Whenever there is a discussion about mobiles, it almost always comes down to the battle of iOS versus Android. The two mobile giants have taken the smartphone to a whole new level. Still in every comparison, there has to be differences. Android has more freely available apps in its official app store (Google Play Store) than Apple App Store. On the other hand, iPhone users enjoy quality hardware and apps.
The Apple App Store has a many exclusive premium apps that cannot be found in Google Play Store. But Android Developers are always trying to bring similar apps to the greater population of smartphone users. Of course, when it comes to user experience, iOS apps may get a higher rating, but such type of apps are no longer unique to the iOS platform only. Here are a few iOS apps with their alternative apps on Google Play Store.
Siri
The popular “What can i help you with?” app for iPhone had changed the way Apple users interacted with their phones. Simply talk to the iPhone in your natural language and Siri will reply with whatever information you need. You can tell it to look for nearby restaurants, a particular recipe, currently running movies nearby, or just ask casual questions or tell it to crack a joke. Siri will do anything you tell it to do.
Android alternatives for Siri
Google Now: If you own an Android phone running Jelly Bean (v4.1 or v4.2), then a good Substitute for Siri is Google Now (Google Voice Search). Google Now lets you manage your contacts and calendar. And integration with Google gives you the freedom to perform searches with your natural voice and speech. Similar to Siri, Google Now can look up places on a map like nearby hotels or restaurants, and book reservations; all by just speaking to your phone.
Speaktoit Assistant: This is a third party app that uses Google’s speech to text service to perform actions. Speaktoit can make calls, access your calendar to review your tasks, update your status on Facebook, or search the web. It also has a custom avatar to give itself a face.
Fleksy
Fleksy is based on a revolutionary technology that makes typing on touchscreens remarkably easy. It does not rely on the accuracy of the words typed. Just tap on the screen and Fleksy will automatically guess the word. What’s particularly amazing about the app is that you don’t need to type on the keyboard, you can type anywhere on the screen. . The app helps visually impaired or blind people to type easily without having to worry about typos.
Android alternative for Fleksy
Swiftkey Keyboard: Even though Fleksy’s official site has announced the arrival of an Android version coming soon, the product is still in internal beta. In the meantime, a very good alternative for iPhone’sFleksy would be the SwiftKey Keyboard. This app uses advanced predictive text technology to correct and complete words before you type them. It does not have the “Type anywhere on screen” feature but the app certainly helps to speed up touch typing to a great extent.
Facetime
FaceTime is a video-conferencing application for Apple devices. The app, available for iPhone, iPod Touch,iPad and Mac PCs and laptops lets you connect to another person having a similar device over WiFi or 3G/4G. FaceTime is available for all Apple devices having a front facing camera. iPhone users can initiate a FaceTime call directly from the Contacts list or from an ongoing call by tapping the FaceTime icon on the screen. FaceTime does not support non-Apple devices or any other video-conferencing service.
Android alternative for FaceTime
Google Plus Hangouts: This is a built-in feature of Google Plus allowing up to ten users to join in a video conference, share content and do more. To use Google Hangout, you need to have a device with a front facing camera and a Google account. Video conference takes place over WiFi or 3G/4G.
Passbook
Would you like to carry all your credit cards, movie tickets, gift coupons and similar things inside your phone? The Passbook app just made your day. Passbook manages all your essential “passes” and reminds you when a particular one should be used. These passes are officially accepted which means you can directly produce them to the authorities. Currently, only some limited websites support Passbook passes. The list of supported websites can be referred at the App Store.
Android alternative for Passbook
PassWallet: Android developers have created an app that helps you to create and open Passbook passes (PkPass files). You can keep your passes archived or move them to the live list when you need them. You can also backup your passes in cloud services like Dropbox or Google Drive. If the publisher allows it, you can enable Push to automatically update your saved passes every hour. Sooner or later, PkPass will become the standard of mobile transactions.
iBooks
Apple’s ebook library for iOS devices hosts thousands of free and paid books of different genres. You can add books to your virtual bookshelf and access them any time. As with other iOS apps, you can sync your books in iCloud too. So your ebook library goes with you. Book reading is enjoyable and fun with iBooks.
Android alternative for iBooks
Moon+ Reader: Google Play Store has quite a few number of alternative apps for iBooks including an iBook Reader which tries to replicate the shelf view of the official iOS app. But we picked Moon+ Reader as a better alternative. Besides many free books from multiple online libraries, you can also add books from your local memory. Moon+ Reader supports multiple formats including epub, mobi and pdf formats.
Android has a long way to go before it can really compete with iOS and its features, but it has improved a lot over the years. Android users can now enjoy some of the unique iOS apps.