iOS 4.0 vs Android 2.2

iOS 4.0 was announced for developers way back in April, and the forthcoming iPhone 4 will be the first device to show off the platform's full capabilities.

Android 2.2 was only released a couple of weeks ago, but already it seems to be a pretty strong platform.

We take a look at what both platforms offer to see whether you should be looking to upgrade to iOS 4 or Android 2.2 when it's time to get a new phone.

Multitasking
Android has supported multitasking since the very first device was launched and nothing changes with Android 2.2, except it's a little faster at swapping between applications and running them simultaneously.

However, Apple's history is a little more disappointing on the multitasking front. It's the one area that Apple has denied in its OS since the first iPhone -- at least in terms of third-party apps -- but the good news is that iOS 4.0 will bring third-party app multitasking to the iPhone 4 and in an update for the iPhone 3GS.

The concept is simple -- just like on a BlackBerry when you hold the BlackBerry key down or Android devices where you can press and hold the home button -- on the iPhone, you can double-click on the home button to see all of the apps you have open. Just tap on one and it'll open up.

Of course third party apps still aren't allowed to run in the background. Instead, they can make use of one of seven different background APIs when minimized to the background, and their state remains frozen until they are recalled to the forefront.

On the surface, this seems like a negative but in reality, Apple's faux-multitasking solution provides most of the benefits of a full-fledged solution with much less negative impact on resource consumption and battery life.

Social networking
Neither the Android nor Apple platforms have been strangers to social networking since their retrospective inceptions, with both offering native support.

Although not a direct feature of just Android 2.2, a recently launched official Twitter app does make it a lot easier to access Twitter while on the move.

Obviously Facebook is also supported and seamlessly integrates with your contacts.

With iOS 4.0, you can do the same as you can with Android.

Exchange support

Apple's OS has always been a winner on the Exchange front, pretty much syncing with any Exchange email, however old your server. Android 2.2, looks to improve Exchange sync slightly, though some features are still unavailable for the time being.

Another bonus on the iOS 4.0 front is that it now supports multiple Exchange accounts.

In the 'just about every other mobile device' category, sits Android along with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.

Performance
Android 2.2 on the other hand, has been specifically designed to improve the speed and performance of Android devices. It does this using a JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler to tighten up Google's Android code. In tests, Android 2.2 has been shown to use up a helluva lot less RAM than previous iterations.

It remains to be seen how iOS 4.0 performs on older iPhone models, but it looks to be smooth as silk on the 1GHz iPhone 4 -- as expected.

Storage
With the iOS 4.0 devices don't support removable storage, iPhones have plenty of space to hold all of your apps, photos, music and movies. You can also store as many apps as your iPhone will hold, which is one advantage the iPhone has over older Android devices.

Android 2.2 has now been opened up to support SD storage for apps, so you can now have limitless apps stored on your Android phone and they're hot swappable, unlike on the iPhone. App-tastic.

Applications
As always when there's a major Apple update, many apps will have to be tweaked to take full advantage of all the new features in the new OS. Unfortunately, not every developer is up to the task. While old apps will be usable with iOS 4.0, some may never be able to take advantage of the new resolution in the iPhone 4, for example.

One major update in the iOS 4.0 update though, is the enhanced SDK that supports a whole load of new APIs including background navigation, better push notifications and other background processors. This means there will be even more amazing apps in the App Store.

Because the Android app development environment is more open than Apple, most applications will work exactly the same on Android 2.2 as they did on Android 2.1. This is good news for those who want to upgrade but use the same apps.

Another improvement in Android 2.2 is an improved Android Market, and a facelift is definitely good for us!

Verdict
It seems that Apple and Google have swapped all of each other's missing technology. They might even be able to produce a super-OS if Apple wasn't so proud.

In this sense, it's hard to see who wins until iPhone 4 sales kick off and more devices get the Android 2.2 update.

Adapted from an article originally published by our UK sister site, Know Your Mobile