use is a checkbox for the iPhone.
07:58By the way, if you're enjoying this video, get subscribed.
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08:02All right.
08:03So we've got to talk about updates.
08:04So number four is support.
08:06So this is something that I would classify as kind of underrated just because I don't
08:10think enough people buy their new phone that they plan on having for years with this in
08:15mind.
08:16I think having the latest and greatest updates, software and security patches as quick as
08:20possible and as long as possible should be a priority, but it usually isn't for people.
08:25Either way, it's kind of a mixed bag across the board.
08:28In Android world, some companies make no promises or they kind of break their promises.
08:33Some have short promises and some will actually extend out to promising three to four years
08:39of software updates.
08:40Weirdly, Samsung right now is the undisputed king of Android software updates with some
08:45rumors of maybe Google catching back up.
08:47But Samsung announced in 2019 that all devices in 2019 or later will get four years of security
08:53updates and some flagships will even get five.
08:57But none of them really come close to the iPhone.
09:00When iOS 17 comes out this fall, every iPhone back to the iPhone XR from 2018 is officially
09:07supported and going to get the latest version.
09:10That's five major software version updates.
09:13I don't think there are any Android phones from 2018 that are going to get the latest
09:18version of Android 14 when it comes out.
09:20So this one easily goes to the vertically integrated Apple phone with the Apple software
09:26all day.
09:27So now my number five category is apps.
09:31This one is actually kind of fascinating.
09:32So obviously we have our standard, like our apps that we all use every single day on
09:37our phones that we're used to, but then sometimes it's fun just sort of popping around in their
09:42respective app stores, discovering new things, finding fun apps.
09:46And at this point they are both flourishing.
09:49There's millions of apps now.
09:50It's over three and a half million apps in the Google play store and over a million and
09:55a half in Apple's app store, which if you just stop there, looks like a win for Android,
10:01but quality over quantity, my friends, quality over quantity.
10:06Every major app is available for both platforms, which means there are many more, you know,
10:11niche apps or relatively unknown possible diamonds in the rough on the Google play store.
10:16Sure.
10:17But the difference is when you actually talk to these developers and observe the cycle
10:21of like how they get made and how these apps get updated.
10:24The truth is so many of them are prioritizing iOS and really it's purely for efficiency.
10:30Think about it.
10:31If you have to update one version of your app and it works with all the newest iPhones
10:35instantly and works perfectly for millions of people who all have basically the same
10:39aspect ratio.
10:40Of course you'd do it.
10:41Flip that switch.
10:42But with Android, there are naturally many more complexities.
10:45There are a bunch of different devices that all have different aspect ratios and different
10:49pixel densities and different feature support and even foldables.
10:52And it's like, it's a lot more work to get all of those users up to date with the same
10:57level of optimization.
10:59It's a lot of different switches to flip.
11:01So a lot of them just don't go through all of that or they take way longer to.
11:04So the number of titles is one thing, but is it the same Instagram app on both iPhone
11:11and Android?
11:12Is it the same threads app on each one?
11:14As someone who's been carrying and using both phones and often using the same app on both
11:18phones, I have a firsthand experience of knowing that often, even with some of Google's own
11:24apps, the updates are prioritized on the iPhone.
11:27They come first to the iPhone before they come to Android.
11:30I wish that wasn't true.
11:31I wish they were just as easy to do one or the other, but that's just the truth of it.
11:35So the slight app advantage is going to go to the iPhone here.
11:38And interestingly enough, this also applies generally to accessories.
11:42Again, same reason, same efficiency, but that's a win for the iPhone.
11:47So then category number six, I'm going to go a little more subjective with this one,
11:51but I still think it matters, which is excitement.
11:55Which one is more interesting or exciting in the moment to you?
12:00Now, honestly, I get pretty excited for a lot of different new tech these days.
12:04And actually, because there's only like one or two new iPhone drops every year, it's actually
12:07very easy to get hype built up for the new iPhone.
12:11But it's definitely a different type of excitement with the massive variety of new innovations
12:16and things that come to Android phones all the time.
12:19If you just are interested in folding phones, well, there's more Android releases than ever
12:23for that.
12:24Want a gaming phone?
12:25There's going to be an Android for that.
12:27Do you want a headphone jack?
12:28Do you want a compact phone?
12:29Do you want the world's fastest charging?
12:32Do you want some interesting new unique designs or materials or textures or experimental features?
12:37That is the world of Android.
12:39And if you think about it, seriously think about this, most of the interesting excitement
12:43around every new iPhone launch, the question really is, is this new iPhone going to get
12:49a new feature that's been in Android phones for years?
12:53Are we finally going to get USB-C on an iPhone?
12:57Are we finally going to get fast charging on an iPhone?
13:00Are we finally going to get a 5X camera?
13:03And so just for that novelty reason alone, the excitement category, that's definitely
13:08got to go to Android.
13:09So that brings us to my last category, number seven, ecosystem.
13:15We've heard this word before, ecosystem.
