By 
One of the main cards iPhone advocates pull when they’re arguing about the superiority of their operating system over others is that “it just works.” It’s true that Apple’s software has a knack for being relatively stable, and they remain quite smooth over the course of their lifespan.
And even as a big fan of Android, yours truly might have even agreed with that notion just a short couple of years ago. But things are changing, and Android is no infant operating system anymore. In fact, a recent report from Crittercism suggests Android 5.0 Lollipop is more stable than iOS 8 when it comes to app crashes.
It’s not a huge difference, mind you, with the study showing Android Lollipop apps crashed 2% of the time opposed to iOS 8’s 2.2%, but considering iOS is trumpeted for stability we’d say it’s still impressive.
Gone are the days where you get silly and sloppy force closes due to buggy apps or low memory. Android phones have ample RAM to run everything with ease, developers are getting more talented and creating less buggy apps, and Android’s memory management has become a thing of beauty.
Android is as stable as it’s ever been, and it’s even more-so than what the majority of techies consider the most stable mobile operating system in the lands. Pull that trump card on your iOS-loving buddies the next time they try to pull theirs.
[via ZDNet]
Whaaa …all the ISheep running in circle
Wov, I know about IOS 8 and it’s excellent stability but like to know which flavor of android 5.0 lollipop is stable like IOS 8 ? Samsung, LG, HTC, XDA Cyanogenmod !!!!!!!!!!!!!! On iphone, you don’t have to worry about when new IOS get updated on your iphone. On android phones, you have to wait zillion years and still it may never happen…….
I have 5.0 on an HTC. It’s perfect. Zero issues so far. With IOS when you update you have to pray that it isn’t bug riddled and won’t break your camera
or, as happened to many people i know, break voice calling :P
I have to reboot my Nexus 5 running stock Lollipop at least once a day because it gets laggy and routinely crashes Chrome, Hulu, and podcast streaming apps. It ain’t perfect, ya’ll.
I have N5 running 5.0.1 and has never let me down since 1 day after 5.0 factory images were released. I struggled for 1 day because one of the podcast apps I always use was eating the battery like a hog, but the dev fixed it in one day. My normal use of the phone on a daily basis is: online radio (TuneIn) – 2-3 hours, podcasts (podcast addict) – 3 – 4 hours, gaming (~1-2 hours), movies (1 hour), plus phone calls and email. Current uptime: 221 hours, no lags whatsoever.
CHECK YOUR APPS!
Does iOS have Hulu?
0 problems with a Nexus 6. Faster than any other device I have ever owned. I wonder if it’s a Nexus 5 issue?
#GuineaPigPhoneProblems
“Ya’ll” makes me mad. LoL!!
*Y’all
I like teasing people and saying “It’s a contraction of the words “You” and “all”, not “ya” and “ll”. =.P
Apple are losing the plot QA wise. I use an Android phone (of course) but a Macbook Pro and the latest OSX is just as riddled with (serious) bugs as iOS8.
I run Windows 8 on my MBP, not dual boot, just straight install on a new SSD. I can still boot OSX from the stock hard drive I removed by putting it in an external enclosure.
I currently have an iPhone 6 and have had it alongside multiple Android devices since the 6 was released, a couple running Lollipop. I’m sure it’s a combination of the lack of RAM with iOS 8 bugs, but I can vouch for iOS 8 simply feeling buggy and finicky quite often. It’s my daily driver for work purposes, and I like the iPhone 6 in general, so this is no Android fanboy talking either…
Edit: 8.1.* helped (on .3 now), but it’s still very finicky.
I don’t think Apple really cares. They’ve proven they can make money hand over fist even if they give way to Android in various key areas. Why break their necks perfecting the product when they know people will drone to it regardless?
KitKat was more stable than iOS 7.1 too. KK was 0.7% and iOS 7.1 was 1.6%. Praise Duarte.
Yes, using the same website (http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1097982-state-of-mobile-performance.html#document/p2 ), I got those results:
Android 4.0-4.4 : 0.7%
Android 2.3 : 1.7%
IOS 7: 1.6%
IOS 6 :2.5%
I just think its time for Android to focus more on stability rather than features, i’m using a Nexus 5 on stock 5.0.1 and i’m still not impressed just saying…
Considering what’s in 5.0.2 and what will be in 5.1 I’d say that’s exactly what they’re doing.
