The iPad Vs Android tablet argument is one that has been waging for longer than we care to think, and it is one that shows no sign of going away anytime soon.
As if the fire really needed any more stoking, PC World’s Sasha Segan has sought to fan the flames of fanboyism by comparing Android tablets and the iPad in the app stakes, with the number of apps and their perceived quality being put to the test across a range of categories.
The result? Well, the iPad comes up trumps as we would probably expect, but did we really expect a different outcome? Nope…
The takeaway from Segan’s lengthy post is that the software in Google’s Play market just isn’t up to the standard of Apple’s App Store. It may be the developers, it may be Apple’s handling of the whole store experience, but the caliber of apps just doesn’t match up. The fact that apps are listed as tablet-compatible but are really just blown-up smartphone apps doesn’t help, either.
While Android tablets are in the midst of a specification race, and the newest models will undoubtedly compete favorably with the new iPad, software is where it all falls down for Google’s tablet strategy, and the sooner the search giant realizes that the better for all us technology geeks.
So where does this leave the tablet landscape moving forward? Well, Google is now beginning to rejig its smartphone software and experience with the aim of trying to match Apple’s polish, and when that renewed passion for quality moves over to the tablet things could well improve. Apps are where it’s at though, and Google needs to improve the situation here first and foremost. Proper tablet-designed apps are needed if Android is to compete with the iPad in a space where there really is only one choice these days.
And right now, that’s the iPad.