iOS 6 vs Android 4.x ICS vs Windows Phone 7.5 Mango – Head-to-Head Feature Comparison

Well, it appears that it is once again time to pen a comparison post, this time following up with the one published in October of last year – about 8 months ago – that compares a few of the important factors between the three important mobile platforms of our time. With iOS 6 freshly unveiled, along with a few developments that have transpired over the past 8 months, there are a few changes to make.
Here are a few of the noteworthy changes that I have observed in creating the comparison chart: iOS will now have Facebook integration baked into the OS itself, Google has its own music store now (in the form of Google Play), all three platforms have seen substantial growth in their respective app ecosystems, and Windows Phone (sort of) has its own voice assistant functionality now in the form of Tellme. While we’re on the note of Windows Phone, something that I didn’t mention was that the Zune brand is being phased out, and its functionality as far as music and movie sales will be replaced with Xbox Music, and, well, perhaps something else for movies.

However, again, a lot of things remain the same as you can see in the chart. More major paradigms continue to hold true: iOS still doesn’t support flash, and Android is still highly customizable (yet unsecure). Some features are still yet to be implemented in some cases as well. For example, Windows Phone stills lacks cloud backup, something unusual from the same cloud-focused company that brought us SkyDrive.
So, let’s take a look at this chart, shall we?


So, which platform is the winner here? Obviously, neither; people have different preferences and use cases in which they may find better utility or preference in one platform over the other. Really, it’s up to you; personally, I prefer and use iOS on a daily basis. Second to that, I like the Windows Phone user-interface. And finally, Android. Though highly customizable, I’ve never been a fan of its user interface of the many devices themselves that host the operating system.