The iPhone vs Android debate raged hard in the early days of smartphones. When buying the best smartphone, the first choice can be the hardest: iPhone vs. Android. Both offer a lot of great features, but iPhones and Android phones are very different. Read on to learn more about these differences to help you decide whether an iPhone or Android smartphone is best for you. The latest version of both operating systems — iOS 15 and Android 12 — are both excellent, but in slightly different ways. Many of their features overlap, but design-wise they look quite different, aside from the basic touchscreen-focused layout. Whichever of the best phones available today you buy, they'll be running one of these two OSes.

Putting iPhone vs. Android, we take a look at the respective strengths of each mobile platform, so you can pick the right one for you the next time you buy a smartphone. If you want to see the current flagships for Android and iOS, be sure to check out our Pixel 6 vs. iPhone 13 face-off. And if you're convinced to want to leave your iPhone, read more about Google's new Switch to Android app that will help you move over.

Hardware: Choice vs. Polish

Hardware is the first place where the differences between the iPhone and Android become clear. Only Apple makes iPhones, so it has extremely tight control over how the software and hardware work together. On the other hand, Google offers Android software to many phone makers, including Samsung, HTC, and Motorola. Because of that, Android phones vary in size, weight, features, and quality. Premium-priced Android phones are about as good as the iPhone, but cheaper Androids are more prone to problems. Of course, iPhones can have hardware issues, too, but they're overall higher quality. If you're buying an iPhone, you need to pick a model. Because many companies make Android devices, you have to choose both a brand and a model. Some may prefer the choice Android offers, but others appreciate Apple's greater simplicity and higher quality.

OS Compatibility: Android Is a Waiting Game

To ensure you always have the latest and greatest version of your smartphone operating system, you have to get an iPhone. That's because some Android makers are slow to update their phones to the latest version of the Android OS and sometimes don't update their phones at all. The makers of the phones—not users—control when the OS update is released for their phones. Most Android makers are very slow to update if they update at all. While older phones will eventually lose support for the latest OS, Apple's support for older phones is much better than Android's.  Take iOS 11, which was released in 2017. It fully supported the iPhone 5S, which was released four years earlier. IOS 11 was installed on about 66% of compatible models within six weeks of its release, thanks to its broad device support.

On the other hand, Android 8 ran on just 0.2% of Android devices more than eight weeks after its release.​ Even its predecessor, Android 7, was only running on about 18% of devices more than a year after its release. So, if you want the latest and greatest OS as soon as it's ready, you need an iPhone.

Apps: Selection vs. Control

The Apple App Store offers fewer apps than Google Play (around 1.8 million vs. 2.8 million, as of Dec. 2020), but the selection isn't the most crucial factor. Apple is strict about what apps it allows, while Google's standards for Android are lax. While Apple's control may seem too tight, it also prevents situations like the one where a fake version of WhatsApp was downloaded 1 million times from Google Play before Google removed it. That's a significant potential security threat. Fragmentation—the large numbers of devices and OS versions to support—makes developing for Android expensive. For example, the developers of the game Temple Run reported that early in their Android experience, ​nearly all of their support emails had to do with unsupported devices even though they support over 700 Android phones.

Combine development costs with Android's emphasis on free apps, and it reduces the likelihood that developers can cover their costs. Key apps also almost always debut on iOS, with Android versions coming later if they come at all.

Security: No Question About It

If you care about the security of your smartphone, iPhone is more secure than the Android. The reasons for this are myriad and too long to go into here. For the short version, consider these two facts:

• In one study, 97% of all malware, viruses, worms, etc., were for Android. In that study, 0% attacked the iPhone.
• Even the head of Google's Android team admits that "We can not guarantee that Android is designed to be safe... If I had a company dedicated to malware, I should also be addressing my attacks on Android." 

That says it all. However, it's important to note that these stats don't mean iPhone is immune to security threats. It is not. It's just less likely to be targeted than Android-based phones and is better at keeping you secure. 

Cost: Is Free Always Best?

If you're concerned most about what your phone costs, you'll probably choose Android. That's because many Android phones are cheap or even free. Apple's most affordable phone is the iPhone SE, which starts at $399. For those on a very tight budget, that may be the end of the discussion. If you've got some money to spend on your phone, though, look a little deeper. Free phones are usually free for a reason: they're often less capable or dependable than their more-costly counterparts. Getting a free phone might be buying you more trouble than a paid phone. The highest-priced phones on both platforms can easily cost $1000 or more, but the average cost of an Android device is lower than an iPhone.

The decision of whether to buy an iPhone or Android phone isn't as simple as choosing the phone that won more categories (but for those counting, it's 10-5 for the iPhone, plus three ties). Different categories matter more for certain people. Some people will value hardware choice more, while others will care more about battery life or mobile gaming. Both platforms offer good choices for different people. You'll need to decide what factors are most important to you and choose the phone that best meets your needs.