iOS 5 vs. Honeycomb 3.2: Which Tablet OS is the Best?

As the release of iOS 5 creeps closer by the day, the joy in the hearts of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users is almost palpable. So is the torrid heat generated by the constant rivalry of Apple and Google fanboys. Is Mountain View’s Honeycomb OS the most advanced mobile operating system out there? Will Cupertino’s new feature set knock off of Google’s tablet-centric operating system? It’s an battle that rages online as we speak. In the interest of fanning the flames of war, we examine 12 of the key features that Apple’s been boasting about since iOS 5 was unveiled and pit them against what Honeycomb OS 3.2 offers their users.

Two operating systems enter, only one may leave. FIGHT!

Notification Center

iOS 5’s new notification center allows users of Apple's mobile devices to finally do away with the clunky event notifications we’ve suffered from for far too long. That it so closely resembles the notification bar enjoyed by Android users for years is no coincidence. Google got this one right, from the get-go.

Winner: Honeycomb

Newsstand

While Honeycomb users are able to rely upon a wide variety of applications like Amazon’s Kindle or Zinio for Android to read their favourite periodicals on, there’s nothing baked directly into Google’s tablet OS that can match the style and simplicity of iOS 5’s Newsstand. Sorry Honeycomb, but Apple’s got a sweeter deal for digital edition subscribers than you do.

Winner: iOS 5

Reminders

Despite Honeycomb 3.2’s tight integration with Google’s awesome collection of free online services such, like Gmail, Google Calendar and Talk, there’s no dedicated support for building task lists outside of Honeycomb’s Calendar app without the aid of a third-party application. While this might not be a big deal for some users, Getting Things Done-oriented Google aficionados might not feel too hot about it. iOS 5’s built-in Reminders functionality makes it the clear winner on this point -- especially when you lump in location and time based-alert functionality. For individuals with busy lives or absent minds, a little nudge at the right time or place can be the difference between succeeding in your daily life and failing to cover all of your bases. We say iOS 5’s got this one hands down.

Winner: iOS 5

Twitter Integration

Apple has deeply integrated Twitter into iOS 5, making it possible to tweet information, photos videos or maps directly from your mobile device’s stock applications. Honeycomb? It just flat-out doesn’t do that. That said, there are a ton of applications available via the Android market that offer a wide variety of social networking integration, allowing for a customizable user experience. Depending on how much or if you use Twitter, this is one feature that’s going to be win, lose or meh for you. As much a part of our daily lives as it can be, we feel that tighter social networking integration is a nice touch, but hardly a necessity. We’re calling this one as a tie.

Winner: Tie

Camera App

While Apple’s mobile devices have traditionally been behind the curve with their camera hardware, they’ve always had some great software on hand to make up for it. That’s one thing that won’t change with the introduction of iOS 5. Sweet features like being able to snap a photo right from your lock screen, pinch to zoom and even exposure locks. Best of all, if you choose to rock a little iCloud action, your photos will automatically be uploaded and synced to all of your other iCloud-enabled devices, making it a cinch to share your pics no matter where you are. Honeycomb’s camera app is impressive in it’s own right, and boast similar features. As for sharing, while users are able to set up their tablets to upload their photos with a wide variety of services, Honeycomb lacks the sharing simplicity that iOS 5 users will enjoy with iCloud. Until we see how well iCloud works for photo sharing, we’re gonna have to say that, as far as Camera Apps go, iOS 5 and Honeycomb are both on par.

Winner: Tie

Photo Editing

Both Google and Apple understand that being able to edit your photos on the fly is awesome, and as such, have included some basic photo editing features in their mobile offerings. For Google’s part, Honeycomb’s a pleasure to work with, offering a number of easy-to-leverage features such as image cropping and rotation. With iOS 5, Apple wins again by not only offering these basic photo foibles, but also throwing red-eye reduction, and image enhancement features into the mix.

Winner: iOS 5

Browser Sync

Both iOS 5 and Honeycomb offer browser sync capabilities, so on this point, we’re looking at a tie. That said, there’s more to a mobile browsing experience than being able to access your desktop’s bookmarks on the fly, right? Honeycomb’s mobile browsing experience is designed to resemble the experience of browsing on your PC. It offers users tabbed browsing, bookmark syncing with Google’s Chrome browser, as well as WebKit compatibility.

From the Apple side of things, iOS 5 isn’t interested in offering a desktop-like browsing experience. Instead Cupertino’s opted to kick their iOS browsing game up a notch by providing users with the best mobile browsing experience possible. Just like Honeycomb, iOS 5’s Safari browser will sync bookmarks from your computer, as well as a Reading List that allows for the clipping of articles to read at a later date and ad-free reading to boot. To be honest, both feature sets sound great. We love Honeycomb’s ability to provide a built-in tabbed browsing experience without the need to download an alternative browser, but from the looks of things, iOS5’s iteration of Safari has it going on too. Folks, what we’ve got here is a toss-up.

Winner: Tie

PC-Free Setup

Finally! No more will iOS users be forced to suffer the indignity and inconvenience of needing a computer to set up their new devices. With iOS 5, setting, restoring or backing up your Apple mobile device, no matter where you are, will be a reality. This kind of computer-free device management is a feature set that Android users have enjoyed since the dawn of the platform, and while it might be a little thing, as anyone who’s only home computing device is an iPad will tell you, it’s a VERY nice thing.

Winner: Tie

WiFi Sync

With WiFi Sync, new content is synced between an iOS device and your Mac via Wi-Fi automatically every time you connect to a power source. Your music, movies, apps and iBook purchases will always be in sync, no matter where you choose to enjoy them. At this time, Honeycomb can’t match iOS 5’s simplistic approach to content synchronization without the aid of a number of third-party apps -- and even then, it’s touch and go.

Winner: iOS 5

Game Center

There’s no comparison here. As Apple’s propaganda suggests, iOS is the world’s most popular gaming platform, thanks in no small part to Game Center. The ability to make multiplayer match ups, seek out your pals, check out leader boards and discover new games will be a central feature of iOS 5. While there are games aplenty on offer for Honeycomb tablets via the Android Market, the platform simply can’t lay claim to the same level of integration and ease of use given to Apple’s customers by Game Centre.

Winner: iOS 5

Multitasking Gestures

Up until recently, the many flavors of Android OS relied upon hardware buttons for tasks like navigating to a device’s Home screen, accessing menus or even going back a page in a browser. Honeycomb did away with all that by introducing a Graphical User Interface that eschews mechanical doodads in favor of some sweet on-screen virtual button action. Tapping, swiping, jumping and a-jiving: Honeycomb’s got it in spades. While iOS 5 might be doing the same thing for iPads this September, a good number of months after Google got their gesture-based game on, we feel it’s safe to say that Mountain View was just improving on what Cupertino had started with iOS 4. That said, the current generation of iPad still has a Home button built into it’s bezel. That’s a fact we can’t over look when it comes to drawing a comparison. So, until we see what happens with iPad 3, it looks like we have another tie.

Winner: Tie

AirPlay Mirroring

Just about every Honeycomb device on the market right now boasts multiple connection options, including mini HDMI, mini USB, and Bluetooth, making it easy to shift information back and forth between your Google-powered tablet and a Mac or Windows PC. None of them, however, can lay claim to being able to the wireless wow factor that being able to send video, music or photos from an iPad 2 to an Apple TV equipped HDTV. It smacks of the sort of simplicity and magic that’s made iOS so popular with mobile device users these past few years.

Winner: iOS 5

It's been an astounding fight, with both parties giving as good as they got. But according to the judges, the undisputed winner of this match is without a shadow of a doubt, iOS 5!