Despite the growing similarities on both platforms, iOS and Android continue to remain two worlds apart. While iOS is restricted by Apple’s preference for simpler design, Android embraces customisation and the ability to make the device your own.
Each one suits different tastes, and it’s just a case of picking what works for you.
I’ve been using Honor’s 6 Plus smartphone alongside my iPhone lately, and one thing that clearly stands out about its Emotion UI (their customised version of Android) is the iOS-like design style. This is nothing new — Huawei’s Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu commented on their admiration of Apple’s success here — but this merge between Android and iOS actually works quite well in my opinion.
A simple home screen structure
Broadly speaking, Android’s home screens tend to be made up of widgets, icons of your favourite apps and the common app drawer where you can find them all.
The Honor 6 Plus breaks that mould with no app drawer, opting instead for an iOS-like layout with all of your apps spread across the device’s home screens. You can also create folders to categorise & organise your apps. It won’t please everyone — particularly loyal Android users who love their app drawer — but as an iOS user I like the simplicity of that layout.
It’s not totally an iOS-style layout though; beneath the surface you have all of Android’s awesome functionality to play around with. Honor’s Emotion UI allows you to set up widgets on your home screens, which is a part of Android I love since it gives me all the information I need at a glance. In my case, I’ve placed a Twitter feed widget on the far left home screen, using the rest of the home screens to prioritise my favourite apps, just as I would on iOS.
Now don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy using the traditional Android layout too, but coming from an iPhone I’ve preferred the simplicity of this home screen structure.
Spotlight: easy searching
As one of my favourite features on iOS, I was very happy to see Spotlight-like functionality on the Honor 6 Plus.
Where you’d usually have to open up your Google Now search box in order to search for apps and contacts on your device, you just have to pull down from the top of your display to access the search field on the Honor 6 Plus. It cuts out time I’d spend searching for stuff on my device and having that feature on an Android phone is brilliant.
Final thoughts
If you’re considering your first move into the world of Android, don’t want to spend very much and want good value for money, Honor’s (or Huawei’s) devices could be a good move. Emotion UI has a familiar interface you’ll get used to in no time and with its rich Android features, it really does make the transition easy.
