Mobile Operating Systems || iPhone vs Android
Introduction
The mobile OS landscape has undergone rapid transformations over the past few decades. In the early days, PalmOS and Windows Mobile dominated the world of PDAs and primitive smartphones. Then came Blackberry, focusing on enterprise messaging and security.
But the real disruption was driven by Apple's revolutionary iOS in 2007 and Google's Android starting in 2008. They ushered in the era of smart mobile touchscreen devices, app stores, and powerful capabilities that we take for granted today.
After initial fragmentation, the market consolidated into an effective Android-iOS duopoly. This blog post takes you through the key milestones of mobile OS history and how we arrived at the Android-iOS-dominated landscape of today.
The Early Days of Mobile OSs (1990s)
The origins of mobile operating systems can be traced back to the 1990s when the first PDAs and early smartphones started appearing. These primitive devices required basic OS capabilities to manage contacts, calendars, notes, and a few other functions.
Some of the early mobile OS platforms in the 1990s were:
- Palm OS - Designed for PDAs and handhelds. Popular devices were Palm Pilot and Palm III.
- Windows CE - Microsoft's early mobile OS for PDAs and smartphones like Compaq iPaq.
- Symbian OS - Backed by a consortium including Nokia and Motorola, it powered many of their phones.
These early mobile operating systems laid the foundation for more advanced platforms in the future. But they lacked key features like app stores, multimedia capabilities, and cellular network support.
The Rise and Fall of PalmOS
Palm OS was one of the pioneering mobile operating systems for handheld devices. First launched in 1996, it quickly became popular on PDAs like the Palm Pilot.
Key features of PalmOS included contacts, calendars, notes, basic apps, and simple menus optimized for stylus input. But over time it failed to keep up with rivals due to limitations in supporting new hardware features, networks, and multimedia.
Windows CE - Microsoft's Early Mobile OS
While Palm OS focused on PDAs, Microsoft offered an early smartphone OS in 1996 called Windows CE. It was designed for low-footprint devices like PDAs, early smartphones, and other embedded systems.
Windows CE supported features like networking, external storage, and internet browsing. But it didn't gain much traction and eventually evolved into Windows Mobile/Phone OS.
The Rise of Symbian OS
While Palm and Windows were the early American players in mobile OSes, Symbian emerged from Europe and Asia. Backed by a consortium including Nokia and Motorola, it was targeted exclusively at mobile phones.
Symbian offered color screens, menus, touch support, and external storage - capabilities ahead of PalmOS and Windows CE. It became hugely popular and dominated the smartphone market outside North America in the early 2000s powering devices from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and others.
The Blackberry and iOS Era
Then in 2007, Steve Jobs's introduction of the iPhone completely changed the game. iOS revolutionized the experience with finger-friendly touch interactions, ease of web browsing, media support, and a robust app ecosystem.
The Rise of Blackberry OS
Blackberry OS pioneered the entire segment of secure enterprise messaging and communication with excellent email and built-in support for Blackberry Messenger (BBM).
It catered to the needs of businesses and professionals first rather than general consumers. Blackberry devices like the Bold and Curve were among the most popular enterprise phones in the 2000s.
But Blackberry failed to adapt its OS to compete with iOS and Android later. It could not evolve fast enough beyond the core communication and messaging capabilities.
iOS Powers the Smartphone Revolution
When Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007, it came with a radically new operating system - iOS. It was built from scratch for finger-first-touch interactions rather than stylus pens or hardware keyboards.
Some standout features of the first iOS included:
- Capacitive touchscreen with pinch/zoom gestures
- Kinetic scrolling that moved fluidly rather than tick-by-tick
- Visual voicemail integrated into the Phone app
- Web browsing with Safari mobile browser
- Powerful SDK for third-party native apps
- iTunes and App Store for music, video, and app distribution
This pioneering feature set of iOS paved the way for the smartphone revolution, even though initial sales trailed Blackberry and Symbian. But within a few years, iOS became the blueprint for modern mobile OSes.
The Android Juggernaut (2008 and Beyond)
Just as iOS gained traction, Google entered the mobile OS space in 2008 with the first version of Android. It offered an open-source alternative to Apple's walled garden approach.
The first Android phone was HTC Dream launched in October 2008. But it really took off over the next few years as Samsung launched its Galaxy lineup of Android smartphones with much-improved hardware and display quality.
