2017 14th International Conference on Engineering of Modern Electric Systems (EMES)

Comparative Study of Google Android, Apple iOS

and Microsoft Windows Phone Mobile Operating
Systems

Ovidiu Constantin Novac Mihaela Novac

Department of Computers and Information Technology Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Oradea University
Oradea, Romania Oradea, Romania
ovnovac@uoradea.ro mnovac@uoradea.ro

Cornelia Gordan Tamas Berczes

Department of Electronics and Telecommunications Department of IT Systems and Networks
University of Oradea University of Debrecen
Oradea, Romania Debrecen, Hungary
cgordan@uoradea.ro berczes.tamas@inf.unideb.hu

Gyöngyi Bujdosó
Department of Computer Science and Library and Information Science
University of Debrecen
Debrecen, Hungary
bujdoso.gyongyi@inf.unideb.hu

Abstract—This paper focuses on a comparative study of the operating system allows users to create, manage and organize
most used three operating systems for mobile devices: Google different types of files [11]. Most modern operating systems
Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone. The article provide graphical interfaces (GUI - Graphical User Interface)
presents which are the most important features of this three to ensure the relatively easy usage for customers [6], [9], [10],
operating systems. The paper also deals with the features that [18].
these operating systems have in common and analyzes some of
their disadvantages.
II. OPERATING SYSTEMS
Keywords—Google Android; Apple iOS; Windows Phone Operating systems usually provided a set of APIs, named
Mobile; Mobile Operating Systems; software platforms; system calls. However safer operating systems have been
adopted recently. Currently we have multithreading and
I. INTRODUCTION multicore architectures integrated into our operating systems.
The operating system is a program that acts as an Modern operating systems for mobile devices support many
intermediary between a computer user and the computer media formats: audio, video, image, and may use video
hardware. We shall use both the abbreviation OS and the cameras, touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, accelerated 3D
complete denomination operating system. An operating system graphics and other types of sensors.
has the following main objectives: first it has to execute user System calls have changed so dramatically in the past two
programs and facilitate troubleshooting for users; secondly it years that they actually became irrelevant. This change may be
has to make the computing system easy to use; and third it has attributed to two companies, Apple and Google, which are real
to use efficiently the hardware of the computing system [1], innovation forces. With the launch of the iPhone by Apple a
[2]. new paradigm has been introduced on the market, i.e. the one
The operating system offers services to both users and where the keywords are controlled user interfaces and
developers who make possible the operation of a computer application stores. Google followed this example with the
without the need of employing low-level hardware controls, introduction of the Android operating system, which was
which are difficult run. The operating system provides quickly adopted by both application developers and users. This
relatively uniform interfaces to access a wide range of devices caused a major change in the way we think about operating
the computer interacts with, from input/output devices, such as systems, [8], [12], [13], [14], [15].
printers or digital cameras, to wire or wireless network
components that ensure communication among computers. The

