iOS8 vs WP8.1 vs Android 4.4 vs BB10

[rockstarzzz]

Leaving minor updates alone, these are the 4 big versions of the top 4 OS on any mobile phone.

I don't like the Verge. Why? It generally loves Apple. Or used to. I follow news everywhere. Now with its final iOS 8 review out, I thought I would see who lags where.

Just going by scores, the Verge has rated them as follows, 10 being the best:

Android 4.4 - Score 8.8
iOS 8 - Score 8.2
WP8.1 - Score 8.0
BB10 - Score 7.0

Performance
WP8.1 = iOS8

Features
WP8.1 = iOS8

Design
WP8.1 = Android 4.4

Worth noting that WP8.1 is rated AS GOOD AS iOS8 for performance as well as features. This is very encouraging for WP because iOS8 runs on a premium hardware with only 1 OEM making phones. WP8.1 runs on multiple hardwares made by diverse range of OEMs.

Another point to note - WP8.1 design is rated AS GOOD AS Android and far superior to iOS8 - that is again more than a win for WP considering it can walk same pace as the big dog and is better designed than a premium OS!

The only place where it has been rated bad (still better than BB10 ) is ecosystem. This shows how much lies on the Windows 9 launch. May I remind everyone that Windows 9 launch is expected in 2015, the year when most polls have predicted WP to cross 10% globally (back in 2010-2011 after launch). I think, it is time we believed "it is a marathon, not a sprint" as clearly in 2014, WP has matured to stand right next to iOS and Android - for design, features and performance.

 

[salmanahmad]

Considering some of the editors of the Verge are somewhat biased and also quick to dismiss Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry, it's awesome to see Android 4.4 placed above iOS 8.

Thanks for the find.

 

[Karthik Naik]

Nice windows phone finally is getting recognised for its design etc what it needs now is more marketing etc in other countries

 

[dgr_874]

Agreed, WP 8.1 is a great OS. Its the small things that keep it from being great (Xbox music...)

 

[unstoppablekem]

Some of your (op) opinions are bias too. Everyone is bias. Just saying.

 

[jonnaver]

I agree with the ratings but the problem with calling it a marathon not a sprint in regards to ecosystem is that marathons aren't any consolation in the here and now. If ecosystem is to be considered for a phone ownership you're better off holding off on this runner until the race has matured more and sticking with the currently leading runner

 

[fatclue_98]

I agree with the ratings but the problem with calling it a marathon not a sprint in regards to ecosystem is that marathons aren't any consolation in the here and now. If ecosystem is to be considered for a phone ownership you're better off holding off on this runner until the race has matured more and sticking with the currently leading runner

If every WP user thought like you, this runner would be on 2 broken legs and his hands tied behind his back. There are other things to like besides apps.

 

[jonnaver]

If every WP user thought like you, this runner would be on 2 broken legs and his hands tied behind his back. There are other things to like besides apps.

No need to take it to heart. Apps carry a higher amount of weight than anything else.

 

[trivor]

The problem isn't the OS - most people agree that Windows Phone is a good operating system. The problem is how to get momentum to move from the 3-4% market share to the 10% market share that would get more apps on commercial companies (Travel, Banks, Finance, Games, etc) on the Windows Phone platform. Right now, for most people that would consider switching the initial cost is not just the cost of the phone but the cost of buying replacement apps, the difficulty of using the Google ecosystem (GMail, Google+, Hangouts/Google Voice) on Windows Phone since Google is actively going against Windows Phone by not producing apps for Windows Phone and making it difficult for developers to make apps for Windows phone. On Apple or Android Microsoft has outstanding support for it's services on those platforms and in fact supports the other OSes better than it supports its own (even MS has to go where the money is).

 

[fatclue_98]

No need to take it to heart. Apps carry a higher amount of weight than anything else.

Among us maybe. You think there might be a reason that low-end devices outsell the mid to high end?

 

[ScruffyT]

I have to admit that I'm surprised that iOS and WP are that close. As much as I like WP I would've thought a few things would have pushed us a bit lower. I'm guessing the static homescreen is really starting to take its toll on some iOS users. Back when I was on TA (about 5 yrs ago) there were mumbles about wanting apple to add widgets or whatever, and it seems to be one of the more sought after features these days. Every time I look at my iPod, it actually bothers me how little info I can get at a glance or 1 scroll. And, with 8.1, more tiles, and transparency, iOS is just really far behind in this area IMHO.

