iOS Looks Better Than Android Because Google Doesn’t Take Design Seriously

(10:58 am PDT, Jan 3rd)

Nexus-7

While iOS may not be as flexible or as customizable as Android, on the whole it looks a whole lot nicer. Android is steadily improving, that’s for sure, but it’s hard to deny that iOS developers appear to spend more time making their apps prettier, even if you’re a diehard Android fan.

And that was proven when Chris Hulbert, an iOS developer, went to work at Google for three months. In a post on his blog, Hulbert reveals the differences in attitude towards design for iOS and Android, which help explain why Android apps aren’t quite as pretty as they could be.

Hulbert went to work at Google Sydney as an iOS developer to help build the Google Maps Coordinate app. While it may seem strange to think that Google would employ an iOS developer, the search giant makes a lot of iOS apps, and so there are more iOS developers working there than you might think.

Having said that, they’re almost all Android users at heart — possibly because Google gives them the latest Nexus devices free. “There’s nary an iPhone to be seen in the place besides the test units in the iOS teams,” Hulbert writes.

One of the most interesting things Hulbert learned was Google’s approach to app design, and how it differs from that of an iOS developer:

As an iOS dev, I’m used to a design-first approach: someone in a suit dreams up their app, tells the UX guy who comes up with wireframes (aka scribbles on paper of each screen), then the designers mock up each screen exactly how they want it to look, and it is finally passed to us developers to make the magic happen as close as possible to the designs.

This approach works well, Hulbert says, but it’s certainly not the approach used by Google. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s not that Google can’t create great designs — it does — it’s just that they’re not taken seriously.

However at Google it was noticeable that designs aren’t really taken seriously. Which explains things like android’s less-than-beautiful UI, and google’s generally noticeable lack of focus on design.

So why does the Google Maps app for iOS look so good? Because the designers had their say:

… the two designers I dealt with in my time at Google were certainly as talented as anywhere I’ve worked, and by creating the app to be faithful to their designs we (IMO) made a pretty neat-looking app.

Hulbert’s post is an interesting read, particularly if you’re interested in Android and what life is like as a developer at Google. You can check it out via the source link below.

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Comment »

  • bdkennedy11

    Great design comes from inspiration. Apple is inspired to make great protects. Google just wants to copy and make money like Microsoft.

    • http://www.facebook.com/pradeep.dasarathan Pradeep Dasarathan

      What a great useless comment.

      • NutjobNumber1

        It’s better than worthless useless comments. Actually, i think they don’t want to have a 3D look because it requires more processing power and their OS would become even more sluggish.

      • http://www.facebook.com/herbal.ed Ed Smith

        Yeah … unlike yours.

    • http://profiles.google.com/mkleinpaste Michael Kleinpaste

      You mean like the notification bar that Apple stole from Google? Or how about iCloud? You know the thing Google’s been doing for a couple years now. Or Facebook integration? Actually far more “integrations” than just FB really. Or voice commands (Google Voice Actions)? Yeah, that’s pre-Siri. Or maybe, Quick Reply? Thank Google for that. VIP inbox? Already had that. iCloud tabs? Yup. Chrome for Android already had that too.

      • http://twitter.com/markrlangston Mark Langston

        And obviously Google was first to market with a touch-centric phone using finger gestures, developed the Google Play store for downloading music, TV shows, movies and music before iTunes and of course they had a laptop OS before the MacBook was a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye.

        Yup, Google is a company born from original ideas.

        It’s not about being first, just doing it better. What qualifies as “better” is relative but debating who came up with what first is such a tired and adolescent argument. I mean really, are you 4-years old?

        “Nuh-uh, blue was my favorite color first so you can’t like blue ’cause I like blue first.”

        And iCloud? Really?! Apple stole the idea of backing up content and settings to the internet from Google? Is that really the debate you wanna have?

        Stay on topic. The discussion is about design and Google’s lack of design prowess straight from the mouth of a Google insider. Either accept the fact that Google isn’t as focused on design or come up with an intelligible counterpoint.

        Personally I think Google has made a lot of strides towards better design in the past 18 months. Gmail and Google Apps are 10-times sexier than they were a few years ago and everything from Maps to Google Translate has a very unified look. It’s still a bit flat in my opinion but it’s sleek, simple and doesn’t get in your way.

