The biggest difference between Android and the iPhone, summed up in one image
Although there are plenty of differences between Android and the iPhone, there's one main discrepancy that stands out the most - with Android you get choice, while the iPhone is one uniform platform.
There are thousands of Android devices in the world. Companies from Samsung to LG to HTC and even Amazon make phones and tablets that run on some version of Android.
This infographic from OpenSignal, a company that creates databases of cell towers and cell signal strength, illustrates that idea clearly. It shows all of the different types of Android devices that have downloaded its app last year. The company says there are 18,796 Android devices in total that have accessed its app in the last year.
Take a look at the infographic below (each tile represents a different phone model).
This has both positive and negative impacts. While there are plenty of phones in all sorts of shapes and sizes to choose from, it also means Android is really fragmented. This can be problematic because it takes longer for updates - especially ones with critical security fixes - to roll out to the entire platform.
It also means that there's a slight learning curve with each Android device since they all work differently and have software that differs from one phone to the next.