When comparing Android vs Pop!_OS, the Slant community recommends Pop!_OS for most people. In the question“What is the best OS for gaming?” Pop!_OS is ranked 3rd while Android is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Pop!_OS is:
If you're a fan of flat desktop interfaces reminiscent of Material design on Android, you'll like the theme that comes as a default in Pop! OS. The desktop and title bars all use a bright turquoise theme that makes the interface feel happy and borderline retro-chic. I found it to be like something you'd find printed on a ringer t-shirt.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Lots of hardware choices
There are about 18000 released devices that run on Android. This means that a user familiar with Android can have a large variety of devices from which they can choose.
Pro Customize what apps perform what actions
Android gives users the ability to define which apps perform which action. For example, if an Android device has several browsers installed, the user can choose a default one which will start every time a link is for example opened from another app.
Pro Open source
The AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is the software stack for the Android OS. It is led by the open handset alliance which includes firms like Google, Acer, NXP, Motorola and many others.
The fact that Android is an open source software has led to many custom Android variants. It also is a big assurance of Android's safety in terms of privacy.
Pro Integration with Google Services
For those that already use Google's services, like Google Maps and GMail, Android offers tighter integration with those services than any of the alternatives, and saves users the need to create extra accounts.
Pro Highly customizable
One of the massive benefits of Android being open-sourced are all the modifications you can make to the phone to customise pretty much anything. Some of the cooler things you can do are:
- Replace the entire operating system with a custom ROM.
- Replace the keyboard.
- Change the home screen launcher.
- Change the lock screen.
Pro Cheap phones
Android phones can cost little as $100.
Pro More integrated sharing options
Pro Desktop and lockscreen widgets
Desktop widgets provide quick access to the information you need quickly and access the most. These are available out of the box, and can be developed by anyone. Widgets on the lockscreen have been removed since the Lollipop update, but is available on 3rd party lockscreens such as AC Display and KK Locker.
Pro Consistent back button makes navigation easy
Pro Personal assistant with Google Now
Google Now is an intelligent personal assistant available within the Google Search mobile application for the Android and iOS operating systems. It's software that makes your life more convenient by giving you all the information you need at any moment.
Pro Accessibility
Built in text to speech is provided by TalkBack for people with low or no vision. Enhancements for people with hearing disabilities are available as are other aids.
Pro The most widely used mobile OS
Pro Great user experience right out of the box
Pro Built-in screen recording
Android 5.0.+ supports screen recording via a new api.
Android 4.4 KitKat supports screen recording accessible via an ADB command on unrooted devices.
Pro Customizable multiple "desktops"
Can customize the home screens with widgets (not just a grid of apps like iOS).
Pro No Backdoors
Since Android is written by a worldwide community of developers it is very unlikly that backdoorss exist for any local governments.
Pro Security updates
Android does frequent updates to keep users secure.
Pro Root
You can root your phone to get full access.
Pro Sideloading of apps
You can sideload apps.
Pro Not bound to Google
It is fully working without the play store or the Google play services.
Pro Highly secure core system
Since Android is open source and developed worldwide, anyone can read the code and there are no government forced backdoors.
Pro Supports plenty of peripherals
You can use external displays with MHL, HDMI, DP or miracast. It supports external storage devices like microSD cards or USB OTG devices. You can also use almost any kind of USB or Bluetooth input devices like keyboards, mice or game controllers.
Pro Gesture based interface
Since Android 10 you can use gestures to control the OS.
Pro Modular
There are major versions of android however the most important components are modular and get frequently updated.
Pro It's all yours
You can do anything you want with YOUR phone.
Pro Pop! makes GNOME look really good
If you're a fan of flat desktop interfaces reminiscent of Material design on Android, you'll like the theme that comes as a default in Pop! OS. The desktop and title bars all use a bright turquoise theme that makes the interface feel happy and borderline retro-chic. I found it to be like something you'd find printed on a ringer t-shirt.
Pro User-friendly installer
The visually appealing and easy to use installer makes dual booting as easy as it can be.
Pro Ready to play games, out of the box
If you still miss how easy it was to just click-install and play games in Windows, Pop! will give you that similar expectation.
Pro Nice gnome theme dy default
Has nice gnome theme looks really good.
Pro A separate NVIDIA version
Most linux distros seem to hate Nvidia's graphics cards e.g. Fedora and OpenSUSE. System76 have decided to be kind. They have decided to form a good relationship with Nvidia fans and Nvidia itself. By creating a separate installation media that is dedicated for providing support to Nvidia's graphics cards. Even going as far as putting Nvidia's driver updates on Pop!_Shop for users to easily access and install.
Pro Optimized for modern hardware
Whereas normally, to use a brand new computer with a Linux OS, you would typically try to use unstable and sometimes buggy drivers - or struggle without hardware support until a stable release comes along.
Pro Made by a hardware seller
System76 is a hardware company. It configures machines to ship with Linux pre-installed. This means its entire business model centers around delivering a quality desktop Linux experience.
As a result, the company pours more attention onto the desktop. It can fix visual issues and may be able to provide a smoother overall experience than you would have installing a different version of Linux on your machine yourself. Providing Pop!_OS also empowers System76 to make certain fixes for users directly rather than having to coordinate with Canonical or the broader Ubuntu community.
Cons
Con Fragmentation and security flaws due to negligence
Most Android phones seem to be released on a "Let's release a few software updates until we release the next phone, and never push out an update again." For example, In May 2014, 8.5% of phones were Kitkat, 60.8% were spread out between three versions of jellybean (with bias towards older versions), and the another 20% spread out over ICS, Honeycomb, Gingerbread, and Froyo.
Google no longer maintains Android 4.3 or prior and serious security exploits remain in those versions. Device manufacturers are also taking no action, which leaves almost a billion Android users exposed.
You may also encounter lingering and unfixed bugs, glitches, etc. as a result of the manufacturer's and Google's lack of interest in older versions.
Some flagship phones are well supported into the future, but the fact that your phone won't be supported by its manufacturer and/or Google is a consideration you must make when purchasing an Android phone.
Con Most preinstalled distributions are not open source
Although the AOSP exists, your phone is most likely running a proprietary apps like the GApps or manufacturer specific applications.
Con Owned and abused by Google
Which has very unsafe advanced AI development policies and is known for dodging monopoly and monopoly abuse laws.
Con Wide variety of phones forces variance in quality
While there are many great Android phones, there are also many Android phones that lack in both hardware and software. When purchasing Android phones, a consumer might want to do some research first - especially when buying on a budget. Not only do you have to worry about shotty hardware or poor quality testing, manufacturers tend to tinker with the software on phones. More often than not this leads to poor performance, unintuitive 'features', slower (or complete lack of) updates, and custom software that detracts from the user's experience.
Con 64-bit only
Some older PCs still have 32 Bit processors. This limitation will be a major con for those who use an older PC since they will not be able to install, run it in a VM or live media