2.2% vs. 2% really? That’s essentially a tie. I have no experience with iOS 8 and I may be the minority, but I have had to step back to KitKat because Lollipop made my phone essentially unusable. It crashed multiple times a day, wouldn’t connect to wifi, and randomly rebooted if I so much as turned on anything that relied on networks. When I replaced my old Nexus 5 with a new Nexus 5 I did not upgrade to Lollipop because of the experience I had before. I’m hoping 5.1 comes out and fixes everything.
Yes, 2.2% vs 2.0% they explained why is pretty significant in the article…. read again.
The percentages are irrelevant. It’s the scale it’s based on.
If the scale is 0% -5%…0.2% matters a lot.
If the same scale goes up to 25%, then the cases are a lot closer
It may have less crashes, but it is way buggier. My iPad Air runs way smoother than my Nexus 5. My Nexus has major lag issues, the flashlight bug, excessive battery drain, apps getting killed, slow battery recharge, etc. that are driving me nuts. I don’t know why they can’t push 5.0.2 out. My Nexus 4 has it with Cyanogenmod and it seems to run much smoother.
So if you are among the .7% that has a device that is running 5.0, you can tell iOS users that it is .2% more stable?
O_o
Can’t wait to throw that out there. My friends will think I’m some sort of math teacher or something.
Thanks Phandroid.
Some people thinks Apple don’t care about quality of products like IOS. Moreover such people thinks everyone will get drawn to buy iphone without thinking or good user experience. Let me tell you. We humans are not stupid. If Apple provide inferior, buggy products than we won’t wait to open window to throw them out, just smash it threw . We have to admit that Apple have edge because it develops vertical hardware/software/services as coherent offerings so naturally better products than android one. I tell you, i hardly have to re-boot iphone but i heard from many friends owning android phones that they every now and than have to reboot to clear cache,memory for apps and OS to work better.
I’m willing to bet the vast majority of iPhone owners didn’t buy their iPhone because of software dependability. They very likely bought it because their friend(s) had one and they wanted to fit in.
I know for a fact its due to the camera, instant updates for OS and apps, and reliability.
Except, their camera is no better than most other phones. Their OS doesn’t always get instant updates, and when it does, sometimes it’ll also result in an instant brick. And for most folks, the same apps are available on both platforms.
And iPhones are no more reliable than a Galaxy phone or HTC One
That insta brick happened one time and was fixed in less than 24 hours. ( how long does it take to stamp out bugs in android? ) to my knowledge. If It’s happened more than that I sure haven’t heard or experienced it in the 5 years prior.
I normally would let statements like that go but to assume the insta brick is something that happens every time apple pushes an update is just false.
Admit it, you just wanted more filler for your list of negatives..
That instabrick was not fixed in 24 hours. But you want more iPhone/iOS issues?
The COO of the company I work for brought his iPhone 5 back to me two days ago, complaining that he couldn’t get the keyboard to popup when trying to create a new contact. That was the only place the keyboard would not popup. A bug that has existed for a while, but Apple hasn’t fixed it.
Link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4946952?tstart=0
When I was buying/selling iPhones, one of the most common issues I had was the camera shutter not opening. It would either be the front or the rear camera, or sometimes both. Even replacing the actual camera wouldn’t fix it. Issue STILL occurs to this day on the 6.
Link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3021018?start=15&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6544644?start=15&tstart=0
But, keep thinking that Apple doesn’t have long-existing problems. You’ll just keep looking foolish.
it’s not that apple doesn’t have any problems, but android has their issues too. And not everyone hates apple with a passion, so when they get a lemon, or their phone starts bugging out, they tend to consider switching
Just give it up…. Mark! Because Vanakatherock just spanked you good in his comment. Wow….. that’s got to hurt with links and everything to prove his point, that Apple sucks Donkey D***…. Big Time! ;-P
I had some people with iPhones ribbing me over my phone in Chicago last weekend. Then I showed them my shots I’d captured with the Z3 and I let the envy flow over them.
