iOS 11 Vs. Android Oreo – What’s New?

This season marks the launch of version upgrades of both the mobile OS behemoths – iOS from Apple and Android from Google. While 5- 7 years ago in a less mature landscape, a face-off between the two would have generated a lot of interest, things are different today. Both have built upon their initial premises, both have a loyal following in a mature mobile technology landscape. This loyalty is primarily driven by the entire mobile ecosystem – the apps, the accessories, the services, and the hardware. People will be less likely to switch from one OS to another today, considering the many connections and services that might need to go for an overhaul with an OS switch.

This phenomenon is also evident with the way the updates are rolling out in the recent times. The emphasis is not on wooing the loyal users from one OS to another. The focus is now on making it more convenient to existing users to continue with their current OS. Hence, more than a face-off, it becomes more of ‘what’s new’ that will interest the mobile users.

So for this, we have picked up our top new updates for each of the mobile OS, while we also see how the user preferred features now behave on both the new OS.

What’s new in Android Oreo?
The new Oreo update comes with a slew of new features and improvements.

• Boot up has become 2 times quicker
• Autofill to remember user names, passwords and login credentials
• Lesser background activity leading to better battery life
• Picture in Picture for multi-app usage
• Google Play Protect that assesses app health to protect device and data
• Revamped emojis stack with 56 new characters
• Project Treble that allows mobile phone OEMs to roll out new Android updates faster

Google has added fresh features in order to provide an overall better user experience to Android users. The only point of contention here is how soon users will get this new update, and which OEM will make it available on which device.
What’s new in iOS 11?

• Revamped iOS app store makes it better to discover new apps
• AirPlay 2
• Files app and better docking capability (specifically for iPads
• Live Photos
• Better Siri functionality and interaction
• Auto detect driving mode and turn off notifications to ensure zero loss of focus due to new messages or notifications

It is clear that the main emphasis of the updates is on the iPads. This is expected to bolster its fight against Android tablets.
How do both fare on fresh features?

1. NotificationsWhile iOS had a far robust notifications display since its launch, Google has managed to catch up with iOS on this front. Just like Apple, stock Android too will have a dot on the app icon. While it has already been available on third party launchers, native android has got this update with the Oreo edition
2. EmojisEmojis are proving to be extremely popular irrespective of the OS used. No wonder then that both the OS’ have made remarkable changes to the aesthetic appeal of these emojis. Google has tried to catch up with the iOS version of brightly colored emojis that are a far cry from the plain yellow circles that were in previous versions. Android has also added 56 new characters to be relevant to the current times
3. AutofillGoogle now comes with the autofill feature that makes it easier to log on to the apps without keying in the full password first. This ensures that Android users need not download separate apps like LastPass for managing their passwords.
4. MultitaskingiOS has managed to pack in quite a few features on this front (split- screen, app- switching, enhanced dock). There is a reason why Android hasn’t done much this time; it’s because they have already taken care of most of the things in last year’s Nougat update itself!
5. Smart copy paste Google has played catch up on this front as well. When you copy a portion of the text, the Google powered AI will detect if it is a phone number (and it will open the phone app) or a location (and it will open a Google Maps app).

Which new feature did you like the best in your mobile OS? Do write to us and let us know your views.