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 III. OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR MOBILE DEVICES Android 1.0. in November 2007 and there is a large number of
updates from this original release. These updates eliminate
A. The Android Operating System bugs and add new features. Since April 2009, each version of
The Android operating system and its video call services Android developed a code name based on desserts. These
show how this operating system is different from others: it is versions have been launched in alphabetical order [25]:
based on Linux and may be considered a variant of embedded • Alpha (1.0)
Linux [3], [7].
• Beta (1.1)
It can be said that Android operating system is the leading
mobile platform from Google; it brings a wealth of features to • Cupcake (1.5)
increase both speed and performance. The version 5 of the • Donut (1.6)
Android operating system, brings a wealth of features designed
to improve the mobile experience. • Éclair (2.0-2.1)
• Frozen Yogurt "Froyo" (2.2-2.2.3)
• Gingerbread (2.3-2.3.7)
• Honeycomb (3.0-3.2.6)
• Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0-4.0.4)
• Jelly Bean (4.1-4.3.1)
• KitKat (4.4-4.4.4, 4.4W-4.4W.2)
• Lollipop (5.0-5.1)
From the beginning to version 5.0, the Android platform
used a virtual machine called Dalvik as a just-in-time process
Fig. 1. The 5.0 Android (Lollipop) operating system [19]
(JIT) for compiling the code obtained from Java byte code.
Android is a platform and also an operating system for Dalvik compiles the application each time it is launched, [19].
mobile phones and other devices. Android OS is designed The Android OS architecture is shown in Figure 2, which also
especially for touch screen mobile devices but also for indicates how this OS is different from other sub-Linux OS.
television (TV Android), cars (Android Auto) and watches
(Android Wear). It can be said that there are many hardware
products on which an Android OS is running [19], [20]. This
OS can transform a mobile device into a personal computer
with the size of a pocket calculator.
Google Play (formerly called Android Market) is a service
of online stores selling songs, movies, books and apps/games
for the Android operating system. Since January 2015 we have
access to more than 1.43 million applications available in this
shop. Android is first in terms of applications downloads. In
the summer of 2013, 50 billion downloads were performed, but
the main problem is represented by the quality of these
applications as compared to applications developed on other
modern mobile operating systems. Originally only free apps
were accepted, but since 2009 payable applications are also
available [19], [20], [21].
The Android OS is an open source software, which means
that any user can bring improvements to the operating system,
therefore one may benefit not only from Google developers’
know-how, but also from that of third-party developers. Google
opened the entire source code (including the network and Fig. 2. The architecture of the Android operating system with Dalvik virtual
telephony support) so producers are free to add extensions machine [19]
without making them available to the open source community. As shown in Figure 2, Linux is just part of this architecture,
Android has been criticized for the fact that some parts of and is placed at the lowest level. As in the case of the OS from
libraries and APIs are not fully open source [19], [20]. Apple, we do not see the Android OS as a Linux operating
The version 5.1 of the Android mobile operating system is system, and thus most developers do not have access at this
an operating system known as "Lollipop Android" ( "Android level.
L"), developed by Google and released at the end of 2014 [22]. From the point of view of its developer, the Android OS
The list of Android OS versions begins with the introduction of has a Kinux kernel, based on Java (with Eclipse plugin); it has

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its own Google virtual machine, called Dalvik, and the Linux This technique eliminates JIT-associated processing
features are not accessible to users [5]. techniques to improve system performance and optimize
battery usage (Volta Project). Installation may take longer and
Application Framework domain and the Applications requires more storage space for the compiled bytecode site, but
domain, are marked in blue in Figure 2, and are all written in at running applications it reduces the cost of resources and
Java language. Application developers are limited to the upper CPU usage, so battery life increases. Other advantages are:
part of the architecture while device manufacturers must improving the waste collector, debugging applications and
optimize and execute their code at all levels of this architecture performance measurement. We can thus argue that overall
[7]. efficiency is improved while energy consumption is reduced.
The new method of running Android Runtime (ART) In order to maintain compatibility with previous applications
applications compiles the bytecode at installing the software. versions, ART uses the same bytecode format as the Dalvik
After Android 4.4, ART has become the option of running in virtual machine for the generated code. ART is cross-platform
the next major release of Android 5.0, [19]. Figure 3 presents on 32-bits or 64-bits and accepts x86, ARM, MIPS and
the architecture of 5.0 Android OS. MIPS64, x86-64 [22], [23]. The company Samsung contributed
with Knox, a security framework that provides the separation
of personal data and is oriented towards work for any device,
being accompanied with APIs for environmental management.
The devices can also be configured so as customers do not
have to use PINs or other security methods, if the user is in a
physical location preset as a reliable one, or is close to an
Android Wear device. At the same time, the device has data
encryption implicitly enabled [22].
There are other mobile phone manufacturers who have
introduced this OS (Samsung Electronics HTC, Sony, LG
Electronics, etc.) because Android operating system offers
increased speed and performance and allows us to turn the
mobile device into a portable modern PC.

B. The Windows Phone Operating System

The template Windows Phone is also an OS designed for
smart mobile devices. This OS was developed by Microsoft.
Windows Phone OS is the successor of Windows Mobile
platform, which was based on Windows CE kernel, starting
with the operating system Pocket PC 2000 [4], [26]. Windows
Fig. 3. The architecture of Android 5.0 OS [24] Phone 7 OS was announced on February 15, 2010 and was
Figure 4 shows the hardware abstraction layer (HAL). released on November 8, 2010 [16]. This OS was preceded by
Windows Mobile 6.x version. In chronological order, the
Android Runtime (ART) is used by the mobile Android Windows Phone versions are [26]: Windows Phone 7,
operating system, which was first present in Android 4.4 Windows Phone 7.5, Windows Phone 7.8, Windows Phone 8
KitKat; in Android 5.0, the Dalvik virtual machine is replaced (GDR1, CDR2, GDR3), Windows Phone 8.1 (GDR1, CDR2)
completely. ART replaces Dalvik virtual machine, which and Windows 10 (mobile).
carries out the turning of the application bytecode into native
instructions every time the respective application starts (just-in- The architecture of Windows Phone 7 is swown in figure 5.
time). ART introduces a new method called ahead-of time
(AOT), compilation, which is performed at installing the
application.