      • http://www.facebook.com/alik.malikov.77 Alik Malix

        I was able to use voice commands on my old ip3gs before consumers knew or heard of android. It made calls, played music, opened certain apps. I remember after having a cracked screen for 2 month my phone stopped responding to touch – I was able to accomplish all basic functions using only voice control, I’m not making that up

        Coming back to design topic, if you want to call out firsts, THEN, “widgets” as they’re called, you know, those little notepads, and calculator, and calendar, maybe a news feed that you can place on screen, first were on an apple OS, that windows copied onto a PC and finally found their way to android mobile OS. So, android is really copying something like, dare I say it, WINDOWS, eew… And don’t tall me iOS never had notification, we had badges and pop-up, and now a pull down menu, which actually looks uncluttered design wise.

    • NutjobNumber1

      Actually Google attracts those that are used to eye candy and video game mentality. I find using the Android OS like a video game. When the OS gets in the way of USING the product, then it becomes useless. Animated background is a resource hog, so why have it? Widgets is kind of dumb on a smartphone. If you need a calculator, then put the calculator app in the first app screen, that’s where you put the most often used apps. It’s better than flipping through 10 pages of widgets to find the calculator widget. I used an Android phone with a bunch of widgets and actually spent a lot of time accidentally activating things I didn’t want to while flipping through the pages of crap to get to the right widget. Kind of dumb.

      • mahadragon

        People buy Android phones/tablets because they are cheaper than iPhones/iPads.

        • http://www.DigitalMonkey.ca/ Cortney Sauk

          That’s definitely one reason, but I seem to find more people with the Galaxy S 3 because they dislike or hate Apple

          • NutjobNumber1

            Well, just to let you know that the SIII only sold 35 Million units since their inception and the iPhone 5, with less time on the market with less number of carriers in less markets, sold over 50 Million units in just the Dec 12 qtr, we’ll find out the actual numbers for the year as it may very well be more like 60 Mil units, and they’ve had only a month in China and other markets. So by the time the March 13 qtt is over, Apple will most likely have double or even triple the sales than the SIII.

            Have a nice day.

          • NutjobNumber1

            The SIII isn’t cheaper than the iPhone, unless it’s been discounted. The SIII list price for a 16G unlocked model is $699 and the iPhone 5 16G unlocked is $649 US retail. But lately SIII’s have been discounted to get some sales since demand for those things dropped like a rock when the iPhone 5 was released. At least that’s how it was in the US.

        • A1rh3ad

          I use android because both apple’s hardware and their ios remind me of a kid’s toy. Android is an adult’s platform.

        • NutjobNumber1

          Yeah, and you get what you pay for. Cheaper case, many times cheaper guts, and these OEM companies don’t really have to pay to develop the OS and development software, and apps. Apple designs processors, screen technology, various chips, case, and many aspects of their products. They also have a “classic” design element that gets everyone’s attention and is used quite often as inspiration behind other brands of products. Apple has a lot of trend setting products and designs. Plus Apple has a lot of overhead to ensure good tech support which consistently ranks at the top, they have lots of retail stores to go into for a no pushy sales rep trying to force you into buying something, and they also have a growing number of products and services to enhance the product.

      • A1rh3ad

        It’s only childish because you’re using it for childish things. I have a weather and a news ticker widget for on the fly information and I love my compass for when im hiking. The flasslight widget allows me to turn my light on with the press of one button. If you’re having problems finding your widgets and they are using too much resources, perhaps you are cluttering your phone up with useless crap.

        • NutjobNumber1

          Um. Keeping widgets uses up RAM even when you don’t use them. I have my most used apps on the first page. So, If it’s an important app, then it’s an app on the first plge or in a folder in the first page and it takes split seconds to get to it and launch it. Flipping through pages of widgets, screens takes longer and sometimes one can accidentally activate something else instead, which has happened to me. I find I can use my phone for the most important tasks very quickly. Personally, I know why you are attracted to widgets, but I’ve played around with friend’s phones that have a bunch of widgets and it takes too long for them to click through a bunch of pages. All platforms have a flashlight app, compass, etc. Both platforms have basically the same apps, Apple just has more and some are just flat out better. I’ve only run into ONE or TWO apps that haven’t been available on the IPhone yet.

          I personally hate those extra buttons, VERY confusing to get used to at first. I prefer the simplicity of iOS and know it will always improve. It’s just a little more polished, consistent and I don’t have to wait to get the update after they release the final version.

