Top reasons why Android is better than iOS

Android has more apps

The Google Play Store is where most Android apps can be found. The App Store is the app marketplace for Apple (iOS) devices. There are more apps available in the Google Play Store than in the App Store. At the moment there are a little over 2 million available for the App Store, whereas the Google Play Store has 2.5 million.

In addition to there being more apps in the Google Play Store in general, there are also more free apps. Of the 2.5 million total apps for Android, 2.3 million of these are free. That's more free apps for Android than the total number of apps you get from Apple. And while there are some quality concerns over free Android apps, there are more options to choose from and you can try more apps out without any concerns about the costs.

Android is more customizable

While some people are quite content with the homogeneity offered by iOS, those of us who like to see a phone as an extension of ourselves want to tweak it. You can even completely replace the software on some Android devices.

Android devices let you change just about every aspect of their on-screen appearance – from the keyboard, to the homescreen launcher, to your email app. If you get CyanogenMod, you can pretty much strip away any unnecessary features that come pre-loaded on your phone.

Check out some Android customization options below:

• Best Android launchers
• Best custom ROMs for Android

There's an Android phone for everyone

Need a rugged phone that you can take mountain-biking or rock-climbing? Get the over 24,000 devices from 1,300 brands.

With each generation of Apple devices, you basically get three different options (sometimes only two): small, medium and large. The sizes are basically the biggest differences in the devices. Sure, there are also variations in display or hardware but they're all essentially the same phone.

There is a wider array of price ranges

Let's face it, sometimes we feel like spending a ton of money on our smartphones and other times we don't. If you're upgrading to the next generation of iOS devices, then you've got just a couple of different choices – and all of them are expensive.

There's an Android phone out there for every price range. You can pick up a $20 Alcatel Pixi Glitz or jump into a $800 (starting price) Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The choice is yours but the point is that there is a choice. Apple won't release a phone under $500, so you're quite limited.

You don't have to use iTunes

Apple is a pioneer of hardware and software design, but iTunes – which is required to transfer music between your iPhone and computer – is a bloated mess. Uninstalling it is a nightmare too, to the extent that Apple published an extensive guide for how to fully remove iTunes from your PC.

Android users don't need iTunes, and are given many more choices for music services and purchases in general. More and more services are expanding to Android and not just for music but movies, TV shows, games and many more. Heck, you can even get iTunes on Android if you want to.

You're integrated with Google

Android is an open source project called AOSP (Android Open Source Project) that is led by Google but not owned by it. Google uses this to make its version of Android, which is then used by the other manufacturers. That said, Google services are an integral part of Android and are a good reason to pick up one of these devices.

Google services are great and people are flocking to their convenience. How could we live without Google Maps, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Music or Google Chrome? When integrated, these services make our lives so much easier and Apple just isn't keeping pace.

Android keeps up with technology

Apple moves slowly, while Android races ahead at full speed. Individual technological innovations of Android devices are way ahead of Apple. Usually, Apple follows Android. For instance, the Huawei P9 was released with a dual rear camera system earlier this year and now the iPhone 7 Plus has it.

If there's a new innovation you're interested in then you should go with Android. Manufacturers of Android devices give you plenty of fresh choices for new technology. If you want last year's innovations jumbled into one device, then Apple is the best bet. Remember, many new features Apple touts are already in Android devices. The iPhone 7 is now water resistant, but Android did it first two years ago, and the Galaxy S7 still has a higher IP68 certification than the IP67 certification of the iPhone 7. Android started using haptic feedback two years ago as well. Apple marketing is clever. For instance, many people believe that Apple invented the smartphone.

Android has microSD card support

If you want more internal storage on Apple devices, then you need to either erase your stuff or buy another phone. Apple devices don't give you the option to expand with a microSD card. But many Android smartphones come equipped with microSD card access.

The difference between a 32 GB iPhone 7 and the 256 GB version is $200. But the SanDisk Ultra 200 GB microSD card only costs $72. That's a huge savings. But another great thing about microSD card support is you can customize how much storage you have for your phone. For instance, SanDisk microSD cards come in 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 200, and 256 GB. So if you just need an extra 64 GB you would only have to pay $20.

Android has removable batteries

When your iPhone has aged and no longer holds a charge as well, you have no choice but to replace the phone or plug in constantly. With Android, many phones like the LG G5 have removable batteries, so you can swap them out for a spare without skipping a beat.

Android has real multitasking

Sure, you can switch between apps and call it multitasking on iOS, but real multitasking is available on Android. Samsung for example, has had the Multi-Window feature for some time now. It allows you to display two apps on the screen simultaneously so you can do more than one thing at a time.

• How to use Samsung Multi-Window

Android offers more cloud storage

Google Drive offers a full 15 GB of cloud storage, while iCloud only gives 5 GB, which is not nearly enough for all of a person's documents or photos. If you want to upgrade your iCloud storage, again Apple is less generous than Google. It'll cost you $100 per year for an extra 50 GB with iCloud, and only $24 per year (at $2 per month) from Google for twice as much storage.

Android doesn't limit NFC

Apple brought NFC to the iPhone 6, but they only allow you to use it with Apple Pay. Since there's a lot of money to be made with mobile payments systems, this is likely Apple's attempt to hold off competition on that front. But, with Android, NFC chips been available in devices for years, and they work with everything they're meant to, including NFC tags and file sharing.

Do you agree with these points? What other ways is Android better than iOS? Let us know in the comments below!

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