What Android and iOS Can Learn From Each Other

Each of the top mobile operating systems -- Android and Apple’s iOS -- has some obvious features that the other is missing. And it would benefit consumers if each adopted its own version of these. These are some things Apple and Google could learn from each other:

• Email: Android typically comes with two email apps, one of which is strictly reserved for Google’s Gmail. On the other hand, Android’s main email app, the one for Gmail, allows you to attach any file to an email as you are composing it.
• Screens: In both systems, the screens are mainly filled with icons that launch apps. But Android offers more creative options.
• Quick Settings: Because wading through smartphone settings can be tedious, both platforms include a quick-settings feature -- with a subset of common settings, like turning on airplane mode or adjusting brightness -- that you access by simply swiping from the top or bottom of the screen. By contrast, on the latest Samsung, the “quick” settings are so long you either have to swipe through a row of icons wider than the screen, or select an even more extensive list with 20 settings that includes marginal items.
• Privacy control: On iOS, there’s a special settings section for controlling privacy. It allows you to decide which apps can use your location, contacts, calendar, photos, microphone and more -- all in one place. Some of these options are available on Android, but I couldn’t find any similar, detailed, unified privacy-control panel on the latest Samsung, Nexus or HTC models.
• Customization: Apple doesn’t allow iPhone users to customize common features like the lock screen (beyond choosing a photo or design) and keyboard. By contrast, many Android phones do allow customization.
• Tablet apps: Apple boasts around half a million apps optimized for the iPad in its App Store. These apps make use of the larger tablet screen to add additional panels or other user interface features that aren’t available in iPhone versions.