Ribbing someone about having an Z3 instead of an iPhone is f%cking stupid. Good on you for shutting them up. I wasn’t actually aware of the Z3’s camera capabilities.
i disagree, the vast majority of iphone owners bought an iphone because the iphone was the best phone out for a long time. That may not be the case now, but it was for a while.
Also a lot of people switch when they have a bad experience with whatever android phone they have starts to act funky. Also a lot of people appreciate being able to easily sync their phones with their macbooks seamlessly.
A ton of people tell me they’d try an android phone, but they have no problems with their iphones and they love the way everything syncs. It would be a hassle to switch.
And my mother actually just traded in her gs5 for an iphone 6 because gs5 was getting very wonky and she was tired of trouble shooting and has a macbook.
That’s what she get for thinking the gs5 was the better android. She shoulda got an M8. problems solved
actually it was the better hardware for her at the time, i suggested the m8 but she wanted a really good camera. Also she spends a lot of her summers at the beach, so the sealed off ports of the gs5 were a bonus. Her previous phone was a gs3 and she liked the idea of not having to learn a new phone.
If the m8 had a better camera she would have gotten one though. She liked her old Evo 4g.
Understood , understood
Describe “Very wonky” when talking about the Galaxy S5. I owned one until the Z3 came out and never once had an issue. Granted, not every phone will operate properly for everyone, iPhone and Android included.
But, I have also ran into people who switched from iPhone to Android and were disappointed that they had missed all the greatness that Android does deliver with more customization and such.
There was a reason Apple wanted their customers to believe Android was the issue when they would switch from iOS to Android and couldn’t receive texts.
That’s a partially fair statement… However, what should probably be taken into account, is that you can only speak for yourself, unless you are speculating.
There are many like you, who weigh the pros and cons. But, like most consumer electronics sales, people have a tendency to lean heavily towards brands.
Take “Beats” headphones for example. People will swear by them. Though when trying to converse with many of the owners, they can’t explain what they appreciate about the High, Mid, and low range distinction qualities… they usually just tell me that the bass is great, and how much they pay for them. Most of them have never been in a studio to do work, nor do they listen to acoustic or classical (usually synth heavy music).
Not saying that they are wrong. If they are happy with their product, then I am happy for them…
…All that I am stating is that, if a blind person falls in love with a skinny person, who makes love to them on a regular basis, under the belief that the person told them that they are a supermodel…
…then, will the (profoundly proud) blind person ever truly know that they are not having sex with an addict (assuming that there is no external intervention by friends or family)?
But, then again… those are merely my thoughts.
Your second/third-language English is showing.
And how well do you write any other languages?
I can write in Afrikaans in my sleep in addition to English.
Humans can be pretty stupid at times and while I won’t say that iPhone users are stupid, I will say that they do some stupid things or make some very stupid and uninformed statements that cannot be backed up with facts and then they compound the issue with extreme stubbornness and an inability to listen to reason and common sense. I cannot tell you how many people I know that have purchased an iPhone without even bothering to investigate the pro’s and cons of what they are buying or even what the competition has to offer. They are not buying an iPhone because it is a good phone and can meet all of their mobile device requirements. They are buying the iPhone because they see it as a status symbol. They believe that being seen with an iPhone raises their standing in the community and it magically elevates their socio and economic status beyond what it really is. C’mon, that is pretty stupid. To also blindly believe anything that Steve Jobs or Tim Cook has ever said as the absolute gospel truth is also not all that smart. Both of those guys may have attained the lofty position of CEO but at their core, they are salesman and they will say whatever they have to and embellish upon the truth and facts to sell their product. That is not saying that Android phone users are all intelligent beings. I have known many an Android phone owner that wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack. You see, humans can be very intelligent creatures. Their brain is capable of complex thought and reasoning. But if you blindly follow the rest of the lemmings over the edge of the cliff, then you are not utilizing the capabilities of your amazing human brain and therefore you are a stupid human.