          • A1rh3ad

            It still sounds to me that your problems are realitive to you having too many widgets. Either way if you don’t like widgets then you just don’t like widgets but you shouldn’t complain about something that is your fault. It saves me time because on my home it shows me the forecast, a news ticker, and compass. I can just look at my phone instead of opening 3 different apps. Also I can press the flashlight button once and it turns on the light with no need to open the app to press it. Even with all that stuff I still have room for shortcuts to navigation, maps, and camera apps. This is all on one page.

          • NutjobNumber1

            So what? I think you want have all of these “widgets” to fill your home page is better? It’s just a way to bloat the OS with a bunch of fairly useless info that is just there because you probably need all of those distractions. Do you know how often I would actually use a compass for a situation that was serious? A couple of times a year. Yeah, you can use these things as flashlights, but as a flashlight, they aren’t that great of one. I don’t really see the need for widgets. Sorry, if they are there, they are there, but if they aren’t, then they aren’t. But I’m not going to sacrifice an insecure platform when i don’t like using the OS. I’ve played around with friend’s Android phones and found it to be confusing and something I just wouldn’t use, plus I haven’t seen a phone company that makes hardware that i like, nor found a company I would do business with. I like Apple, it works well with the other computing devices I have and I prefer to stick with Apple than this Android BS, because it’s just too fragmented, dysfunctional and I haven’t found a single friend that has an Android phone that actually LIKES it. I don’t know who you are, maybe you work for Google or a company that sells these things. But, I have friends that use them and they actually feel like throwing their Android phones in the garbage. I won’t take Google seriously. EVER.

          • NutjobNumber1

            The phones i am referring to weren’t MY phones, they were friends that I was playing around with and they had a bunch of widgets and pages of crap and they didn’t like it and neither did I.

            Too many widgets? All I know is I was asking to do something that on an iPhone was SUPER EASY to do, and it’s something commonly done, and it took forever because of how the OS was set up that it just wasn’t some fast and easy to do. Maybe it was their OS and how it was set up. All I know is after playing around with the thing for about 5 minutes was enough to COMPLETELY confuse me on how utterly convoluted the OS is. Sorry, I’d rather buy a freaking Windows phone over Android, and I don’t like Microsoft OR WIndows.

    • NutjobNumber1

      Google isn’t a “computer” maker, they don’t have the experience they need to run their platform. They’ll end up backstabbing their own OEM makers when they start putting out their own products. Now, Samsung is going to put out another OS called Tinzen. This aught to confuse everyone even more.

    • mooseolly

      yea they make great protects by ligation.

    • Bas de Cock

      Google makes about $15 profit from each $199 Nexus 7, which is 7,3%
      Apple on the other hand gets $171 from each $499 iPad. Thats 34.3%

      Who wants to make money more desperately?

  • http://twitter.com/vonchambers Devon Chambers

    This may be true on Android, so far, but if you’ve used any of the recent iOS applications coming out from Google you’ll realize Google has found / is finding their design voice really fast. Some of their applications are better than first party version from Apple.

    • NutjobNumber1

      I used Google Maps when they just released it. I prefer Apple Maps. I honestly don’t like Google Maps.

      • http://twitter.com/vonchambers Devon Chambers

        Design wise, I prefer Apple Maps – but the data just isn’t there, I’d love it to be there but it isn’t and won’t be for awhile. I don’t understand how Apple isn’t spending that boatload of money to buy companies or hire talent to help them. Maybe they are behind closed doors but I just don’t get it.

  • minimalist1969

    In their defense, Google’s sense of design has come a long way since they hired Matias Duarte from Palm as a design guru. Their web apps are cleaner and more coherent and the newest versions of Android a light years better than they used to be.

    But there is only so much one man can do, especially when the powers that be are engineers at heart and don;t get design as a unifying element. Corporate culture matters. When the leaders of your company don’t value something it shows in your products. How many me-too computer makers did we see in the early 2000′s who thought that they too could create an iMac-like success by slapping some swoopy curves and colors on their all in one PC’s? It was half assed and it showed to anyone who was paying attention.

    Great design can only happen at companies where the leaders value it and kindle it. If the leaders dismiss it as something you slather on a product to make it pretty they have completely missed the point. Good design goes so much much deeper than that.

    • mahadragon

      I’ve used Froyo, Gingerbread, and now I’m using Ice Cream Sandwich on my Galaxy S2. On the surface there’s no difference whatsoever, mabye under the hood it’s got some differences. Starting from Froyo all Android OS’s have basically the same looking icons, the scrollable home screens, the standard “Back”, “Home”, and “Search” buttons, it has customizable wallpapers and widgets, etc. All exactly the same. Maybe they run faster, maybe they run smoother, but if I showed you my Nexus One smart phone running Froyo versus Galaxy S2 running ICS, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

      • apomk2

        Dude, we’re talking about design here, not functionality. And even then, there have been mayor changes between Gingerbread and ICS, what with the advent of the ActionBar and everything. You’re either enormously ignorant or blatantly lying. Probably both.