Unlike Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem, Android was flexible and open source. Google offered it for free to any OEMs who could build and customize it on top of it. These factors allowed Android to become the dominant mobile OS worldwide across all price points.
Here are some of the most pivotal Android releases over the years:
- Android 1.0 (2008) - First version on HTC Dream
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (2011) - Modern Holo design language
- Android 5.0 Lollipop (2014) - Material design philosophy introduced
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow (2015) - Improved battery life, app permissions
- Android 7.0 Nougat (2016) - Split-screen multitasking
- Android 8.0 Oreo (2017) - Better notifications, autofill
- Android 9 Pie (2018) - Gesture navigation, smart text selection
- Android 10 and above - Foldables support, 5G connectivity
With each major release, Google added new capabilities to Android to match and even exceed the innovations coming to iOS. Affordable and powerful Android phones from companies like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo drove its fast adoption worldwide.
The Decline of Early Mobile OS Players
The late 2000s and early 2010s saw heated competition among mobile operating systems like Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Palm OS, Nokia-Symbian, and others.
But by the mid-2010s, it was clear that the momentum had shifted overwhelmingly toward the Android-iOS duopoly. All early OS players from the 1990s steadily faded into obscurity.
Windows Phone - Too Little Too Late
Microsoft tried entering the smartphone OS space very late with Windows Phone in 2010. Despite an attractive tile-based Modern UI, it failed to attract sufficient app developers.
Windows Phone also suffered from limited hardware variety compared to iOS and Android. Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia couldn't save Windows Phone from its demise. It was finally discontinued in 2017 with a negligible market share.
BlackBerry OS and the Failed BB10 Reboot
Blackberry tried to reboot its aging OS one last time with a brand new BlackBerry 10 platform in 2013. But the market had already pivoted strongly towards iOS and Android by then. BB10 failed to gain any traction despite efforts at refined UI and improved app capabilities.
Blackberry eventually switched to an Android-based OS for its last few devices before being acquired and turned into a software company.
The Mobile Landscape Today - iPhone vs Android
The mobile OS era today looks vastly different from the chaotic early days. The dust has settled to reveal an absolute duopoly between Android and iOS collectively claiming almost 100% market share.
As of 2022, Android commands nearly 73% global market share while iOS is at around 27%. Competitors like Samsung's Tizen OS, KaiOS, and Linux-based platforms are left fighting for the crumbs with less than 1% share each.
Among the two leaders, iOS dominates the high-end smartphone segment, especially in markets like the USA, while Android caters well to the mid-range and low-end segments globally.
The future roadmap of mobile OS innovation is also firmly in the hands of Apple and Google. Their developer ecosystems are far too established for any new entrant to gain a foothold. Going forward, they will compete in cutting-edge areas like AR/VR capabilities, foldable devices, neural processing, and 5G experiences.
The Pioneer Spirit Persists
The mobile OS landscape has seen tremendous upheaval over the past three decades. But the underlying pioneering spirit of innovation persists through every generation.
Palm OS and Windows CE laid the foundations in the 1990s. Blackberry pioneered wireless messaging. iOS revolutionized touch-first experiences while Android brought in flexibility and choice.
It's unlikely any new platform can disrupt the Android-iOS duopoly soon. But the history of mobile operating systems shows - we should never underestimate the power of a groundbreaking innovation coming from an underdog. The next revolution could be just around the corner!
So there we have the complete journey of mobile operating systems over the decades in a nutshell. What does the future hold next for our smart mobile companions? Only time will tell.
Conclusion
The history of mobile operating systems shows how fiercely competitive the landscape used to be before Android and iOS established a stable duopoly. Once overcrowded with contenders like Symbian, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, and Palm OS, the market is now comprehensively dominated by Google and Apple.
The initial innovations in smartphone OSes came from incumbents like Microsoft, Palm, and BlackBerry in the 1990s/early 2000s. But both Apple and Google successfully managed to disrupt this market - iOS with its revolutionary touch capabilities and Android with open source appeal. They capitalized on rapid hardware advancements in the mobile sphere.
Now with their entrenched positions, iOS and Android are slated to control the future of mobile computing as well. But the landscape continues to evolve, with nascent trends like foldable displays, 5G connectivity, and edge computing on the horizon. It remains to be seen if any potential upstart can disrupt the stronghold of these two tech giants. The history of mobile OSes shows the rapid pace of change an innovation that is the hallmark of this industry.
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