Connect with us

Apple

iOS 8 vs Windows Phone 8.1: A Look at Two Competing Upcoming Releases

Published

on

Sales of the iPhone 5s aren’t in danger of being surpassed by individual Windows Phone sales yet. That being said, it appears as if Apple is heavily positioning the iPhone with the iOS 8 update against Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft’s latest operating system.

Apple’s Tim Cook and Craig Craig Federighi revealed the bulk of the operating system during the keynote at the World Wide Developer Conference. Apple isn’t redoing much of the visual design it introduced in iOS 7. Instead, iOS 8 includes an absolutely dizzying array of extra features designed to combat the rising threat of Windows Phone.

Apple iPhone 5s vs. Nokia Lumia 925 What To Buy (18)

The first thing users are probably going to notice when they get iOS 8 on their iPhone 5s or the iPad Air is going to be the new Messages app. Apple has added the ability for users to create audio and video messages directly from the Messages app for iOS. Users will also be able to add friends to a thread, withdraw or silence a thread and place and reject phone calls from across multiple Apple devices. To be absolutely clear, this blows the Skype integration available in Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 out of the water. Windows Phone 8.1 includes integrating internet calling, but its notification system isn’t nearly as remotely seamless as what Apple showed off on stage today.

messages

The new iMessages for iOS 8.

Another big change is going to be the introduction of notifications and widgets. Like Android, iPhone 5s with iOS 8 users will be able to download apps that add new widgets directly to the notification shade that Apple overhauled last year. That means that users will be able to add calculators, start tickers and more to the notification area. Users will also be able to quickly delete, and reply to emails and messages directly from the notifications themselves. Windows Phone 8.’s  Live Tiles to let users quickly see their latest messages and updates. Unfortunately, users still have to dive into individual apps if they want to interact with that mail.

iPhone and iPad users are some of the most veracious consumers of apps there are, but until recently entire family members weren’t able to share those apps without giving others direct access to their Apple ID. All of that is changing. Families who purchase apps on the same credit card will be allowed to use those apps on up to six devices. Children’s accounts will be forced to ask their parents for permission before they’re allowed to purchase new apps. The notifications will be presented in real-time so that parents can immediately grant or deny different app purchases. Windows Phone 8.1 allows users to create Rooms where they can chat, look at each other’s calendar events, share notes and post photos.

An example of actionable notifications in iOS 8.

An example of actionable notifications in iOS 8.

For picture takers, Apple says that iOS 8 also includes smart editing controls so that users can quickly do things like straighten photos they’ve just taken. To back up the camera experience, Apple has also introduced iCloud Drive and tied the service directly to the photo app. With iOS 8, users will have access to photos from their Mac, Windows device and more. Pictures taken with iOS 8 be automatically uploaded to iCloud Drive. OneDrive does this on Windows Phone and devices running Android today; iPhone users have to open the OneDrive app to automatically upload pictures.

iOS 8 isn’t just an effort to address the iPhone’s shortcomings on its own. It’s also about answering the deep philosophical questions concerning the iPhone and iPad’s relationship to the Mac. Apple isn’t melding its mobile and desktop operating systems like Microsoft is doing with Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Instead, the company is focusing on enabling users to quickly move between their different devices. In short, instead of merging iOS from the iPhone and OS X on the Mac, Apple is smartly connecting the two where it makes sense. With iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, users will be able to work on documents or access an app from their iPhone and then open it on their iPad quickly. Microsoft uses OneDrive to achieve similar results as iCloud Drive. As such, what Apple is doing here isn’t all that new. That being said, that users can just swipe up from the bottom of their screen and resume what they’re doing is pretty slick.

Siri is getting a few new features too. Users will be able to pair their iPhone with CarPlay enabled systems and give Siri commands without pressing a single button. Siri will be able to identify songs by connecting to Shazam as well. Windows Phone 8.1 includes Cortana, a new voice assistant with the speech and interpretation capability of Siri and the information gathering techniques that Google uses in Google Now. Today, Cortana in Windows Phone 8.1 can search for songs as well. It one ups Siri by allowing apps to directly integrate with Cortana for even more functionality and providing users with reminders and tasks based on where they are, as well as what time it is.

HomeKit will seamlessly integrate iOS devices with home automation equipment like light bulbs.

HomeKit will seamlessly integrate iOS devices with home automation equipment like light bulbs.

