United States Army Is Ditching Freezing Androids for iPhones

The United States Army is reportedly ditching Android smartphones in favor of iPhones.

According to Military.com‘s DoDBuzz, the US Army Special Operations Command is getting rid of their Android Tactical Assault Kit, which is essentially a smartphone connected to a networked radio, due to poor performance.

Typically used by small unit leaders to track their soldier’s locations as well as view intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance feeds, reliable performance is paramount. Unfortunately, however, the Android smartphones, believed to be a customized Samsung Galaxy Note, reportedly froze up often and required frequent restarts. According to DoDBuzz‘s unnamed source, problems with the Android were “particularly noticeable when viewing live feed from an unmanned aerial system such as Instant Eye.”

The Android Tactical Assault Kit will reportedly be replaced by the iPhone Tactical Assault Kit, featuring an iPhone 6s. The US Army found that the running the Tactical Assault Kit on an iPhone was “faster” and “smoother”. DoDBuzz‘s source also complimented the impressive graphical capabilities of the iPhone. When viewing a split screen view of a live video streamed from a drone side by side with a map showing its route, performance was “seamless on the iPhone… The graphics are clear, unbelievable.”

Previously, several branches of the US Military have used iPads and iPod Touches on the battlefield, the former being used for everything from translating between languages to sharing data. The iPod Touch has even been used by snipers to calculate the trajectory of rounds fired from sniper rifles.

The US Army has denied requests for comments on the switch. DoDBuzz‘s source, which is “not authorized to speak to the media”, claims that the iPhone Tactical Assault Kit will replace the Android Tactical Assault Kit in the near future. With Apple’s reputation for incredibly reliable hardware and software, the switch would make perfect sense.

What are your experiences with Android smartphones? Were they positive or negative? Let us know in the comments!

Featured Photo Copyright: alexey_boldin