Top Mobile Operating Systems & What to Expect In The Future 

Put an iPhone and Android user in the same room and there will always be a debate on whose phone is better; followed by each person showcasing their smartphones unique features – all due to their different operating systems. I've experienced this countless times living in a house with 4 people, each using different operating systems. Being an iPhone user, it’s hard to admit but studies have shown that over half of the smartphone users in the U.S prefer the Android operating system over any other. Take a look at the graph below to see what market share your favourite operating system has!

What To Expect From Android In The Near Future

Seeing as Android is the top operating system in the U.S, why not see what they have in store for the near future? Recently there has been a lot of hype about the next major operating system upgrade that Android is going to release called Android 5. Although Android hasn’t set an official release date, many believe that it will be coming out mid-2014 and of course be completely free.(Beavis & McCann, 2014) As we all know it’s very hard to predict what will happen in the future, especially when it comes to technology; however we can make a few educated guesses of what to expect from Android 5.

o   Built in fitness software – future versions of Android will allow fitness software to harness data from sensors on your device.

o   A brighter interface – moving away from the “Holo Dark Theme” that came with Android 4.

o   Ability to launch certain apps by drawing different patterns on the lock screen

o   More simple way of managing performance and power use – an example being a gaming mode for maximum power delivery, a slumber mode with minimal power, or even a reading mode with super low back-light and no bothersome data connections.

o   Enhanced social network support – seeing as most other phones such as LG have "aggregator widgets" that incorporate Facebook and Twitter. Android has yet to provide its users with unique social networking features.

o   Video Chat – most android phones come with front facing cameras so why not put them to use?

(Beavis & McCann, 2014)


References

Beavis, G., & McCann, J. (2014, February 14). Android 5 release date, news and rumors. Retrieved from http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/android-5-0-key-lime-pie-release-date-news-and-rumours-1091500

By: Kristina Pradhan