New Report (Unsurprisingly) Finds Android Smartphones Crash Almost Twice as Often as iPhone
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Technology is a wonderful thing, indeed; though, as most of us know, sometimes it can fail us — particularly in the moments we tend to rely on it the most. Computers crash, tablets crash, and even smartphones crash, too — often rendering users frustrated, as they frantically try to reboot the device to get it back up and running.
And when it comes to smartphones, in particular, pretty much every device on the market today is prone to some extent of crashing — regardless of the device’s manufacturer. Smartphones today are powerful, pocketable super-computers, in and of themselves, which can do everything from guide us to our destination, place calls, send messages, download apps, and even capture our most precious moments in crystal-clear, vivid detail.
And while there are certainly disparities between smartphones today — namely, the years-long Apple vs. Android rivalry, a new report alleges that, despite the perceptual superiority of the latter over the former, specification wise, Google’s handsets are actually much more prone to crashing than are those from its Silicon Valley neighbor, Apple.
Don’t get us wrong: both iOS and Android-powered handsets are prone to some extent of crashing; however, a new study conducted by Blanco Technology Group — which measured smartphone failures in the first quarter of 2016 — found that, despite Android failing at a rate of 44% of the time, Apple’s iPhone was subject to failures only 25% of the time.
As Business Insider reported, “Android’s failure rate was especially high for devices in Asia, which accounted for 55% of Android device crashes globally, and is up slightly from 50% in Q4 2015. This was followed by Europe with 35% and North America with 27%.”
In particular, the report noted, Samsung’s Galaxy handsets were most susceptible to failure — with the South Korean telecom-giant’s Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S5 accounting for 7% and 6% of all reported Android failures, respectively. This could be due to Samsung’s tendency to pack its devices to the brim with bloatware and ‘free’ apps that can’t be uninstalled; however, for its part, Samsung has toned down the extent to which it installs bloatware on new devices in recent years.
Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s, on the Cupertino side of the coin, were the most susceptible to failures in the study — having accounted for 25% and 17% of all failures, respectively. And, of course, while those numbers seem insanely high when compared to Samsung’s handsets, one should be quick to factor into consideration that there are significantly more Android handsets on the market today, than there are iPhones. So I suppose it’s all relative, right?
Business Insider added that the ‘above-normal’ susceptibility of its devices crashing will likely come as a surprise to Android’s many manufacturing partners. BI also noted that “Crashing apps were detected on 74% of Android devices, with communication and social apps being the main perpetrators of app crashing.”
Interesting findings they are, indeed — though perhaps not too surprising to the users who deal with the actual crashes, day in and day out, right?
What smartphone do you currently use? Does it tend to crash on you often? Let us know in the comments!