      • mooseolly

        u see no difference because u r using touch wiz interface

  • http://www.DigitalMonkey.ca/ Cortney Sauk

    I’d also say that Google Apps work better than Apple Apps because Apple doesn’t take programming seriously. Google Search App vs Siri and Google Maps vs Apple Maps are probably the two best examples of this.

    Microsoft on the other hand doesn’t take anything seriously, hence the reason we got the Surface RT.

    But I’d say Google is catching up and possibly surpassing with regards to App Design, on iOS at least. From what I can tell from friends phones Android OS itself is still pretty messy. I still want widgets on my iPhone though…

    • paul

      “I’d also say that Google Apps work better than Apple Apps because Apple doesn’t take programming seriously”

      Gold.

    • David Vega

      Google lags to much! why? Because they don’t take programming seriously!

      • mooseolly

        are u still using samsung galaxy ace?

  • http://profiles.google.com/mkleinpaste Michael Kleinpaste

    Honestly, I’ve come to like Google’s interface far better than iOS. It used to suck in the pre-Honeycomb days, but they’ve really come into their own. Android has come so far that it’s they who are the innovators now.

    Interestingly enough Ubuntu is coming out with their own phone OS. http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/phone Pretty interesting stuff. It’s still in development and probably won’t be hitting any markets until 2014, but what they have looks pretty sweet.

    • mahadragon

      It’s incredible how people lack perspective. In 2007 RIM’s Blackberry was the number one smart phone. 3 years later, in 2010, iPhone is the number one smart phone in the world. Apple was the first to encorporate: touch screen, app store, camera, and built in apps, all in one easy to use package. Google and Samsung copied Apple’s form factor shamelessly, and yes they have come out with some nice ideas, but their ideas have been incremental improvements, not revolutionary. Apple has revolutionized the way we use and look at smart phones, Google/Samsung have not. To revolutionize an industry is truly remarkable indeed. If it weren’t for Apple we’d be using slideout keyboards on our smart phones, no camera, no app store, just email.

      • apomk2

        To say they were the first ones to incorporate a “touch screen, app store, camera, and built in apps” is demonstrably false. They did polish things up quite a bit though, raising the bar for everyone by a healthy margin. That really doesn’t matter any more, though. Can’t expect to have one success carry you forever.

        What matters now is where those companies go from here. Google dares thinking big, and you can expect a lot coming from them in the near future. With Apple, you obviously don’t know until it happened. But with Jobs gone, it certainly feels a bit like they’re afraid to move, or change things too much. If true, that certainly will be their undoing.

      • Guest

        Wtf, are you high?

  • http://www.sfmoby.us/ Moby D

    Apple has always gotten props for their aesthetics and design. But to say that iOS is better designed visually is a stretch. The author shows bias because it is implied that since Apple did it a certain way then so should everyone else. Pretty means nothing if it doesn’t work. As a power user, I care first about functionality then design.

    Frankly, I often find iOS overly simple at times which leads to tediousness. I’ve never once felt either had that much more visual polish than the other.

    And for the record, I use both Android and Apple devices. Innovation is taking what is and building on top or making it better. Google and Apple have both ‘borrowed’ to make a more appealing product.

    • Sam

      Agreed, iOS is too simple. Boring when you find and open an app with no problem and it just works. I want to be tinkering all day with a gizmo, not actually using it.

      • A1rh3ad

        If you’re tinkering with your android all day just to open an app then you’re an idiot. The only time you would ever need to tinker with it is when you’re doing something that is impossible for ios so your point is moot.

      • Jack

        file browsing: Android, 2 minutes (load up play store, download file browsing app, install, done). IOS anywhere between 20mins to over an hour (find working jailbreak, jailbreak device, find app on cydia, download app, done.) Yeah, there’s way less tinkering on IOS -_-

        • http://www.facebook.com/alik.malikov.77 Alik Malix

          Your statement indicates that in order to install an app (even a file managment app) one must jailbreak the phone? Ever used an iPhone?