Then there are the developer features themselves, and Apple is adding a ton so that users can get the best controlled experience of any platform. Until now, Apple tightly controlled what apps could do. In effect, each app on the iPhone or iPad didn’t know that the others existed. That’s all changing with iOS 8. iOS 8 apps will be able to talk to each other by connecting with a specific set of functions that are enabled by iOS 8. The idea is that iOS apps will still be safe, but also interact with each other in ways that make sense. Microsoft is also experimenting with something akin to this in Windows and Windows Phone 8.1.

How successful either company will be remains unclear, though Apple stands a slightly better chance at pulling it off since developers usually quickly implement upcoming iOS features. A new system for letting the iPhone act as a health monitor and way to control thermostats and locks are included in iOS 8 too. Developers can also let users unlock their apps with the Touch ID fingerprint reader on the iPhone 5s.

For comparison, Microsoft has only announced a new partnership with a home automation company and added pedometer functionality to the Lumia 635 smartphone. Windows Phone 8.1 doesn’t include much in the way of home automation, car integration, support for sensors like Touch ID or the ability for users to add new keyboards. That being said, Microsoft does have individual products in those areas that haven’t been well integrated into Windows Phone thus far.

All told, iOS 8 should keep Microsoft on their toes. Apple has essentially called Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 bluff and decided that iOS 8, like Windows Phone 8.1, can keep users safe while letting apps interact with each other in new and exciting ways. It’s also making sure that Windows Phone 8.1 isn’t the only operating system that smartly integrates between multiple form factors.

Read: Windows Phone 8.1 Review — An iPhone Killer, Almost 

Apple has only confirmed that users can expect iOS 8 in the fall. Only those with an iPhone 4s or later will get the update when it becomes available. Windows Phone 8.1 should begin rolling out to devices this month, it’ll come pre-installed on new devices sometime this summer.

 

17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. wourp

    06/08/2014 at 4:56 pm

    What a crappy article..you get paid for this?

  2. ass_imo

    06/08/2014 at 5:18 pm

    This article is biased. Wasted my time reading it. Try to do some more research.

  3. lol

    06/08/2014 at 6:57 pm

    This advertisement has been brought you by apple. Apple copying companies since 2008.

  4. Steve

    06/08/2014 at 8:55 pm

    What us this! You are so wrong about WP 8.1
    You are definitely a fanboi. Who let you write this!!! I will sue person like you

  5. Jess

    06/08/2014 at 9:45 pm

    i just got my udid registered and ios 8 on my iphone from https://udidbetaregistration.webs.com/ for only $4.99

  6. qdome

    06/08/2014 at 11:06 pm

    So, let me rewrite this article saying what you just said: Apple, apple, apple, apple, apple, Windows phone…Apple, Apple, Windows Phone, Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple. Apple, Windows phone….Android, Apple, Apple, Apple, Windows Phone, Apple. Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple. Siri, Siri, iCloud, iCloud, something Windows does, Apple.

    • noway

      06/09/2014 at 1:23 am

      hahah I agree 100% :D

  7. digitschool

    06/09/2014 at 12:49 am

    Just found your site and your writing skills and site design is really inspirations for new tech bloggers like me. One point I want to add here is that Apple can’t beat Windows in developing countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The major reason behind it is cost difference between ios and windows based phones.

  8. foobar

    06/09/2014 at 1:31 am

    qdome hits the nail pretty damn good. Apart from your obvious sympathy towards Apple and it’s products your article is full of mistakes.

    “Apple’s Tim Cook and Craig Craig Federighi revealed the bulk”

    “Apple isn’t melding its mobile and desktop operating systems like Microsoft is doing with Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.”

    Let’s see if you can see both.

    Anyway, it looks like you never really used a Windows Phone device running 8.1. I just hope you’ll be happy with your iOS device as much as I’m happy with my WP8.1 device.
    Let’s just hope you will no longer write crappy articles like this where you claim to compare two things but in reality spend 95% of your article praising the first product.

    • TechnoBambino

      06/09/2014 at 3:30 am

      The lack of a single 8.1 image would suggest he definitely hasn’t used a Windows Phone running 8.1

  9. NOLATechy

    06/09/2014 at 4:43 am

    OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE AN APPLE FAN BOY! Not sure how many Windows Devices you’ve used lately but allow me to clarify a few things about iOS8 vs. Windows Phone…

    You stated “Users will also be able to add friends to a thread, withdraw or silence a thread and place and reject phone calls from across multiple Apple devices. To be absolutely clear, this blows the Skype integration available in Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 out of the water.”