13:17So okay, say what you want, but there are a lot of people who will not buy a phone if
13:23it doesn't have iMessage or FaceTime, whatever it is.
13:27And Apple has like weaponized this and built walls around this and close it off as much
13:31as possible.
13:32Technically, you can join a FaceTime from an Android phone, but can't start one.
13:36So I made an entire video just about Apple's ecosystem, hate it or love it, it is important
13:41to some people.
13:42Now the thing is, Apple is not the only one with an ecosystem.
13:46Like look at Samsung, for example, Apple happens to build bigger walls around keeping people
13:52into their ecosystem, but Samsung has a lot of equivalents to all the same pieces.
13:57Like you could get a Samsung Galaxy S flagship and you could quickly and easily connect your
14:01Galaxy Buds, just like AirPods.
14:03You put on your Galaxy Watch with a lot of the same features as the Apple Watch.
14:07You tether to a Samsung tab just for entertainment purposes, like an iPad, but then you get a
14:12Galaxy Book Pro with cellular internet sharing and wireless quick share, just like a MacBook
14:17Pro with AirDrop.
14:18You see where I'm going?
14:19It just keeps going and going.
14:20I'm sure Samsung is eventually going to come out with their smart speaker to match the
14:24HomePod.
14:25It's totally, totally coming.
14:26But on paper, the idea is they are surprisingly congruent.
14:30So the way I see it, at the time of this recording, because this could change very soon in the
14:34next couple of weeks, but the main advantages of Samsung's ecosystem would be things like
14:39one, USB-C across literally everything, so you can use one charging cable for all of
14:44your stuff.
14:45Two, they make more different versions of devices that fit into the ecosystem.
14:50There are a ton of different phones and a bunch of different watches and different
14:54headphones and laptops, et cetera.
14:56So there's more flexibility and hardware choice, classic Android.
14:59Plus, Samsung also makes other stuff that connects, like dishwashers and refrigerators.
15:04But then the advantages of Apple's ecosystem, not just in the US, but especially here, are
15:09first of all, ease of use and seamlessness.
15:12It is genuinely crazy how good some of the continuity stuff is in Apple's ecosystem.
15:17Something like continuity camera is so sick.
15:20Every time, you just push one button to use a super high quality iPhone camera as your
15:24webcam, it works very, very well.
15:27But then the popularity factor, especially in the US, makes things like FaceTime and
15:33iMessage and the Find My Network super strong.
15:37So I can make a whole video on this.
15:38I could put up the strengths and weaknesses and put up just these two ecosystems up against
15:43each other.
15:44But as of right now, they're both very strong.
15:48And I'm going to give the slight edge to Apple's just because, one, I'm in the US and that
15:53advantage is strong, but two, just because of the seamlessness and how well things are
15:56integrated and the continuity features are unreal.
15:59So if we tally these all up here, you can see that the objective winner in four out
16:04of the seven categories that I made up is the iPhone.
16:07But, but, put your pitchforks down, guess what?
16:11There is no, as you've probably picked up from the beginning of this video, there is
16:14no objective winner to a decision as personal as this one and when the options are this
16:19close.
16:20You probably already know.
16:21If you've been watching my videos, you know I main an Android phone most of the time
16:24alongside an iPhone.
16:26But my main phone and my main customized setups are on the Android phone.
16:30So what gives?
16:31Like picking one de facto winner kind of suggests that the one winner is best for everyone.
16:37But we already know that people, there's some people who literally don't care about
16:43some features that some others would say they can't live without.
16:46So I've devised a very basic system to help you pick your winner for yourself and it's
16:52really quite simple.
16:53All you have to do is put these seven categories in order of importance to you and then rate
17:00each one of them, let's say on a scale from one to five.
17:03So give them a one to five point rating based on how much you care about it.
17:08So here for me, I care the most about customization and features.
17:13Then I care a lot about apps and excitement and updates are decently important.
17:17But then in my daily driver, ease of use and ecosystem aren't that big of a deal.
17:21I've got a mixed bag.
17:22So then I just give the amount of points earned to each winner of that category.
17:27So the winner for me is clearly Android.
17:30But hey, for you, maybe you care a lot about ecosystem and maybe nothing else.
17:35I'm sure you know someone like this.
17:37Then the iPhone will clearly be calling your name.
17:40Or if you're the type who wants all the features and excitement in the world, well then Android
17:44probably is what's in your pocket.
17:46You might even have your own category you could add in that's heavily weighted.
17:50I kind of see it like buying a car, like maybe cool factors in there.
17:53Have at it.
17:54It turns out buying a phone is one of the most personal decisions you make.
17:58I've said this before, but it's the thing you spent your money on and you carry everywhere
18:02you go.
18:03And that's why people get so worked up about this side versus that side.
18:07But at the end of the day, the winner, not to be cheesy, is us because they're competing
18:12against each other to get better, to hopefully win you over and that's the way it should
18:17be.
18:18Thanks for watching.
18:19Catch you in the next one.
18:21Peace.