One other issue with this subject that everyone seems to not be grasping. An Android phone is capable of doing so much more than an iPhone can do (because of the locked down nature of the iPhone). This is one of the great strengths of Android but it also works against it. Because it is relatively easy to root an Android phone and install all sorts of apps that will allow you to automate all of these really cool features that would leave an iPhone user green with envy, it is also pretty easy to mess up your phone if you do not know what you are doing. Steve Jobs wanted IOS to be pretty much fool proof. He was going to do all of your thinking for you and all iPhone users had to do was admire their phone and tell everyone within earshot that “It’s pretty”. Even at its most stock level, Android will sometimes require you to think. Afterall, Android is not one size fits all. If you really start to dig into all of the amazing things your Android phone can do with 3rd party apps like “Tasker”, you are going to find yourself really having to use your brain because “Tasker” is a very powerful app and programming and writing routines will be in your future. All of this opens up plenty of instances where you could be doing something that is not best for your phone. And it isn’t just one app like “Tasker”. There are tons of Android based apps that hook into parts of the operating system to function correctly. A developer that made an error when writing one of these apps can cause lots of problems for your phone. So it isn’t always the Android OS that is causing instability on an Android phone. The open source nature of the Android OS means that outside sources can introduce instability while the locked down “It’s Steve Jobs way or the highway” nature of IOS means that IOS should be more stable. If it isn’t, then Apple needs to clean house and get new software engineers.
Well and good, but why don’t I have it on my phone yet, does me no good to just read about it.
Sprint Note 4 here, still no Lollipop. And by the rest of the world’s reactions, I’m not so sure I want it.
“…but considering iOS is trumpeted for stability…”
… and since when Android hasn’t? since 1.3 maybe?
that’s some crap that iOS fanboys use to have something to brag, which is an invalid argument since years ago.
when it hits the z3 I will judge it
bull**it
i conclude one of two things from this study. either 1) the study is deeply flawed in some way or 2) iOS8 is an unmitigated disaster. lollipop is a buggy mess…
This seems to be more of what I hear from users all over the Internet. Not many people like Lollipop because of all the bugs. My note 4 is supposed to get 5.0.1 not 5.0.2 which would probably be better I suppose but it’s just not. Why I don’t know. I do want it but I hope I don’t regret it.
They all have issues. What’s irritating is when people act like iOS poop don’t stink. This article shows that opinions and perceptions aren’t aligned with reality. granted this article touches on only 1 indicator for stability and neglects the OS on its own disregarding third party app crashes.
I’ve had the nexus 6 for a few months and I call B.S. I’ve had so many problems with lollipop it’s just absurd.
What are your problems? I have had the Nexus 6 since AT&T launch and have had no issues at all.
I’ve not used lollipop yet but the first version of Android I used was 2.2 and I’ve not seen ios offer anything comparable since.
Crazy, I haven’t had this many issues with Android since my Vibrant. Random apps are just quitting, the system is quite laggy, and apps downloading from the Play Store time out often. On a N5, this shouldn’t happen. I’m confidant the next version (Whenever) will fix most of this, though I said the same thing about my 2012 Nexus and well…. Yeah..
Stop waiting for the update, just factory reset. I’m telling you that I have a Nexus 5 and have experienced none of this. Nexus 5 running 5.0 and 5.0.1 have been the best Android experience I’ve had and I’ve been around since the HTC Hero.
I’m really enjoying lollipop so far on my Nexus 7 2013. I waited for 5.0.2 before taking the OTA from KitKat. I did a factory reset right away and it’s faster, has better battery life, and no major issues with apps. I was skeptical on updating after reading some complaints but glad that I did. It’s weird how some people are still having problems.
Lol that’s cause nobody can use it to see how crappy it actually is…
“Gone are the days where you get silly and sloppy force closes due to buggy apps or low memory” not if your using an S5. While I do like what the new update brings, the samsung side of things is quite the mess, they have a lot of work to do still.
Good luck getting apple fans to accept it. They’ll argue iOS just works till the day they die
Im an Android user, but telling that Android is stable is a total lie, is the worst OS I ever had.
As few occasional cases here, Android 5.0 is more remarkable and stable on all my devices.