Fig. 5. The architecture of Windows Phone 7 operating system [7].

Fig. 4. Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) [24]

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 Analyzing the architectures in Figures 2 and 5, it may be
argued that one can almost map the architecture of Windows
Phone 7 OS on the old architecture of Android OS.
As with the Android OS, Windows Phone OS is projected
for multiple hardware platforms and chipsets, so that
application developers must be able to "compile" in real time.
Microsoft chose to use C# language as the main development
language and everything is compiled on the CLR, which is its
own virtual machine, similar to the Dalvik virtual machine of
the Android OS. In 2011, Microsoft launched Windows Phone
7.5 Mango OS. Another minor change was launched in 2012
and is known as "Tango". On October 29, 2012, Microsoft
released Windows Phone 8, a new generation of the operating
system. Windows Phone 7 could not be upgraded to Windows
Phone 8 due to hardware limitations [26].
Windows Phone 8.1 is a version of the operating system
released in April, 2014. New features added to it include a
notification center, Internet Explorer 11, the possibility of
synchronization with other devices, separate volume control
etc. Windows Phone 8.1 OS added "Cortana", which is a voice
assistant similar to Siri and Google Now [26].

Fig. 7. Windows 10 operating system interface (mobile) [27].

An element of novelty is represented by the fact that

notifications can be synchronized among devices. Another
advantage is the improved interface and its application, as well
as its use with one hand. Microsoft introduces a new web
browser project called "Spartan", which will replace Internet
Explorer Mobile browser [27].
The main criticism brought to Windows Phone OS is the
absence of apps compared to iOS and Android operating
systems. Windows Phone Store is a digital distribution
platform developed by Microsoft for its Windows Phone
platform. Microsoft has confirmed that there are over 200,000
apps in Windows Store, and that there are over 585 000 apps in
Windows Store and Windows Phone Store combined. This
means that there are over 385,000 apps in Windows Phone
Store. Even if Windows Store platform has far fewer apps,
however, most of the top 50 downloaded apps are available in
Windows Phone Store. As application platform installed on
Fig. 6. The architecture of Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, [29].
smartphones, Windows Store platform is on the third place,
Windows Phone OS was withdrawn in 2015, due to the behind the platforms from Android OS and iOS OS [28].
new Microsoft strategy. In 2015 Windows 10 OS (mobile) was
launched, which was designed to provide a universal C. The iOS Operating System
experience about the PC version of Windows 10, [26], [27]. The iOS OS (originally called iPhone OS) is the mobile
Windows 10 (mobile) was announced on January 21, 2015 operating system developed by Apple Inc. for mobile devices
and was released on February 12, 2015 as a mobile operating manufactured by Apple. Originally this operating system was
system for smartphones and tablets. Its main objective is the developed for iPhone, and later it was extended to be
unification of applications and services. To provide an example implemented on other Apple devices, such as iPod touch (MP3
in this respect, Microsoft Store refers to smartphones by player), iPad, Apple TV (set-top box type of device). These
"Windows 10 ready" and not by "Windows Phone 10". devices are much more expensive, but also stable as compared
Microsoft downplayed reference to brand Windows Phone; to other devices and systems produced by competing
however, we can state that Windows 10 OS is a continuation manufacturers [17], [33].
Windows Phone OS given the similarity of functioning for the iOS is a Unix-like operating system, which contained, since
two operating systems [26], [27]. Windows 10 (mobile) OS its first version, several elements of Mac OS X operating
supports ARM and Intel x86 systems and uses Hybrid system (Unix-like operating system from Apple Inc.). One of
Windows NT kernel [27].

