While not a universally accepted idea, many people think that iOS is a much more stable platform compared to Android. However, a new study that says otherwise may completely overturn preconceived notions about the stability of iOS.
The new study conducted by mobile performance expert Crittercism pitted the performance of apps between Android 4.0 and higher with iOS 7.1. While the study has indeed proven that iOS 7.1 is the most stable iOS version available, the numbers also show that the latest Android versions outperform iOS 7.1 in terms of stability.
The study analyzed a wide variety of factors including the relationships between operating systems, hardware and carriers. Moreover, Crittercism also took into account app uptime and app responsiveness.
"There are 100 million factors that affect the performance of a mobile app," said Crittercism chief technical officer Rob Kwok. "As new mobile platforms such as wearables grow in adoption, the challenge to provide a consistent, high-quality experience to users will be even more difficult and mobile teams need purpose-built solutions to manage the overall app performance. This benchmark report provides the bar that mobile teams should set for their app performance and experience."
In terms of iOS, the study's findings show that iOS 7.1 is the most stable version of iOS with a crash rate of 1.6 percent. This was followed by iOS 7 with a crash rate of 2.1 percent and finally, iOS 6 with a crash rate of 2.5 percent.
For Android, the most stable version are include Android version 4.0 and up with a crash rate of 0.7 percent, which is very impressive considering that iOS 7.1 has a crash rate that is over two times worse. Android 2.3 Gingerbread was the least stable with a crash rate of 1.7 percent, which lost out to iOS 7.1 be a mere 0.1 percent.
Regardless of the iOS, the study also showed that smart phone operating systems are more stable compared to tablet operating systems. And while the results are currently in favor of Android, Crittercism also says that there is still a lot of room for improvement. This is primarily due to the fact that there are still only a relatively small number of Android developers who have optimized their applications for use with tablets.
"2014 will continue to be a huge year for mobile," read [registration required] the Crittercism report. "Businesses will sharpen their focus from web to mobile, and leverage apps to increase revenue and productivity."
