Android Donut versus iPhone OS 3.0

Jun 17 2009, 10:55am CDT | by Robert Evans

It's no secret that I'm a little bit of an Android fanatic. It's a fantastic, stable, easy-to-use operating system that works very well on the devices for which it is designed. Donut looks very promising and I am eager to try it out. That said, I also have a healthy respect for what Apple has accomplished with the iPhone, and the changes they're making with the 3.0 update. Recently I sat down with the feature lists for both firmware upgrades and did my best to give an unbiased comparison of the two.

Cut, Copy, Paste: With the 3.0 update, iPhone users will now be able to cut, copy, and paste text between applications. Android already has the ability to copy and paste text. It is, however, somewhat cumbersome.

Landscape Keyboard: 3.0 will give the iPhone the ability to enlarge its keyboard by putting it into landscape mode. Android already has this ability with its onscreen keyboard as of the Cupcake update. The onscreen keyboard for the iPhone is much easier to use though. The current Android keyboard places the keys way too close together for comfort.

Spotlight Search: The iPhone will soon get the ability search the whole phone at once. There are currently several apps (including Power Search) that grant this ability to Android phones.

Voice Memos: The iPhone mic is about to gain the ability to record short voice memos and notes. That ability already exists for Android.

Buy Movies and Music from iTunes: This is an awesome feature from 3.0, and one Android has no counter for.

When I get a full list of Donut features, I'll do another comparison between the two. As they stand, both UIs seem to be more or less equally functional. Android is definitely the better UI right now, but the coming of 3.0 will set them up in a dead heat. If Donut brings anything to the table that 3.0 or existing iPhone apps don't cover, that could change.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.