157
the main advantages of iOS OS is that Apple allows the operating system on hardware that has not been manufactured
updating of the operating system for older tablets, but this by Apple. Today there are only simulators on the market for
support is declining. Apple provides updates to iOS operating iOS OS. With iOS, there are four levels of abstraction: the
system through over-the-air (OTA) interface. For product operating system kernel, the core services level, the media level
policy reasons, iOS OS does not support the Flash multimedia and the user interface [33].
application of Adobe American company [17], [33].
Unfortunately even if much information is available for iOS
iOS 8 OS is the successor to iOS 7 OS, launched on OS, there is no chart that would represent the architecture of
September 17, 2014. iOS 8 is based on the redesign of iOS7 this operating system. Figure 9 shows the mapping of Cocoa
OS with improvements on the interface as well. As a novelty Touch interface in iOS operating systems.
this OS provides for example the functionality of a personal
Internet access point (hotspot) [33], [38]. The latest update is
iOS 8.2 OS, which was launched on March 9, 2015. This new
version has solved many problems and bugs and introduced
support for the upcoming Apple Watch. Currently, there is
another version of iOS 8 OS, which is still in a beta stage,
namely iOS 8.3 Beta3 OS, launched on March 12, 2015. With
this new version, Apple continues to limit the support for older
devices such as iPhone 4, [30], [31], [33].

Fig. 9. Mapping the Cocoa Touch interface in iOS OS architecture, [7].

Core OS level contains a kernel system, the file manager, a

safety system and a series of device drivers, etc. Core OS is the
closest to hardware with a UNIX multitasking kernel. Here are
APIs written in C language, and not Object Oriented, [34]. The
kernel of iOS OS is called XNU and is a core of Darwin.
Versions starting with iPhone OS (1.0) and up to iPhone OS
3.1.3 have used the 9.0.0d1 version of Darwin and Darwin’s
current version is 14.0.0, [33]. The Core Services level is
located above the base layer of the operating system and in this
place we have Object Oriented APIs. This layer is object
oriented offering basic functionality also covering Core OS
[34]. Core Services provides basic services such as handling
with lines, collections administration, interaction with network,
the management of contact and options. These services give the
possibility to use the hardware features of the device (GPS,
compass, accelerometer or gyroscope) [37]. The Media Level
is the next level used for multimedia transfer [34], [37].
Cocoa Touch is the user interface of the iOS operating
Fig. 8. The iOS 8 operating system [30].
system, being an interface whereby developers interact at the
rate of 90% when developing an application. This interface is
App Store is a digital distribution platform for mobile fully object-oriented [34]. Cocoa Touch contains the
applications developed and maintained by Apple for iOS OS. framework that enables one write an app on iOS OS and these
With App Store, users can browse and download applications frameworks define the aspect of the application. They also
that are developed with the SDK of Apple iOS OS. provide the basic application infrastructure and support for
Applications can be downloaded directly to a device with an multitasking, touch, notifications etc. [36]. Although the Cocoa
iOS OS, or to a personal computer. App Store includes many Touch interface of iOS OS is similar to the Cocoa interface of
quality applications, which most often are worth their price. On Mac OS X, there are some essential differences between the
February 1, 2015, App Store has reached over 1.4 million apps two interfaces [37]. The main development language used is
and over 75 billion downloads [32]. either Objective-C or Swift. Swift is a compiled programming
Given its functionality, iOS OS is one of the success factors language, created and introduced by Apple in 2014 for iOS OS.
of iPhones in the world market. A competitor of iOS is the Swift is projected to interact with Cocoa and Cocoa Touch
Android operating system from Google [33]. iOS operating frameworks and with the existing code written in Objective-C
system is different from previous operating systems (Android for Apple products. Swift is designed to be more resistant to
and Windows Phone), mainly because both the operating erroneous codes ('safer') than Objective-C, and also more
system and the final products are maintained and developed by concise. Swift is built with the help of LLVM compiler,
the same company. You can’t get an iOS OS to run on a included in Xcode 6, and it uses runtime Objective-C, which
different machine because there is no license to install an iOS enables the use of C, Objective-C, C ++ and Swift languages

158
[35]. Developers receive 70% from the sale of applications, same company, Apple and you can’t get an iOS operating
and 30% go to Apple. App Store is one of the largest online system to work on a different device since there is no license
stores in the world for applications of mobile operating for the installation of iOS operating system on hardware
systems, used only for Apple devices [34]. In the case of iOS devices that are not produced by Apple. This is a disadvantage
operating system, it is not necessary to use a virtual machine since this OS is not portable on mobile devices produced by
since Apple controls the entire environment: chip applications other companies.
and the end device.
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IV. CONCLUSIONS
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