When it comes to shopping for a new smartphone, there are a lot of small details that consumers should take into consideration before making a final purchase, but one of the biggest and most obvious decisions that anyone is going to have to make is whether or not to pick up an Android or an iPhone. Both phone operating systems have their pros and cons, things they're great at and things they're not so great at, and reasons why they're a good purchase and reasons why they might not be. But there are certain things that an iPhone can do that an Android simply can't, and there are things that Androids can do that iPhones can't.

Luckily for all of us, there is a seemingly never-ending variety of smartphones coming on to the market that have every feature we could want (and a few features we couldn't even imagine). So if we know what really matters to us when it comes to our indispensable smartphone, then all we really need to do is find out which operating system can offer us that, and more importantly, which operating system can do it better. But when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, what exactly can an iPhone do that an Android can't? And what can an Android phone do that an iPhone can't?

iPhones Give You The Easiest Operating System On The Market

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If there is one thing that you can depend on when it comes to an iPhone, it's simplicity and consistency. Apple has genuinely revolutionized the electronics market with the iPhone (and with many of their other products), and while each iteration of the iPhone does show improvements, it's also the same iPhone anyone expects and loves. Their operating system interface is the simplest and easiest cell phone system to use on the market. Any iPhone buyers should be able to figure out how to use it in a few minutes flat, and anyone updating their iPhones should be able to hit the ground running.

Androids Give You A Ton Of Options

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Android is the most popular operating system on the market, mostly because it's an operating system that is used by nearly every other cell phone brand besides Apple phones. And because of that, consumers are pretty much guaranteed to find the phone they want with the selection they're offered with Androids. iPhones are definitely a great product, but if you're looking for something that's smaller or bigger, that has a better screen, that is less likely to break, or that is even water-resistant or waterproof then you'll have to turn to the dozens upon dozens of Android options that are exactly what you're looking for.

iPhones Take Some Awesome Pictures

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Some of the high end Android phones certainly offer some incredible cameras that will take some rich and flawless pictures, but many of those high tech cameras are found among the more expensive Android options. Having a spectacular camera is definitely not a standard feature of most Android phones. However the same really can't be said for the iPhone. Of course the newer and more expensive iPhones have the best cameras, but even with their lower budget options customers can expect to get an above average camera performance and experience. And because all iPhones are manufactured by Apple, it's nice to know exactly what you're going to get.

Androids Give You Good Products At Affordable Prices

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For those customers who are willing to go with some older models, iPhones have become somewhat more affordable. However if you're looking for something that is up to date and can offer you the kind of tech you'd expect from a phone you buy in 2018 without having to break the bank then Androids are clearly the best option. They definitely have a lot of high end options to choose from, but they also have a lot of really great options that are half the price of an iPhone or less. And considering how easy it is to break a smartphone, a less expensive phone might be a smarter investment.

iPhones Read Your Fingerprints Flawlessly

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It might be the kind of tech you'd imagine in a futuristic sci-fi film, but electronic fingerprint readers are actually becoming pretty common features on smartphones. And it's easy to see why, considering the fact that they can be used as an incredibly simple way to unlock a phone but are also nearly impossible locks to "crack." But while a few different brands have ventured into the world of fingerprint sensors, no brand has been able to beat Apple's TouchID fingerprint sensor as of yet. So if that's the kind of added feature you're looking for, you probably shouldn't look any further than iPhones.

Androids Let You Customize Your Phone

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When it comes to Android, one of their biggest strengths has always been variety. Android phones and the Android operating system offer consumers an opportunity to customize pretty much every single element of their phones, which can be a bit overwhelming for someone who is just looking for a simple phone, but can be amazing for someone who is on their phones 24/7 and use them for anything under the sun. Droids give you the ease of use that comes with the most popular operating system on the market, but allow you to customize everything to the point where you might not even think two different Androids aren't the same operating system.

iPhones Hold Up Their Value Better

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If you're the kind of person that always likes to have the latest and greatest edition of smartphone technology, then the iPhone is probably a better long term investment than an Android is. If you ever want to upgrade and sell your used phone, you'll be able to command a much better price if that phone is an iPhone. Many of the older entries into the iPhone line are still on sale as a more economical option for people who don't want to shell out for the newest Apple phone, so used or refurbished phones are still a pretty good seller.

