- Google says Android is faster than iOS when it comes to web browsing
- Company claims some Android phones are up to 47% faster
- Tests were carried out with Speedometer and LoadLine benchmarks
Choosing between iOS and Android can be difficult: should you opt for the deeply integrated, privacy-focused approach of iOS or the open and flexible mindset taken by Android? Both mobile phone operating systems offer brilliant experiences to their users, but if you’re looking for a way to choose one over the other, Google thinks it has a good reason to go for one of the best Android phones: web browsing speed.
Specifically, a new post on Google’s Chromium blog claims that Android has set a “new mobile web performance record,” making it “the fastest mobile platform for web browsing.” Given the importance of web browsing for everyday phone use, “web content and its performance are at the heart of the user experience,” Google says.
Browsing speed on Android was measured using two benchmarking tools: Speedometer, which focuses on latency, and LoadLine, which measures page loading speeds. According to a chart provided by Google, three unnamed Android phone makers had higher Speedometer and LoadLine scores than a “competing mobile phone platform,” which is almost certainly iOS.
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Indeed, in the LoadLine test – developed by Google and the makers of Android – Android performed “up to 47% better than its non-Android competitors,” Google claims. Given that this is a test expressly designed by companies in the Android ecosystem, it shows the benefits of interested parties collaborating to improve performance, but could raise questions about its suitability for iOS.
“Deep vertical integration”
Google says these results were achieved through “deep vertical integration between hardware, the Android operating system and the Chrome engine.” The company also worked with Android partners to fine-tune their devices, resulting in Speedometer and LoadLine scores improving between 20% and 60% year-over-year.
Of course, Google is not a neutral observer in this battle: Android is its own creation and is responsible for maintaining and updating the operating system. Without independent testing, these results should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt.
Anyway, what can iOS fans do? Well, maybe it’s only a matter of time before Apple catches up. After all, if there’s one company known for “deep vertical integration,” it’s Apple. It designs both the hardware and software for its phones — something Google doesn’t yet do — and that’s part of the reason its products tend to be so good. But with Google throwing down the gauntlet, Apple will have to use all that integration to bring the needle back to iOS.
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