See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/346956054

A Comparative study of Android and iPhone Operating System main languages

Article  in  Solid State Technology · December 2020

CITATIONS READS
0 1,602

6 authors, including:

Yasmin Makki Mohialden

Al-Mustansiriya University
41 PUBLICATIONS   68 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Yasmin Makki Mohialden on 11 December 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

A Comparative study of Android and iPhone

Operating System main languages
Mohanad Ali Meteab Al-Obaidi1, Yasmin Makki Mohialden2, Muna Abdul Hussain Radhi3,
and Noor abdallah othman4
1, 2, 3, 4
Department of Computer Science, College of Science, Mustansiriya University, Baghdad,
Iraq
1
Neros2210@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq, 2ymmiraq2009@ uomustansiriyah.edu.iq,
3
muna.ali@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq, 4noormohamedosama@ gmail.com

Abstract - Mobile applications and smart devices have become one of the basics of our life,
institutions and all industries in the market depend on marketing their products through
smartphone applications because of the preoccupation of individuals with them and their
frequent presence on social media sites. Their use of mobile phones, especially in recent times.
The mobile operating system is one of the most important ideas to focus on them by customers
through the telephone purchase process and identify any family he belongs to. Before looking at
the capabilities of the device in terms of screen, memory, capacity, and other services, the
customer chooses which operating system family to organize. It is known that the market today
is dominated by three systems: iOS of Apple, Android of Google, and Microsoft's Windows
Phone. In this paper, different mobile programming languages will be compared depending on
the most popular operating systems.
Keyword: Android OS, IOS, Java, Swift, Android, Apple, Xcode, Swift APIs.

1 Introduction

The world is based mainly on a group of scientific, industrial and cultural achievements. The
mobile phone has become one of the outputs of the group of important and popular achievements
and products, an essential part of our life [1]. Operating systems generally perform many basic
tasks, to manage each of storing data, identifying the tasks of CPU [2], random access memory
(RAM), network connections, keyboard, displaying the output on the screen via the graphics
card, and controllers connected to a computer such as printers. It is like a traffic office to ensure
that the different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other
and responsible for security, to ensure that unauthorized users do not access the system.
The mobile phone operating system works at all times during the operation of the smartphone
as it runs and manages all the components [3], programs, and applications common to
13651

smartphones, with a simple analogy of a traffic policeman. It makes sure the different programs

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

that are running and the users who work at the same time, without interfering with each other.
The operating system is also responsible for security [4], to ensure that unauthorized users do not
access the system and regulate the process of accessing information and data by granting
different access permission to each person depending on the authorized person within the system,
and this process is organized through the competent system manager within the company or
organization.
Programs and applications of mobile take advantage of the operating system by making
requests for services through an application programming interface (API). Besides, it enables the
users to interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as command
line interface and line interface (CLI) or graphic user interface (GUI).
Before knowing the features and characteristics of smartphone programming languages, it is
necessary to know the types of operating systems because a programming language is
compatible with an operating system. On this basis, the operating system and the types of
programming languages for mobile devices will be discussed, because each type of operating
system has its own programming language that is compatible with it. Mobile operating system is
known as a mobile operator platform. There are many types of mobile phone operating systems
(such as Apple iOS, Google Android, BlackBerry OS, Nokia's Symbian, and Microsoft Windows
Phone OS). Most of them are open source programmable programs [5]. On this basis, the two
most important operating systems, which are Android and iOS, and then the programming
languages for each system, will be reviewed.

2 Android Operating System

The android operating system (OS) was produced by Google in 2008 [6]. This system became
widespread in 2012 and 2013 [7]. This system based on Linux kernel [8], and the primary
language used was Java [9]. The system provides the ability to use libraries related to three and
two-dimensional graphics, the use of mobile networks for the third and fourth generations, and a
built-in SQL engine for storage [10]. Also, It has multiple releases due to the continuous update
of Cupcake, Honeycomb, Kat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, etc. This system allows us to make
phone and video calls, make correspondence, and use web browsers in addition to the ease of
using the phone through the touch system.

3 IPhone Operating System

IPhone OS Operating System (iOS) is one of the operating systems for mobile phones produced
in July 2007 by Apple, and this system is intended for iPhone mobiles, and it supports other
devices such as itouch, iPad, and Apple TV [11, 12].The operating system takes up nearly 500
MB of storage space, in addition to apple store applications that have exceeded two million
applications, half of which are for iPad mobile devices. The current version available for iOS is
13652

13.6. Furthermore, IOS application system depend on the multi-touch system in addition to the

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

buttons in different shapes, the ability to alert by vibration and rotate the windows horizontally or
vertically, and to provide services to the users of the device with hearing and vision impairment.
The main feature is its closed source, with open source components, and among its
advantages is that it is more difficult to transfer files, and the media files can be transferred using
the iTunes desktop application, and the operating system is relatively stable and safe from errors,
in addition to the Apple desktop interface, applications and icons. Most preferred, because it
supports modern web standards, and we do not forget the great feature of cloud computing
support and cloud storage. Finally, it supports Apple Store, and all apps are available for free.
Photos can be transferred via USB without apps [13]. It is characterized by few operational
errors in addition to its potential in a cloud storage system [14] and its applications from the
Apple Store exclusively, taking into account the safe operation [15]. After reviewing the two
most important operating systems for mobile devices, Table 1 shows the most important
differences between the two.