Androids Give You A Phone You Can Do What You Want With

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Android phones offer customers seemingly limitless options when it comes to the phone that they actually want to buy, but once you've got the phone there are still dozens of different ways you can personalize your phone and make it exactly into the phone that you want. Unlike iPhones, Androids even allow their users to replace the Android operating system with something else if they want to. You can replace any of your standard apps with different apps if you decide that you want to as well, so they're really offering as much of a customized experience as you can find.

iPhones Give You The Best Apps ASAP

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Although Android offers a wider selection of apps, most popular apps will update or add their new programs to their iPhones before their Androids. Most major apps do try to release their products for Apple or Android at the same or around the same time, but in some instances apps that you can find on iPhones can't be found on Android for months or even years after the fact.

Androids Work Seamlessly With Google

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Considering the fact that the Android operating system was developed by Google, it is really no surprise that Android smartphones work nearly perfectly with every Google app and service under the sun. However, when you consider how essential so many Google services are to our day to day lives now, having a phone that allows you to use all of the Google assistance that you're used to using at home on the go as well is definitely pretty handy. Of course iPhones are nothing to sneeze at in that regard either, but it's hard to deny the universal usefulness of Google.

iPhones Give You Awesome Customer Service

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In the digital age it seems like customer service is something that has kind of fallen by the wayside, but that certainly isn't the case when it comes to Apple products. With Androids you essentially have to find any help you need by yourself, but iPhones come Apple's database website of assisting instructions, live chat with one of their employees, or even make an appointment to be seen in person at an Apple store to remedy whatever needs to be fixed. For a piece of tech that is so essential to pretty much everyone's lives at this point, it's good to know that you can find a quick fix when you need it.

Androids Let You Use Your Headphones

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It seems like an incredibly simple feature to have on your phone, but it's definitely noticeable when you don't have the option. Being able to just plug your headphones into your smartphone so you can listen to music or watch videos without disturbing anyone else is definitely pretty handy, but unfortunately it's something that you can only do with an Android phone. Apple is very big on creating products that you can only use with other products, and unsurprisingly that company rule still applies to even the smallest pieces of hardware. Meaning, if you want to use headphones with an Apple product you need Apple headphones, which is not the case with Androids.

iPhones Keep You Updated On State Of The Art Software

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Both the iOS system and the Android operating system are going through updates on a nearly constant basis, which is no surprise given how competitive the market is and how quickly technology seems to evolve. However just because an operating system is making improvements, that doesn't automatically mean that you'll be able to get your hands on them or download them immediately. But, because Apple really only works on its own products and everything is designed to work together seamlessly, when the iOS updates the updates are usually made available for Apple customers almost immediately, usually it can be downloaded the day it's released for all iPhone owners.

Androids Work Out Their Issues Faster

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iOS seems to subscribe to the idea of making things as simple and streamlined as possible, whereas Android operating system is always working out its bugs as fast as they possibly can. If we're lucky, Apple comes out with a new iPhone maybe once a year, which is certainly enough to keep things up to date but doesn't really keep the development going nonstop in the way that Android's seemingly endless supply of newly released phones with the latest cutting edge features. For anyone who always wants to be on the frontier of tech, Android's are a pretty clear winner.

iPhones Help You Pay For Anything Easily

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Most major smartphone companies offer some kind of paying service, but Apple Pay is still the most popular and easiest to use of the bunch. You can pretty much pay your bills at most electronic terminals with the click of a button with the Apple Pay app, and you can even use your Apple messaging service to transfer money between you, your family, and your friends. And of course, the iPhones are equipped with fingerprint sensors and newer models are also equipped with facial recognition software, so while it's easy as pie for you to pay for stuff it will be basically impossible for anyone besides you.

