Comparative Study of Different Mobile OS

Introduction

A mobile operating system (Mobile OS) is a software platform on top of which other programs called application programs, can run on mobile devices such as personal digital assistant (PDA) , tablets, cellular phones, smartphones and so on.

Over the years, Mobile OS design has experienced a three-phase evolution: from the PC-based operating system to an embedded operating system to the current smartphone-oriented operating system in the past decade. Throughout the process, Mobile OS architecture has gone from complex to simple to something in-between.

Earlier mobile communication technologies were dominated by vertically integrated service provision which are highly bound mainly to voice and short message services that are organized in a monopolistic competition between few mobile virtual network operators, service providers and enhanced service providers.

In the recent years, however, radical change driven by advancements in technology, witnessed the introduction and further development of smartphones where the user can get access to new applications and services by connecting to the device manufactures’ application stores and the like. These smartphones have added many features of a full fledged computer: high speed processors, large storage space, multitasking, high-resolution screens and cameras, multipurpose communication hardware, and so on.

However, this devices market is dominated by a number of different technological platforms, including different operating systems (OS) and application development platforms, resulting in a variety of different competing solutions on the market driven by different actors.

There are a variety of different competing mobile operating system solutions on the market driven by different actors. Some of these actors include Google’s Android, Apples’ iOS, Nokia’s Symbian, RIM’s BlackBerry OS, Samsung’s Bada, Microsoft’s Windows Phone, to mention but a few.

Applications:

With multiple market options for different mobile systems and mobile operating systems, it is imperative to understand the basic structure of these operating systems, how they operate, their advantages and disadvantages to make informed choices.

This comparative study helps in studying various factors related to operating systems, so that readers may make intelligent choices when needed according to their needs and uses.

Android:

Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance and commercially sponsored by Google. It was unveiled in November 2007, with the first commercial Android device, the HTC Dream, being launched in September 2008.

It is free and open-source software; its source code is known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is primarily licensed under the Apache License. However most Android devices ship with additional proprietary software pre-installed, most notably Google Mobile Services (GMS) which includes core apps such as Google Chrome, the digital distribution platform Google Play and associated Google Play Services development platform. About 70 percent of Android smartphones run Google’s ecosystem; competing Android ecosystems and forks include Fire OS (developed by Amazon) or LineageOS. However the “Android” name and logo are trademarks of Google which impose standards to restrict “uncertified” devices outside their ecosystem to use Android branding.

Android has been the best-selling OS worldwide on smartphones since 2011 and on tablets since 2013. In May 2017, it had over two billion monthly active users, the largest installed base of any operating system, and as of January 2021, the Google Play Store features over 3 million apps. The current stable version is Android 12, released on October 4, 2021.

Android’s source code is released by Google under an open source license, and its open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which deliver updates to older devices, add new features for advanced users or bring Android to devices originally shipped with other operating systems. These community-developed releases often bring new features and updates to devices faster than through the official manufacturer/carrier channels, with a comparable level of quality; provide continued support for older devices that no longer receive official updates; or bring Android to devices that were officially released running other operating systems, such as the HP TouchPad. Community releases often come pre-rooted and contain modifications not provided by the original vendor, such as the ability to overclock or over/undervolt the device’s processor.

Chrome OS:

Chrome OS is an operating system designed by Google that is based on the Linux kernel and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user interface. As a result, Chrome OS primarily supports web applications. Google announced the project in July 2009, conceiving it as an operating system in which both applications and user data reside in the cloud: hence Chrome OS primarily runs web applications.

Due to the increase of popularity with 2-in-1 PCs, most recent Chromebooks are introduced with touch screen capability, with Android applications starting to become available for the operating system in 2014. And in 2016, access to Android apps in the entire Google Play Store was introduced on supported Chrome OS devices. With the support of Android applications, there are Chromebook devices that are positioned as tablet based instead of notebooks.

Many people don’t consider Chrome OS as a complete OS as it is used on 2-in-1 PCs and tablets but it is one of the OS which provides better security as it is Linux based. Being open source the OS can greatly contribute to its security by allowing constant developer feedback.

Ubuntu Touch:

Ubuntu Touch is the mobile version of Ubuntu OS. It is open source and uses the GPL license. Ubuntu Touch is from Canonical Ltd. In 2018 Canonical was going to discontinue the OS with its integral component Unity8, when a non-profit UBPorts Community decided to take over the project.

Ubuntu Touch is an OS which is built using the Android Linux kernel, using Android drivers and services via an LXC container, but does not use any of the Java-like code of Android. It was based on Ubuntu 15.04, and now it has been upgraded to the current long term support version of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

Plasma Mobile is a Plasma variant for smartphones. Plasma Mobile runs on Wayland and it is compatible with Ubuntu Touch applications

Symbian

Symbian OS is a discontinued operating system designed for mobile devices. Symbian was the leading smartphone platform from 2003 up until 2010 (even 2011 for Europe). After that Google’s Android OS took the lead.The core Symbian OS originally provided no user interface. Instead, it was used as the underlying base for two major smartphone UI platforms: S60 and UIQ. These can be regarded as development branches, each backed by different companies. Unlike Android OS with its different cosmetic UIs, Symbian UIs ran deeper in the code and apps written for one of these platforms were not compatible with the other directly.

Windows:

Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants. Its origin dates back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pocket PC 2000 which ran on Pocket PC PDAs. It was renamed “Windows Mobile” in 2003, at which point it came in several versions (similar to the desktop versions of Windows) and was aimed at business and enterprise consumers.

Most versions of Windows Mobile have a standard set of features, such as multitasking and the ability to navigate a file system. Similarly to its desktop counterpart, it comes bundled with a set of applications that perform basic tasks. Internet Explorer Mobile is the default web browser, and Windows Media Player is the default media player used for playing digital media. The mobile version of Microsoft Office is the default office suite.

