McDonald's is trying to compete with Starbucks' biggest advantage - here's who comes out on top

With most sales growth coming from its app, Starbucks needs to make it an enjoyable experience. The company's current CEO, Kevin Johnson, actually came from the tech industry and spent 16 years at Microsoft.

Fewer pumps of flavored syrup? Soy milk instead of two-percent? Extra sugar that you'd be embarrassed to order out loud? Starbucks' app makes it easy to customize, and it helps customers avoid yelling out nitpicky clarifications in a crowded coffee shop.

This wasn't always the case. In January of last year, Starbucks reported that transactions — an important measure of customer traffic — had dropped by 2% in the most recent quarter, in part because of problems caused by mobile ordering.

Two months later, Business Insider visited the chain every day for a week and discovered a mess.

Orders that were supposed to take two to five minutes at a high-traffic location in Manhattan often took more than 10 minutes. Customers who were forced to wait were angry and complained on social media. Some even walked out without ordering or picking up their drinks.

However, in a more recent test, orders were ready within five minutes of being placed — just as promised.

Last spring, Starbucks rolled out pickup shelves for mobile orders so baristas wouldn't have to waste time repeatedly calling out absent customers' names. The app also now alerts customers when their order is ready.

Starbucks also shifted employees' roles to improve the mobile-ordering experience, with some workers assigned exclusively to mobile-related tasks — such as handing off drinks — during busy hours.

In essence, Starbucks has spent the last few years perfecting its mobile app. That effort shows in a much improved mobile-ordering experience that is translating into actual sales.

The fast-food chain's app isn't as sleek as Starbucks' — and it's definitely more focused on deals. While Starbucks' app also features deals, McDonald's puts the discounts front and center.

The app allowed me to make changes that you can't always manage while ordering in store, such as swapping the folded egg for the superior round egg in the McGriddle.

However, when ordering some of the deals, my app didn't allow me to customize. This seems to have simply been a glitch that will get worked out as McDonald's continues to improve the app.

Users can choose to pick up their mobile orders in-store, at the drive-thru, or curbside, depending on what their local McDonald's offers. The McDonald's near my office in Manhattan only has pick-up inside the restaurant as an available option.

Getting off the subway, I tried to click the "Inside the restaurant" pick-up option. However, McDonald's app was able to sense I wasn't yet at the location and refused to let me order until I was closer to the building — a feature that Starbucks does not have.

When picking up in-store, mobile customers are given a number that appears on the location's board. Initially, the number will appear in the "In Process" column before moving to the "Serving" list.

There are no niceties at McDonald's — workers aren't going to pretend to know your name. And, you need to be sure to be alert when they're calling out orders, or you can get lost in the crowd.

In that goal, it certainly succeeds. McDonald's app is essentially a free pass to skip the line, with your order being placed behind the scene the moment you walk into the store. You can't game the system by ordering ahead of time, but you're never going to be waiting more than a few minutes.

Starbucks' app is sleeker that McDonald's and a little easier to use. With nearly a third of all orders coming in through the app, Starbucks has figured out what works and how to get customers hooked on mobile ordering.

However, McDonald's app is already very good at what it's trying to do: speed up service and free up cashiers' time. While Starbucks has the added pressure of trying to maintain a certain aesthetic and sense of community with its app, McDonald's only needs to think about convenience.

As more people download McDonald's app — especially people who value low prices and efficiency over aesthetics — the fast-food chain could give the coffee giant a run for its money.