 

[rockstarzzz]

Some of your (op) opinions are bias too. Everyone is bias. Just saying.

I am undoubtedly biased for WP because I have invested a heck lot in Microsoft. I have 2 Windows 8 PCs, 1 Surface RT, 1 Surface Pro 2, 1 Lumia 1320, 1 Lumia 925, 2 Lumia 720, 1 Lumia 1020, 2 Dell Windows 8 laptops, I pay for Xbox Live, I pay for Xbox Music x 3 passes, I use Office 2013, I use OneDrive with additional 100 GB paid for, I have Bing as my default search engine, I have MSN-preview as my home page, I use Skype as my messenger of choice with international subscription paid for, Outlook is my default mail client at home and work, OneNote is the only way I know how to take notes. I guess, I *need* to be biased

However, Verge is not meant to be biased for WP or Android. It has always been biased for iOS. So those ratings are flattering to say the least.

 

[mark2410]

as someone very new to wp ill chip in.

ive used ios on an ipad for about a years but its problem was being so locked down. i couldnt browse the home network and change the default app to open files. this was a huge pain.

i have mostly used android as it lets me change whatever the hell i want.

so wp, well some bits im really liking. its so smooth and snappy and i like how it pulls in live tile info. its just nice to use but......it has limitations, limitations that just scream of trying to emulate ios. the problem is ios keeps moving toward the flexibility of android so wp8 is lagging waaay behind. the keyboard. i want to change the layout to dvorak but nope, cant. i want to bluetooth teather it to my main android phone with a good data plan, nope cant. i want to run a voip client, it can run but not in the background so its essentially useless for incoming calls. lastpass, it cant auto fill anything i have to jump back and forth copy pasting. i know why these things are the case but so the hell what. its my device, let me choose to accept these issues and do what the hell i want.

then we get to the apps. maybe its because it uses bing to search for things but its all full of rubbish. granted its not terrible but given that half the apps i would want cant run how i want because of wp's limitations its an excersize in frustration.

i got this wp8 to play with to see what wp is like and at this point i would imagine it is likely my last too.

 

[salmanahmad]

I have to admit that I'm surprised that iOS and WP are that close. As much as I like WP I would've thought a few things would have pushed us a bit lower. I'm guessing the static homescreen is really starting to take its toll on some iOS users. Back when I was on TA (about 5 yrs ago) there were mumbles about wanting apple to add widgets or whatever, and it seems to be one of the more sought after features these days. Every time I look at my iPod, it actually bothers me how little info I can get at a glance or 1 scroll. And, with 8.1, more tiles, and transparency, iOS is just really far behind in this area IMHO.

While I would agree that iOS is somewhat behind when it comes to the home screen, the lock screen notifications somewhat make up for it, Windows Phone has pretty terrible lock screen notifications.

Both OSes need to improve on this.

Just my opinion.

 

[fatclue_98]

While I would agree that iOS is somewhat behind when it comes to the home screen, the lock screen notifications somewhat make up for it, Windows Phone has pretty terrible lock screen notifications.

Both OSes need to improve on this.

Just my opinion.

When I want your opinion, I'll just give it to you. Just kidding of course, iOS & WP suck at notifications for the simple fact that a glowing LED could tell you there's something, perhaps important, that needs your attention. I can't wrap my head around this glaring omission. Palm Treos used to have their LED under the paint so you couldn't even know they were there until they started to glow in red or green.

 

[RumoredNow]

...Apps carry a higher amount of weight than anything else...

I think this is a fallacy. It was created by Apple. Google got involved in furthering it as they neared App parity with iOS. Tech media pundits hammer on this point and users keep saying it. That doesn't make it true or even a majority opinion. I hear few users (outside of these sorts of stilted forum discussions) boasting how many Apps they have on their phone and how many are available for install.

It's a matter of perspective and also one of deception. Apps feed into UX, but not necessarily as the main component. Who stays with a mobile OS that makes them miserable just because it has so many Apps? Now... being heavily invested in an ecosystem makes a bigger difference. It becomes burdensome to move all your data, cloud backup, media and settings... Agreed. But actual App count in a store? How many Apps can you use in a day? In a week? In a month? How many Apps are downloaded and quickly forgotten? Or uninstalled because they really don't accomplish what the user wants? Or behave as desired?