Internet Connection Sharing, supported on compatible devices, allows the phone to share its Internet connection with computers via USB and Bluetooth. The user interface changed dramatically between versions, only retaining similar functionality. The Today Screen, later called the Home Screen, shows the current date, owner information, upcoming appointments, e-mails, and tasks. The taskbar displays the current time as well as the volume level. Devices with a cellular radio also show the signal strength on said taskbar.

IOS:

IOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. The Apple iOS multi-touch, multi-tasking operating system is what runs the Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod. A special version of the software is what powers the Apple Watch too. iOS responds to the user’s touch — allowing you to tap on the screen to open a program, pinch your fingers together to minimize or enlarge an image, or swipe your finger across the screen to change pages.

The Apple iOS is not allowed to be used in third party systems, so users will only be able to use it on products made by Apple. It comes with the Safari web browser for internet use, an iPod application for playing music and Apple’s Mail for managing your emails.

You can download millions of applications currently available on the App Store directly to any device running iOS, be it an iPhone or an iPad. These encompass everything from recipe books to guitar tutorials to games.

Unveiled in 2007 for the first-generation iPhone, iOS has since been extended to support other Apple devices such as the iPod Touch (September 2007) and the iPad (January 2010). As of March 2018, Apple’s App Store contains more than 2.1 million iOS applications, 1 million of which are native for iPads] These mobile apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times.

The iOS SDK (Software Development Kit) allows for the development of mobile apps on iOS.

While originally developing the iPhone prior to its unveiling in 2007, Apple’s then-CEO Steve Jobs did not intend to let third-party developers build native apps for iOS, instead directing them to make web applications for the Safari web browser. However, backlash from developers prompted the company to reconsider, with Jobs announcing in October 2007 that Apple would have a software development kit available for developers by February 2008. The SDK was released on March 6, 2008.

The iOS kernel is the XNU kernel of Darwin. The original iPhone OS (1.0) up to iPhone OS 3.1.3 used Darwin 9.0.0d1. iOS 4 was based on Darwin 10. iOS 5 was based on Darwin 11. iOS 6 was based on Darwin 13. iOS 7 and iOS 8 are based on Darwin 14. iOS 9 is based on Darwin 15. iOS 10 is based on Darwin 16. iOS 11 is based on Darwin 17. iOS 12 is based on Darwin 18. iOS 13 is based on Darwin 19. Recently iOS 16 was released on 6th June, 2022.

iOS includes a number of features some of which are unique only to iOS. Some of the features are :

• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular connectivity, along with support of VPN.
• Simultaneous search through files, media, applications and email which is known as Integrated Search Support.
• Support for gesture recognition — for example, shaking the device to undo most recent actions.
• Push email for your recent mails.
• Integrated front and rear facing cameras with video recording capabilities.
• Simple and easy access to the Apple App Store with access to more than one million applications in the field of music, entertainment, education, movies, etc.
• Compatibility with Apple’s cloud service, iCloud.
• Personal assistant called Siri.
• AirDrop for cross-platform communications between various Apple devices.

Market Share

Security

Android’s applications are isolated from the rest of the system’s resources, unless a user specifically grants an application access to other features. This makes the system less vulnerable to bugs.

Malware writers are less likely to write apps for iOS, due to Apple’s review of all the apps and verification of the identity of app publishers.

It all comes down to which OS provides stable software updates to all the devices and this is where iOS shines. It pushes updates to all of its devices at the same time whereas Android takes a long time to push the updates to all the devices.

Privacy

Even with the security provided, both Android and iOS are vulnerable to certain privacy violations. An app installed on any of the platforms can get the list of all the other apps on the device. In 2014, Twitter announced that it is now tracking the list of other apps on the device and mind you although only Twitter admitted it, it is not the only application doing so.

When it comes to protecting the user’s private information, iOS wins. Until the release of Android Marshmallow in 2015, Android apps from the play store used to ask for a set of permissions while downloading the app. The user could either accept all permissions or not install the app at all. This was not the case with iOS. On iOS you could grant specific permissions while downloading and could also view which apps were given which permissions. After Android Marshmallow, Android also introduced the feature wherein specific permissions could be given or denied and still run the app.

Speed

The speed of an OS can be determined by comparing the app loading time in each of them. According to speed tests, devices running iOS are comparatively faster than Android in app loading.

However, it should be noted that the difference could be in how app publishers develop their apps for Android vs. iOS.

Web Browsing

Android uses Google Chrome as its web-browser, while iOS uses Safari. Both Internet browsers are similar in quality and abilities and Google Chrome is also available for iOS. Safari is not available for Android.

Voice Commands

iOS uses Siri, a voice-based virtual assistant, to understand and respond to both dictation as well as spoken commands.

Android offers a similar assistant, Google Assistant, which features the above abilities, plus can keep track of your calendar and give verbal reminders when it is time for certain activities.

Conclusion:

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a number of competing technological platforms for mobile communication devices where device manufacturers go beyond the terminal market and take share in the value creation at services and content level.

This blog has been able to review and compare the major mobile operating systems and user interface toolkits from technological and developers’ standpoints.

With respect to mobile operating systems, Symbian has for a long time been the dominating technology, however, it seems that in the transition to the smartphones other operating systems like Android, iOS, Blackberry OS, iOS and Windows phone are in the lead presently.

Specifically, Google’s Android initiative of developing an OS which can run on all mobile devices has made the Android the most used and popular mobile operating the world over. Android maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system worldwide in January 2021, controlling the mobile OS market with a 72.48% share. Google Android and Apple iOS jointly possess over 99% of the global market share.