Android M and iOS 9 will hit phones within weeks of one another: the next Android will come to Nexus devices later this year, and iOS 9 is expected to ship in the Fall. But what can we expect? Here’s our Android M vs iOS 9 comparison.

Android M vs iOS 9 comparison: release date

Android M was unveiled at Google I/O in May, and is expected to reach Nexus devices in the third quarter of this year. As with previous Android updates, non-Nexus devices may take considerably longer to get the latest and greatest Android.

iOS 9 is expected to be announced next week at Apple’s WWDC event, but it’s unlikely to ship until the next iPhone is ready. That’s usually a September release, but some rumors say the iPhone 6S will appear a month earlier.

Android M: key new features

One of the most important changes in Android M is the revised permissions system. No longer will apps demand access to your medical data, your most intimate photos and the password for your online banking account; instead, permissions will be requested as and when you need them - and you’ll be able to say no to individual permissions without borking the app. If that sounds quite iOS-y, that’s because it is - but a good idea’s a good idea irrespective of who does it first, and Apple’s quite happy to take ideas from Android too.

Android M will also standardise support for fingerprint scanners, and like iOS you’ll be able to use your fingerprint to authorize purchases both in apps and in real life using Android Pay, the replacement for Google Wallet.

Another key new feature is app links, which will automatically open content X in app Y if you let it - so a PDF would open in a PDF viewer, a Twitter link in a Twitter app and so on.

Under the hood there’s more optimization for power usage and a new feature, Doze, to improve standby time through the use of motion detectors - so your phone will know if you’re asleep and power down accordingly. There’s also USB-C support for much faster charging.Of all the things in Android M, Google Now on Tap could be the most significant: it provides Google Now-like content inside selected apps, so for example in Spotify you could ask “what’s his real name?” and Google Now will look at who’s playing and tell you their birth name. That effectively puts Google Search inside every app, and it could be a pretty big deal.



Apple iOS 9: key new features

Advance word says that iOS 9 is like Snow Leopard, the version of Mac OS X that didn’t add much in the way of headline-grabbing features but concentrated instead on optimizing the OS for better battery life and performance. That means an OS that won’t do the usual Apple thing and render older devices obsolete, but it also means an OS whose rumored change of system font (to San Francisco, the same font used by the Apple Watch) may be the most eye-catching new feature.

That doesn’t mean iOS 9 won’t be an improvement, though. The Force Touch pressure sensing system is expected to move from the Watch and MacBook trackpads to iPhones and iPads, Android-style multiple logins are apparently incoming and iPads may get the ability to run two apps side by side. There’s also a very Google Now-sounding service called Proactive, although it’s possible that that won’t be ready in time for WWDC. It apparently connects the Siri virtual assistant to contacts, calendars and apps such as Passbook. Familiar, yes, but still useful.

Arguably the most important job iOS 9 has to do is bug fixing. Like Lollipop, iOS 8 introduced lots of new features, but also a fair collection of bugs.


Android M vs iOS 9 comparison: early verdict

Comparing Apple and Android is a bit like comparing apples with things that aren’t apples: if you’re wearing an Apple Watch, tapping on an iPad and holding an iPhone to your head you won’t care what’s in Android M and if you’ve got the Samsung logo tattooed on your sternum you probably won’t be too bothered about iOS 9.

But it’s interesting to see how similar the two different operating systems are becoming, so for example Google has clearly taken a leaf out of Apple’s book on payments and Apple has clearly noticed why people love Google Now so much. That’s fine by us: if the best ideas from each camp make their way to each other’s rival platforms, that’s great news for the people who buy the products.

What do you think? Is this competition good for Android users, or should Google and Apple come up with their own ideas in isolation? Let us know in the comments!