Lock and home screens
The
lock screen (if enabled) is the very first thing a user sees upon
turning their smartphone on, which is why its flawless execution is of
utmost importance. And it is hard to decide which one we like more – the
one on iOS 7 or on Android 4.2, but we're pretty sure they both leave
room for improvement. The iOS 7 lock screen is minimalist, providing
instant access to the camera, the Control Center, or the pending
notifications. However, it would have been better if one could slide
either way to unlock it; only a swipe to the right takes you to the home
screen. The Android 4.2 lock screen is flexible when it comes to
customization, with its widgets and all, and it doesn't matter which way
you swipe to unlock it. However, the selection of widgets one can place
there isn't as broad as we wish it was. Overall, both lock screens are
great, although they could have been better.
On each home screen
of an iPhone 5 running iOS 7 there's room for 24 icons total.
Interestingly, a stock Android home screen on a Google Nexus 4 leaves
room for only 20 app shortcuts even though the smartphone has a larger
display with higher resolution. Of course, that's not too big of a deal,
especially when both interfaces allow apps to be sorted in folders. The
iOS 7 home screen design and layout aren't bad, but perhaps it's all a
bit too static, which is why we tend to like Android more for its
versatility. It's just that widgets are a pretty cool feature that
Apple's mobile OS has yet to adopt in one form or another.
Quick controls and notifications
Control
Center adds functionality that iOS sorely needed. Simply put, swiping
up from the bottom of an iOS 7 home screen brings up a list of toggle
buttons for turning things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off,
controlling music playback, adjusting the screen's brightness, even
using the camera's LED as a flashlight. Options like these have been
available on custom Android UIs for a long time, and the stock Jelly
Bean interface has many of them as well out of the box, located in a
menu accessible from the notification bar.
Speaking of
notifications, the Notification Center in iOS 7 has been overhauled and
now takes the user straight to their agenda. That's very convenient for
people who actually use the Calendar app. Furthermore, the user is free
to pick what notifications are to be displayed there – stocks
information, unread email, Game Center alerts, reminders, and more.
Android's notification bar is a bit different for it doesn't display
much if there aren't any pending notifications. But on the other hand,
the user does get updates via Google Now.
Dialer and contacts list
Yup,
people still use their phones to talk to people. On iOS 7, the Phone
app is pretty much all you need to call someone as it lists your
contacts, your recent calls, and your favorites. Of course, a keypad is
available as well. Android's Phone app is pretty much the same, but it
has one notable advantage over its iOS counterpart, namely that it
displays a photo of each contact as you scroll down the list, while the
iPhone's contacts app shows a contact's image only if you tap on them to
view detailed information.
On-screen keyboard and messaging
Typing
on a mobile device quickly and efficiently is often a matter of getting
used to its on-screen keyboard's size and layout. With iOS 7 and the
iPhone, in particular, we can easily type texts using a single thumb
because the phone's width is optimal for the purpose. The Google Nexus
4, running Android 4.2, is wider and is therefore more comfortable to
use with two thumbs rather than one. Overall, both virtual keyboards are
pretty nice. Perhaps Android has a slight advantage in this category
with its dedicated smiley key and the option to enter text using the
swiping method.
But when it comes to messaging, iOS has a
significant advantage over Android with its iMessage system, which
automatically routs texts over the web instead of eating up the user's
monthly SMS allowance. Not that Android's Hangouts is a bad solution,
but it would have been more convenient if the Android messaging features
were unified in a single app.
Multitasking
Well,
we have nothing to complain about really when it comes to both
platforms' implementation of multitasking. Switching between apps on
both iOS 7 and Android 4.2 is pretty straightforward. Apple's mobile OS
now provides app preview windows, unlike in previous version where the
apps were listed only with their icon. Multitasking on Android is also
executed well, with recent apps listed vertically along with a
screenshot of their last state.
Customization features
When
it comes to customization, Android is still king with its widgets, live
wallpapers, and custom launchers. However, Apple has done some progress
in that aspect. The latest version of the platform features the
so-called dynamic wallpapers (yup, they are just like Android's live
wallpapers) – these can be set on both the home and the lock screens.
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