The reasons won’t surprise you
Picking an operating system to use when deciding what phone to buy is a very personal choice for many of us. Some like Android’s wide selection of devices, while others like iOS for the complete opposite reason. Well, a new survey conducted by PCMag of 2,500 people who have switched from Android to iOS and vice versa reveal a myriad of reasons why people make the switch, and the answers aren’t surprising.
A large majority of people in the survey (18 percent) who switched mobile OS’ were using Android before switching to iOS – while only 11 percent went the other way. The rest of the people that they surveyed (around 71 percent) has stuck with the OS of their choice since they started using smartphones, which show only a small portion of the population switches sides when it comes to the mobile operating system.
Of the people who switched from iOS to Android, the main driving factor for their switch was better pricing. That’s not surprising – there’s a multitude of brands to choose from if you’re shopping for an Android phone that covers a multitude of price points – from dirt cheap to ridiculously expensive. In contrast, if you want an iOS device, you’re stuck with whatever ridiculous amount Apple asks for their latest phones.
Users that switched from Android to iOS cite that they were looking for a better user experience with their switch. That’s not surprising either – we’re fans of Android OS but the amount of fragmentation when it comes to OS versions and the different ways manufacturers mold the OS via UI overlays to fit their corporate vision is…annoying, to say the least.
One interesting piece that the survey uncovered is that most people (around 56 percent) don’t really care about a new release of a smartphone, and around 34 percent buy a newly released phone when their contract is up and 17 percent buy a new phone if they break the screen of their current phone. When asked how often they change their phone, a majority (around 53 percent) said that they replace their phone only when it breaks.