Use as many Apps as you can for a whole year... Go ahead. Start alphabetically. In a year you wouldn't use more than a fraction of the 1,375,751 Apps on Google Play*.

"Apps carry a higher amount of weight than anything else," may work as a personal statement for some, but not as a generalization. @jonnaver - How many of your phone purchase decisions have honestly been driven by App count or need for one specialized App? I talk to people about phones all the time, I rarely hear about such a thing... Statistically, from my unscientific sample, it is way less than 10%.

App quantity or need for one particular App has never defined what phone or tablet purchase I've made. Overall User eXperience (UX) has always been a deciding factor and let the App situation fall where it may...

App quantity as a driving force for mobile device purchase makes little sense in the long term. "I hate this device, but man, I have like twenty seven file managers on this bad boy!" Really? Is that how consumers determine where they spend significant amounts of money? Tech is not cheap. Unless you are a tech journalist that gets handed devices for free all the time, App parity is probably not the number one priority on your shopping list. UX and enjoyability, reliability and hardware spec; these make more fiscal sense as determining factors. I for one don't want to plunk down hundreds of dollars on something I hate navigating around on and which holds little aesthetic value for me in terms of interface. You can throw as many free versions of Angry Birds as you want on top of a mess and it won't sway me one bit...

For good measure, here's a recent breakdown; Smartphones: So Many Apps, So Much Time showing the average number of Apps installed on a phone and the narrow focus of what most App use accomplishes. Sort of puts a real world minimization on how important Apps actually are to most users.


*Updated 24 Sept, 2014: Number of available Android applications - AppBrain

 

[RumoredNow]

When I want your opinion, I'll just give it to you. Just kidding of course, iOS & WP suck at notifications for the simple fact that a glowing LED could tell you there's something, perhaps important, that needs your attention. I can't wrap my head around this glaring omission. Palm Treos used to have their LED under the paint so you couldn't even know they were there until they started to glow in red or green.

​I've had a blinky LED and much prefer Glance, thank you very much. I find nothing lacking in my notifications on WP at all...

 

[colinkiama]

as someone very new to wp ill chip in.

ive used ios on an ipad for about a years but its problem was being so locked down. i couldnt browse the home network and change the default app to open files. this was a huge pain.

i have mostly used android as it lets me change whatever the hell i want.

so wp, well some bits im really liking. its so smooth and snappy and i like how it pulls in live tile info. its just nice to use but......it has limitations, limitations that just scream of trying to emulate ios. the problem is ios keeps moving toward the flexibility of android so wp8 is lagging waaay behind. the keyboard. i want to change the layout to dvorak but nope, cant. i want to bluetooth teather it to my main android phone with a good data plan, nope cant. i want to run a voip client, it can run but not in the background so its essentially useless for incoming calls. lastpass, it cant auto fill anything i have to jump back and forth copy pasting. i know why these things are the case but so the hell what. its my device, let me choose to accept these issues and do what the hell i want.

then we get to the apps. maybe its because it uses bing to search for things but its all full of rubbish. granted its not terrible but given that half the apps i would want cant run how i want because of wp's limitations its an excersize in frustration.

i got this wp8 to play with to see what wp is like and at this point i would imagine it is likely my last too.

You can tether with Bluetooth in 8.1.1. You can use the Dev preview. Don't worry it's free. Also Windowsdoing phone is not an OS for doing anything you want. It's locked down like iOS just like you said,however just like windows on computers,it's adding add much features as they can while maintaining performance

 

[fatclue_98]

You can tether with Bluetooth in 8.1.1. You can use the Dev preview. Don't worry it's free. Also Windowsdoing phone is not an OS for doing anything you want. It's locked down like iOS just like you said,however just like windows on computers,it's adding add much features as they can while maintaining performance

I think he means using his Android phone as the host, not the client. To that end, I don't know of any phone that works as a client regardless of platform.

 

[ven07]

I remember one older WP user once saying that apps just make us lazy lol I think he is right! While apps are fun to have and do make things easier, we should be careful not to give ourselves over too much.I mean, if the app isn't available for some reason, we should know how to work around that Putting so much faith in apps lets the next generation think that's all there is and beyond that app the world ends :/