          Go ahead and make a new folder for your pics (try first without connecting to your pc, then tell me how u have to get an app for that) Or make your tablet sync all google Now/Siri commands to your phone. Get the latest update on sg3 without rooting. Well you can’t that easily, but you can go to android store and they’ll explain how to do it, wait… No you can’t, you don’t have that feature either. Geez for every widget or shortcut you got on your phone, I can point to better feature in iOS. And don’t get me started on how featureless your cloud services are compared to apples.

          • Mauricio Pinzon

            how is Google cloud features inferior to Apples? Googles can do the exact same or possibly even more, and are cross-platform unlike Apples iCloud.

  • http://www.facebook.com/herbal.ed Ed Smith

    Not to take anything away from Google … or Microsoft, Samsung, et al … but they all have been inspired/threatened by Apple’s far superior sense/application of simple-elegance style (both visual and operational) and are finally moving in that direction. I’m amazed it’s taken them so long, but more power to them now that they have … although MS seems to still be dragging ass in back of the line.

  • Kai

    Yeah.. The phrase is style over substance.. Much rather have better content and functionality than a glossy design that I’ll be itching to change a month down the line.
    Sorry but there is no way you can make bold statements like that. iOS is dull and boring.. It’s overly simplistic because it’s designed to be used by the kind of people that buy Bose stereos and every other over priced and under performing piece of hyped shit they can find.

    I like it when I see someone with an iPhone.. I can tell a lot about the person when I see them.

    • http://www.facebook.com/alik.malikov.77 Alik Malix

      “I like it when I see someone with an iPhone.. I can tell a lot about the person…” Same goes for android users, let me elaborate:

      Most android users were pissed off with apple before android was a household name – these android users were stuck with Verizon, and along with it were forced to use what apple users saw as a stone aged technology in 2007. Their argument that iPhone sucks was only to mask their jealousy toward iPhone owners. Their silver lining was the android OS. I was cheering for google to build their phone, but after countless “iPhone killers” come and gone, I lost hope for android. Apple had proven their stability to me, their support toward my 5 year old device and their designs never disappointed me: usability and function.

      But let me help you describe me – some one with an iPhone: I don’t own a Bose stereo, I do own a contracting business. I get up in the morning, grab my old 3GS, fully dependent on the 5 year old hardware in my pocket. I get all my updates, to-dos and appointments, lists, and reminders updated by my office via iCloud without the need to check emails, or make phone calls. They can update any aspect of my phone as needed including my wife with her grocery list, all reminded to me at the right of day without the need of my input. I can run my day while my phone updates me as I go. I run a business off my phone thanks to the seamless ecosystem that is iOS. …. You, an android user, are content with fishes swimming behind you icons.

      I need my phone to be “dull and boring” as you say, I need it to be pick up and go. Android is simply not a pick up and go kind of phone. Gotta close something, uncheck something else, and disable another just to have something open, checked, or enabled.

      • Mauricio Pinzon

        I can do the exact same with my old Samsung Captivate…. I don’t understand your point at all, lol actually a friend of mine owns an iPhone 4 and when we compared phones he told me he would switch phones with me. Sad when my phone is much older.

  • A1rh3ad

    I dont care as much about the looks as I do functionality. Both platforms have their pros and cons. My main concern with android is it’s glitchy nature and it’s susceptibility to viruses many of which are even on google’s official store. Even the final release versions of android always feel like they’re in beta and has many problems that have either been overlooked or just given up on. Everything from laggy keyboard to crashing apps. Also, minor flaws like the inability to do something as simple as plot a course on gps, something that google claimed to be “working on” three years ago but never got around to deal with. I’d like to say android is better, but my wifes Iphone is far less problematic. All in all I prefer android, but it isn’t necessarily “better.”

  • Phillip Mikesell

    Are you fucking kidding me? Apple just puts glass shiny crappy looking shit everywhere to impress stupid people like YOU.

  • Mike Keilty

    This article is yet another example of poor journalism by a tech site. Chris Hulbert was an iOS developer, but he didn’t work for Apple, so why is he an expert on Apple iOS design? There’s a big difference between working for Apple and being an independent developer. It’s just as possible to create a horrid looking app in iOS as it is to create a beautiful app in iOS, and even further, this has nothing to do with Android!! To say that Google doesn’t take design seriously is a fair statement to make. To say that iOS looks better than Android is subjective and has no basis to it, based on Chris Hulbert’s “expertise”

About the author

Killian BellKillian Bell is a freelance writer based in the UK. He has an interest in all things tech and also writes for TechnoBuffalo. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell, or through his website.

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