Androids Offer You Security Options

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Both iPhones and Androids offer consumers some seriously hard to break security, and normally you won't have to worry about the safety of your phone regardless of what kind of phone you have. However, in the same vein as Android's standard variety of options, Android phones also offer their users a variety of options to keep their phones locked and safe. Of course you can lock your phone with a standard PIN, but you can also design your own pattern to unlock it, or use a fingerprint scan, face and voice recognition, and you can even set it to unlock in specific places or around specific other devices.

iPhones Keep Kids Safer

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Lots of parents want their children to have their own cell phones for safety purposes, but smartphones also allow everyone to access a seemingly never ending supply of information and programs that might not be appropriate for children. But Apple has found a solution to that problem, essentially allowing parents to put parental controls on to their children's iPhones. With their Family Sharing capabilities families who are on the same phone plan can share all of their content across their Apple hardware, but if parents want to restrict certain apps from their kids then Family Sharing allows them to do that too.

Androids Let You Expand Your Storage

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One of the biggest downsides of an iPhone is that what you buy is pretty much what you get. In some cases that can be fine, but if you buy an iPhone that has a set amount of memory and then realize or eventually come to need more memory then you're really out of luck. The only real option iPhone users have is to just buy a new iPhone. However that's not the case with Androids. Most Androids come with the option of adding a chip to expand your memory, which means that you can double or even quadruple the memory of your phone with 20 bucks, while a new iPhone will set you back hundreds.

iPhones Give You A Speedy Performance

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It would be hard to describe the performance of most Android phones as "slow," but in comparison to the processing speed of iPhones the Androids can seem downright leisurely. And once again, this mostly boils down to the fact that Apple manufactures its own hardware and software from top to bottom. Apple makes the processing chips that they put into their iPhones, and because of that they can build processors to the exact specifications they want or need for their phones. On the other hand, most Android phones are manufactured by brands that buy their processors from other sources, hence the added sluggishness.

Androids Help You Multitask

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Obviously if you have a phone that can do almost anything that technology can offer, you also want a phone that will let you do all of those things at the same time easily. And while the iPhone operating system is easy to use and let's you do whatever you want when you want, it doesn't have the capabilities of multitasking that Android does. Switching between apps on Android is as simple as the flick of a finger, and you can leave other apps running in the background while you do something and then come back to it uninterrupted whenever you're finished.

iPhones Keep The Bloatware Down

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Apple is clearly a fan of keeping their technology as simple as possible, and because of their simple mission their phones come out of the box blissfully bloatware-free. The iPhone does come with a few apps that aren't completely necessary, but not very many, and they're easy to disable. In contrast, most Android phones come with a significant number of pre-installed apps that are decided by the phone service provider or the cell phone brand, and while some of the apps are easy to remove some of them are difficult to ditch, and worse yet, it can be hard to discern which apps are essential and which aren't.

Androids Download Things Anywhere

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One of the less convenient aspects of iPhones is that if you want to get any files on to your phone you need to connect the phone to your computer and add it through iTunes. And even for the kinds of files that you can download without a hardware connection to a computer, the files have to be downloaded through iTunes. But with Androids on the other hand, users can essentially download whatever they want from whatever source they want without a problem. It might feel like a small distinction when you don't need it, but it's definitely handy if you do.

iPhones Work The Best With Other Devices

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One of the major downsides of Apple products is that they pretty much only work with other Apple products, but the benefit of that streamlined design is that getting all of your Apple products to work together is glitch free and as easy as pressing a button. Of course Androids can work with your other technology too, but often times it's not as simple as connecting a device and just doing whatever you want with it. Android is an excellent smartphone operating system, but the iPhone is really just one piece of technology that works within the entire Apple operating system.

Androids Offer You The Biggest App Selection

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When it comes to offering their customers variety, Android really has everything on lock down. And unsurprisingly, that also applies to the apps they have to offer to their consumers. Most major smartphone operating systems have enough apps to offer their users to make their phone use easy and to tailor their programs to whatever they want, but no other operating system even comes close to the number of apps that Android offers. Apple comes in second on that metric, and Android still offers nearly twice as many apps that Apple does (reportedly Android is at approximately 3.8 million apps available to Apple's 2 million).

References: statista.com, tomsguide.com, digitaltrends.com, androidauthority.com, gottabemobile.com