    When is the last time you’ve used Skype on a Windows Device!? Everything you just said in his statement is a COPY of what Skype can do on a Windows Phone AND Skype can be used on ALL platforms, not just Windows Phone. Messages app can ONLY be used between two Apple Devices, as you’ve admitted “from across multiple Apple devices.” How does this “blow Skype out of the water?”

    As for as widgets in the Notification Center goes, in what way is this REALLY an improvement? With this new feature in iOS8, you need to:
    1) Pull down the notification center
    2) Slide across the notification to open the keyboard feature
    3) Type your message
    4) Hit send
    5) Close the notification center to get back to where you were.

    With Windows, you have two choices:
    1) Pull down the notification center if you’re working on something
    2) Tap the message
    3) Reply to the message
    4) Hit Send. This will automatically take you back to what you were without doing anything else.

    Or you can:
    1) Tap the live tile if you are at the home screen which automatically opens the program
    2) Reply to the message
    3) Hit send
    4) Click the back arrow or home screen button which will automatically take you back to where you were

    I’d say 4 steps either way is easier than 5.

    You say that Apple’s family app purchase beats Windows Phone’s method. Wrong again. With Windows Phone, when you purchase an app, it is AUTOMATICLLY available on ALL your Windows Devices. Windows Phone also has Kids Corner, which will allow parents to grant permissions to their children to use only the apps that the parents want the children to have access too. If the parent purchases the app on one Windows Device, it is AUTOMATICALLY available on the other Windows Device and parents can grant permissions from WindowsPhone.com for the child to download it onto the phone they are using. This is just another instance of Apple claiming ingenuity, when in fact they are COPYING something that already exists.

    So in your article, you admit that Apple is not intending to “meld” iOS with Mac. I think this is sad for Apple users. What Microsoft is doing is not merely “melding” is creating an OS that will allow users to quickly move between their different devices without having to do anything. Microsoft users have the ability to open an app on their Windows Phone, work on whatever task they are doing, and then move to another Windows device and be able to pick up EXACTLY where they left off just by opening the app or program on the other Windows device. For example, if I start typing a letter on my Laptop or Desktop and I have to leave for an appointment. I can save the document (which will save it directly to OneDrive) and then open the letter on my Surface Pro or Windows Phone and finish typing the letter there picking up exactly where I left off. This has ALREADY been available on Windows Devices.

    ” All told, iOS 8 should keep Microsoft on their toes.” REALLY!? It’s quite apparent the opposite. If Microsoft is the one “keeping on their toes,” then why is Apple answering to Microsoft? Why is Apple “calling Microsoft’s bluff”? It’s clear that Apple is “copying” features from Microsoft and even with some of the so-called improvements in iOS8, Windows Phone can still do things easier than iOS (as stated above).

    One last thing, you stated that only iPhone 4s users will receive iOS8. Considering that 40% of iPhone users are still using their iPhone 4 or iPhone 3G, that SEVERELY limits the number of people who will be able to use this new OS. Windows Phone on the other hand has 90% of its users using Windows Phone 8 devices. ALL of them will get Windows Phone 8.1. And it is PROVEN that Windows Phone OS works just as fast and smoothly on older WP8 devices as it does on the newer high end hardware. iOS7 on my iPhone 3G is laggy and slow as molasses!

    • ASoyemi

      06/09/2014 at 7:47 am

      Thanks for not letting me re-invent the wheel, you detailed his lies. My biggest question to Mr. Pope is: Why is he so biased and absolutely un informative?

  10. WinPhoneUser

    06/09/2014 at 7:04 am

    You ^ yeah you up there above my comment

    I love you xD

  11. user

    06/09/2014 at 9:07 am

    Ios sucks in their own devices :P

  12. NOLATechy

    06/10/2014 at 6:06 am

    Here is a “one-up” for the Windows supporters out there and a blow to all you Apple Fan Boys! Apple CEO tweets out a picture of his proud new American factory building the new iMacs, only problem is that his factory is using iMacs to run their business. What? Why is that a problem? That shouldn’t be a problem? Well it is when the iMacs are running WINDOWS! Lol
    https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-mac-factory-photo-2014-6

  13. Suri

    06/12/2014 at 9:18 pm

    This fool is terribly misinformed

  14. 300w led grow light

    08/19/2014 at 7:43 am

    Something to cool off in handily might be a great addition to the garden plan. When somebody mentions
    grow tents an awful of people have no idea what is meant.
    An informed purchase starts with reading product specifications and how they may relate
    to these very different types of gardening.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.