iOS 9.1 and Android 6.0 – Available for adoption

I’m not trying to establish which OS is better iOS or Android. Choosing between iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows is a matter of taste and a licking to a certain device. Android and iOS received updates this year and it seemed that Android M received a lot more attention.

In the case of the iOS, updating is easier because all devices are made by the same manufacturer and run pure iOS. Android, on the other hand is more difficult to upgrade, the OS runs on so many devices from different manufacturers. The Android platform is not as standardized as the others, not all devices that use Android are launched with the same version and every manufacturer brings some modifications to the kernel. These modifications can be regarding the graphic design, security, privacy and different apps.

iOS 9.1 is currently installed by approximately two-third of iPhone users, while a quarter still use iOS 8. Android Marshmallow isn’t even on 1% of Android devices installed. To be fair only Nexus devices had access to the update after its launch, other Android devices have to wait until the companies adapt the kernel to their specifications. The most wide spread Android version at this time is KitKat, which is two generations back. KitKat runs on about 38% of mobile devices, while Lollipop, the previous generation runs on 26%.

There are several reasons why the iOS 9.1 is adopted at faster rate the Android M, it seems that emoji play a vital role in iPhone updates. iOS 9.1 brought a new emoji that are very popular with iPhone users, among these popular emoji are the taco, burrito, unicorn, race car, middle finger, medals and a tiny little crab.

Another reason why iOS 9.1 was so quickly adopted is it’s size, smaller then iOS 8. This allowed users to update even if they had a small amount of storage space. For example when iOS 8 came out it required more free space and users were asked to delete content from their phone in order to update.

Android M is still a relatively new OS, it came out last month while iOS 9.1 has been available for more then two months. iOs 9.1 picked up the pace last moth after the new emoji were added. I’m pretty sure that soon Android 6.0 will be adopted at a much faster rate after it will become available on Samsung, Moto, Sony and other top smartphone manufacturers.