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Google has done their best to dethrone Apple as the leading innovator of the smartphone market, but despite all of their gains they are still at least five steps behind Apple.

My roommate, and AppleXnews contributor Tyler Cunningham, who also writes for TalkAndroid recently posted an article titled, “Five reasons why Android is better than the iPhone.” This coming from the same guy whose Droid Incredible randomly reboots itself while sitting untouched on our coffee table.

Despite being a notorious Apple fanboy, the geek in me has tried to give Android the benefit of the doubt on many occasions and I’ve used many Android devices regularly only to have Android fail on multiple fronts. In all fairness, I have been an iPhone user since day one, and I have owned every iteration of the iPhone. I’ve waited in line with my fellow iPhone and Mac enthusiasts four times now, eagerly running up my credit card for one simple reason: the iPhone and iOS are by far the most polished hardware and mobile software solution ever.

The following five reasons are why the iPhone is still better than Android, and likely always will be:

Inconsistent User Interfaces: My Mom Still Cannot Figure Android Out

Most geeks are going to hate me for bringing up the Mom argument, but it is the truth. My Mother owned a Droid Eries for several months and it was a bigger disaster then when she owned a Dell laptop running Windows 98. I begged her to leave Verzion and get an iPhone with AT&T, I even offered to put her on my family plan, instead of canceling her contract Verizon sent her home with a brand new Droid Eries.

I of course had to set the phone up for her, and show her how to use it. I was unemployed and living on her couch at the time so it soon became my duty to train her and maintain her Droid Eries. At first it was simple questions about how to use it, but soon it turned into fixing her misconfigured contacts, figuring out where all of her text messages went, why her Facebook account was mysteriously no longer logging in, why this widget got dragged to this screen, etc. It was so painful I finally found a new job and moved out again.

The final nail in the coffin is when my Mom went overseas for a month and turned her Droid Eries on to call for help after someone stole her wallet, Android took it upon itself to download an entire months worth of data with no warning of what it was doing (the iPhone prompts you when it sees you are roaming and offers a dialog box to disable data downloads – Verizon just sends you a text message which usually does not even arrive until after the phone has downloaded the data). Upon returning home Verizon attempted to rob my Mother a second time by charging her over $1,400 for the data download. Had the Droid Eries prompted her she would have turned data off. She finally shut down her Verizon account, and sold her Droid Eries on Craigslist.

It is simple things like this that makes using an Android phone a risk if you do not know exactly how it functions. The user interface, dialogs, and prompts on the phone need to be able to work with users in an intuitive fashion, and not hide settings behind multiple confusing menus, extra physical buttons (the list / more functions), and varying interfaces installed by different handset manufactures.

Until Google can solidify the user interface, and make Android phones more intuitive the learning curve is simply not worth it for people like my Mother. On the other hand, she owns an iPod touch (which is basically an iPhone without the phone) and I’ve never had to explain anything to her, she just picked it up and started using it without ever asking me anything.

Inability to Update

The biggest and most epic failure that is Android is the fact that Google has absolutely no control over when carriers push software updates. Android 2.2 was released over 4-months ago and some Android phones still cannot update. While Android users argue the openness of the Android platform over the iPhone, and how it is the greatest thing since open source itself, the fact remains the carriers are in control of the vast majority of Android handsets.

Granted anyone can attempt to root their Android phone, and force the update themselves, but then again anyone can attempt to jailbreak their iPhone. The argument of which platform is more hackable is moot, both platforms can be hacked, but the fact remains that the iPhone is actually superior to Android in that it can easily be updated by any user. Best yet the updates are controlled by Apple, and not a carrier.

Android’s inability to be updated easily by users is simply ludicrous. Way to give power back to the carriers Google.

Poor Battery Life and Performance: Half-baked Multitasking

Almost every Android user I know has one thing in common: they all have to use process killing applications to quit rogue applications to save battery life on their Android device. Again, try explaining what a process killer is to my Mother. It is simply unacceptable, and embarrassing on Google’s behalf.

While Apple took their sweet time before bringing multitasking to the iPhone, they at least did so correctly. Most iPhone users rarely have to force quit applications or kill processes. The method that Apple uses for multitasking is far superior to Android. Shocking when you consider Google’s Chrome was one of the first browsers to introduce multithreading for different tabs/windows.

Not only do rogue applications kill battery life, but they also bog down other Android devices such as Google TV. As a whole, Android’s half-baked multitasking is a deterrent for any Android device, not just phones, and degrades the performance and battery life of all Android devices.

I hate to keep picking on my roommate, but I can not tell you how many times his battery has died when he needed his phone the most. My iPhone 4 runs laps around his Droid Incredible even with his process killer.

Instability

Having owned the four different iPhones, I’ve maybe had to reboot my iPhone at the time a dozen times. As stated, my roommate’s Droid Incredible decides to randomly reboot itself, and shut itself off without him even touching it. In all fairness he has hacked his Android phone on multiple occasions, but even so Android unstable.

While Android 2.2. is much more stable then previous versions, it is still not as stable as iOS 4.1, and 4.2 is about to drop by the end of this week. Between the multitasking issues already mentioned, having to run process killers, and overall OS instability Android is merely a beta product at best. In the other hand, the iPhone has matured into one of the most stable phone experiences available.

Fragmentation

As I have stated, I have used numerous Android devices running various versions of Android ranging from the Droid Eries, to my roommate’s Droid Incredible, to my friend’s Motorola Droid, and I even have access to a Google TV which is running Android 2.1.

My favorite Android phone so far has to be the Samsung Intercept. It is the epitome of everything that is wrong with Android. The low resolution pixelated screen is straight out of 2003, the plastic body is reminiscent of toys from the $1 bin at Target, and the slow performance of the phone is nauseating. This poor excuse for a phone is marketed as an Android phone, and much like my Mother’s Droid Eries, it will forever leave a sour taste in anyone’s mouth. This is extremely bad for the Android brand, as it represents fragmentation, and poor quality.

The Android brand is fragmented between carriers, quality of hardware, user interfaces, and even the ability to receive updates. In all of my years in tech I do not believe there has ever been a product as fragmented as Android, and it is only getting worse. If I were George Lucas I would start charging a lot more for the use of the name “droid”.

Conclusion

The major advantage Android has over the iPhone is the fact the iPhone has only been available on AT&T’s network. With Apple’s exclusivity contract with AT&T ending in 2011, and a Verizon iPhone 4 imminent, Android’s geek stardom will likely fade.

The Android platform is a geek device, and despite being forced on the masses, it is not ready for mass adoption. It is merely a “good enough” platform, and as soon as the iPhone is available on other carriers even the geekiest Android users will likely jump ship for the iPhone. Although competition is good, and keeps Apple honest, the Android platform will always sadly be a few steps behind.

As for myself? I’ve been an iPhone user since day one, and I have owned every iteration of the iPhone. I’ve waited in line with my fellow iPhone and Mac enthusiasts four times now, eagerly running up my credit card for one simple reason: the iPhone and iOS are by far the most polished hardware and mobile software solution ever.