Table 1: Shows the difference between android and IOS

Features iOS Feature Android feature
Release date Jul. 2007 Sept.2008
First v. iPhone OS 1 android Alpha
Current v. iOS 13 android 10
authorization Closed source Free and open source
System core Darwin core Linux core
Program language Swift Java, Kotlin
App. Store App. Store Play store
extension IPA APK
Protect High protect Mid protect
User Interface Compact interface with a special One UI, EMUI, MIUI
system
Available 34 More than 100
languages
Cloud storage iCloud, use other applications One Drive, Dropbox

4 Mobile Program Languages

With the technological development the world is witnessing, technology has become a major role
in our daily life, and with the spread of smartphones that operate with different systems, such as
Android, IOS, and windows, companies producing smart devices and tablets are working to
develop mobile operating systems, to design applications in a smooth and non-complicated to be
13653

the language of interacting with devices attractively and comfortably. On this basis, the most

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

important programming languages used in programming Android and iPhone applications within
the operating system will be reviewed.

5 Program language Java

Programming language "Java": it is the first language of programming languages preferred by all
Android application developers around the world [16]. It is flexible and used in developing
Android applications and will not be compatible well with iOS applications. This language is
extensible and for this reason it is considered a very popular language among developers and is
consistently written in terms of code.
To write a file in Java or to open a file, the program is called a Java compiler or an
integrated development environment (IDE). Therefore, Eclipse, NetBeans, and Android Studio
are a type of IDE programming language. The source of the Java code that was written in (IDE)
in the form of a Project.class file for the purpose of running the program and obtaining results
where the class file will be transferred to the Java Runtime Environment, the program
responsible for receiving the file of class and executing it by JRE [17]. In flowchart bellow
display how the Java language program works from written file to run.

Figure 1: java code work

There are many characteristics for Java Language as summarized below:

1-The Java language relies on directing objects in writing commands and instructions, which
13654

gives it a lot of flexibility and effectiveness.

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

2- The independence of the platform, which means that when writing programs in the Java
language, they are not converted into a specific machine language or the binary language
recognized in the computer.
3- Java is one of the simplest, easiest and most secure languages among the various
programming languages in the computer world, as it mainly depends on the principle of object
orientation, and it contains cryptographic properties.
4- Architecture-neutral when you start programming Java, a special file is created in the system
so that 5- Java will be run on it, regardless of the type of operating system on the computer,
i.e. it is a language that works on all operating systems.
6- Multi-threaded Java language contains a unique feature which is the ability to run more than
one task at the same time, which allows programmers to work on interactive applications that
require more than one task to be run at the same time.
7- Dynamic Java is characterized by its great efficiency compared to other programming
languages, such as C ++.

6 IOS Swift Language

Swift is the best and most appropriate language for developing applications for the IOS operating
system for iPhone, and it is worth noting that the Swift language was introduced in 2014 [18] and
its large orbital code was announced in 2015 and since then the Swift language quickly attracted
developers until it became one of the most popular programming languages and collaboration
between emerging iOS development companies. This language offers the possibility of building
programming sentences in a simpler way than other programming languages [19].Major
companies such as IBM, Lyft, LinkedIn, and Airbnb have also supported the development of
Swift systems [20].The Swift programming language and Xcode which is known as (Project
Builder and Interface Builder) was designed to serve Cocoa applications (which consists of the
Foundation Kit and Application Kit) and Objective-C in a smooth manner. Therefore, Swift
application program interface (Swift APIs) can be used in Objective-C, making Swift and X
Code a comfortable and easy tool and short code in the application [21, 22]. However, the
following two tables(2,3) illustrate the differences between the nature of the two languages, and
it is clear that the SWIFT language has a promising future as the language is simple, fast, and
easy to program.
Table 2: Characteristics the General Language
Featuers Java language Swift language
Language powerful, easy to code, powerful, easy to
assessment popular code
First version 1995 2014
Use of language Os for android iOS for apple
The compiler Javac, GNU, ECJ LLVM
13655

Language source Open Openand closed

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

latest version 2019 2020

Platform used Eclipes, android studio Xcode
Adjective of object-oriented object-oriented
language
Speed Somewhat slow better than
objective-C.

