With Apple's iOS 6 on the horizon, it's important to note that there's still one big thing that Android does a lot better than iPhone.
At Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2012) next week in San Francisco we expect to see the latest iteration of iOS unveiled with a laundry list of updates to extend the growing appeal of the iPhone. But, there's still one key feature that Apple isn't likely to improve enough to catch up with Android.
While iOS 6 will reportedly include Apple's new 3D Maps app, Facebook integration, an update to Siri, and a revamped mobile iTunes store, the platform still has one big weak spot: Alerts
It's hard to argue that Android is more usable than iOS overall. The truth is that iOS is a more limited, simplified experience, but that makes it easy for most users to pick up and start using right away and makes it hard for them to get themselves in trouble by misconfiguring things. By contrast, Android is more flexible and customizable, but it can also be more difficult to navigate and more apt to confuse smartphone novices.
However, the alerts system is the one area where Android is just flat out more useful and more usable than iPhone. If that sounds trivial, it's not -- especially for business professionals and others who do a lot of stuff with their smartphones. Alerts give you timely updates of important information, quickly let you know about things that need your attention, and give you an at-a-glance look at your latest messages from various sources.
Apple made big strides with its alerts system in iOS 5 -- taking obvious inspiration from Android -- but even the vastly-improved alerts system still didn't match the power and efficiency of what Android offers. In fact, iOS 5 didn't match Android 2.3 "Gingerbread," which still powers the vast majority of Android phones. Meanwhile, Google enhanced the alerts functionality even more in Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," which debuted at the end of 2011.
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