Table 3: Software Properties for Java and Swift

Task Java Swift
import Import Import framework
packgae.ClassName
Inheritance Calss Child extends Calss Child:Parent
Parnt
Variables int myVarable var myVarable:Int
Method Void func doWork(arg: String)-
declaration doWork(Stringarg) >Void
interfaces Interfaces A Protocol A
constructors A( ) Class A: P,I

7 Conclusion

Operating systems for both Apple and Android. Two distinct systems, Samsung and iPhone are
in conflict, and whoever knows Samsung sales volume knows the most popular systems. For
Swift vs java, they are two different programming languages, and they have supporters and
opponents.
Reference
[1] Ram S.G, A Comparative Study of Mobile Operating Systems, International Journal of
Recent Trends in Engineering & Research, Vol. 02, Issue 02, ISSN 2455-1457, 2016.
[2] Sumanta K., Subhashis K. C., Anjli G., Operating System a Case Study, International Journal
of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, Vol. 2, Issue 3, ISSN 2456- 6470, 2018,
[3] Khalid M. Awan, et. al., Resource Management and Securityissuesin Mobile Phone
Operating Systems: A Comparative Analysis, PeerJ Preprints.
[4] Sundus A., Saad R. The Most Secure Smartphone Operating System: A Survey, World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology Journal of Computer and Information
Engineering, Vol.10, No. 2 .2016.
[5] Bhargavi P., Prasad D., Dipti P., Comparison of Mobile Operating Systems, International
Journal of Innovative Research in Computerand Communication Engineering, Vol. 4, Issue
13656

8, 2016.

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

[6] Boppuru R. P., Operating Systems for Mobiles until late 2018: A Comparative Survey and
Overview, International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, Vol.-6, Issue-12, E-
ISSN: 2347-2693, Dec 2018.
[7] K. Divya, S. Venkata K. K., Comparative Analysis of Smart Phone Operating Systems
Android, Apple iOS and Windows, International Journal of Scientific Engineering and
Applied Science , Vol.2, Issue-2.
[8] Ahmed Ali, A Review of Different Comparative Studies on Mobile Operating System,
Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 2578-2582.
[9] Ovidiu C. N., Mihaela N., et. al., Comparative Study of Google Android, Apple iOS and
Microsoft Windows Phone Mobile Operating Systems, 14th International Conference on
Engineering of Modern Electric Systems , 978-1-5090-6073, 2017.
[10] Tor-M. G.i, Jarle H., et. al., Mobile Application Platform HHeterogeneity: Android VS.
Windows Phone VS. iOS vs Firefox OS, Conference: IEEE 28th International Conference
on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA),2014.
[11] Aijaz A. S., Prince T. G., et. al., Smartphone: Android Vs IOS, The SIJ Transactions on
Computer Science Engineering & its Applications, Vol. 1, No. 4, The SIJ Transactions on
Computer Science Engineering & its Applications (CSEA), Vol. 1, No. 4.
[12] Lena Reinfelder, Zinaida Benenson, Freya Gassmann, Differences between Android and
iPhone users in their security and privacy awareness, 1th International Conference,
TrustBus, Munich, Germany, Proceedings (pp.156-167), Springer,2014.
[13] Asokan M , ANDROID Vs iOS – AN Analysis, International Journal of Computer
Engineering& Technology, Volume 4, Issue 1 pp. 377-382, ISSN 0976 – 6375, 2013.
[14] T.Gayathri, D. Madhusudhana R., A review on Different Handheld Devicesoperating
Systems, Journal of Critical ReviewsISSN-2394-5125,Vol 7 , Issue 9, 2020.
[15] Akinlolu A., AdedoyinOdumabo, AComparative Study of Operating Systems: Case of
Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, International Journal of Computer
Applications, Vol. 176 –No. 39.
[16] Okediran O. O., et. al., Mobile Operating Systems and Application Development Platforms:
A Survey, Int. J. Advanced Networking and Applications, Volume: 6 Issue: 1.
[17] Android ATC Team, Java Fundamentals for Android™ DevelopmentCourse Code: AND-
404 Version 7, Published by: Android ATC ISBN: 978-0-9900143-7-9.2017.
[18] Cristian G. G., Jordán P. E., Swift vs. Objective-C: A New Programming Language,
International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Multimedia, Vol. 3, Nº 3,
2015.
[19] Rostislav F., Swift a New Programming Language for Development and Education, The
2018 International Conference on Digital Science, In Digital Science 2019 Book pp.284-
295, 2019.
13657

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 6
Publication Year: 2020

[20] Ali, A. A., Hameed, E. M., Shareef, S. M., & Khalaf, B. A. (2020). Lion Optimized K-
Means Support Vector Machine for Clustering Problems in Cloud Internet of Things
Environment. Solid State Technology, 63(6), 4620-4631.
[21] Mostafa, Salama A., Aida Mustapha, Palaniappan Shamala, Omar Ibrahim Obaid, and
Bashar Ahmed Khalaf. "Social networking mobile apps framework for organizing and
facilitating charitable and voluntary activities in Malaysia." Bulletin of Electrical
Engineering and Informatics 9, no. 2 (2020): 827-833.
[22] Pankaj K. S., Ravi S. S., Design And Development of a Multi Featured iOSMobile
Application using Swift 3, Journal for Research, Vol. 03, Issue 11.

13658

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

View publication stats