Android 5 Lollipop vs Fire OS 4
Knowing the difference between Android 5 Lollipop and Fire OS 4 is very important if you are to compare the latest Android powered tablets with Kindle Fire tablets as the operating systems make the biggest difference in the user experience. Android Lollipop is the latest of the Android operating system series by Google while Fire OS 4 is the latest edition of the Fire OS series by Amazon. Both are Linux based mobile operating systems where Fire OS 4 is actually based on Android KitKat, that is the predecessor of Android Lollipop. However, Amazon has done lot of customizations to Fire OS 4 where it is difficult to identify that it is Android. Android has built-in services and apps by Google while Fire OS has one developed by Amazon. App market in Android Lollipop is Google Play while it is Amazon Store in Fire OS 4.
Android 5 (Lollipop) Review – Features of Android 5 Lollipop
Android is a renowned mobile operating system designed by Google. It is based on Linux, and as any other modern system, Android supports multitasking, where users can enjoy several applications simultaneously. Android, that is usually an operating system designed especially for touch screen devices, has multi-touch support. Voice based features allow calling, texting and navigation through voice commands. While android has support for a large number of languages, it has a lot of accessibility features as well. Inbuilt applications are available for calling, messaging and web browsing while the Google Play store acts as the central place for managing and installing applications. Android also has a very special feature for screen capturing that can be used by pressing power button together with volume down buttons for few seconds.
While a large number of connectivity technologies such as GSM, EDGE, 3G, LTE, CDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX and NFC are supported, special features such as hotspots and tethering capabilities are notably important to mention. While many media formats are supported Android supports streaming media as well. Android provides support for a variety of hardware including sophisticated sensors. The virtual machine called Dalvik in Android is the layer that is responsible for running java applications while providing necessary security features.
Android Lollipop is the currently the latest Android operating system which is the immediate successor of Android 4.4 KitKat. While it inherits almost all the features of its predecessors, a considerable number of new features and improvements are available. The design has been greatly improved with vivid new colors, typography and real time natural animations and shadows. Notifications can be controlled as necessary, to get interrupted only when it is really necessary, while it has the capability to prioritize the notifications intelligently. A new battery saver feature increases the battery usage even more. With encryption auto enabled on devices, the security level has become much more enhanced. Also sharing features have become more and easier with multiple user account support and the new “guest” user makes it is possible to lend your smartphone or tablet to someone else without exposing your private data. While media features such as photos, videos, music and camera have been greatly improved, now users can connect even USB microphones to an Android device. While accessibility and language support is further enhanced, there are many other interesting new features that are found in Android Lollipop.
Fire OS 4 Review – Features of Fire OS 4
Fire OS is the operating system designed by Amazon for its mobile products such as Fire Phones and Kindle Fire tablets. It is a Linux based operating system which is derived from Android, but a lot of Amazon services and customizations have been included. Such Amazon services include Amazon App store, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon MP3 and Kindle Store while Google Play Store and certain native apps in Android have been eliminated. Fire OS does not contain Google proprietary software or Android trademarks. However, certain android applications such as Google maps can be side loaded by the user though they are not originally installed. Nevertheless, for installing certain Android apps on fire OS the device need to be rooted which voids the warranty. A special feature in Fire OS is the application called X-ray. It is a reference tool that preloads general information from the internet and then used for a query rather than connecting to the internet to get information at that specific moment. A parental control facility called Kindle FreeTime is also available. Another feature called Mayday lets users connect to a support assistant via a video call.
Fire OS 4 is the latest version in the Fire OS series where it is also known as Sangria. It is based on Android KitKat but due to the huge lot of customizations made by Amazon it is rather not possible to identify it as KitKat. While it inherits features from previous versions such as mentioned ones above it includes many new features as well. Now users can create multiple profiles on the same device while the families can share paid items as long as they have the same address. The special mode called Smart Suspend saves the battery from running out when the phone is idle.
What is the difference between Android 5 (Lollipop) and Fire OS 4 (Sangria)?
• Android Lollipop is designed by Google while Amazon designs Fire OS 4.
• Android Lollipop is a Linux-based mobile operating system while Fire OS 4 is a mobile operating system based on Android KitKat, that is the predecessor of Android Lollipop.
• The default app store in Android Lollipop is Google Play while on Fire OS 4 Google Play is not found. Instead, Amazon App S tore is the default app store found in Fire OS 4.
• The number of applications found in Google Play is much higher than the number found on Amazon App store.
• Google Chrome is the default web browser in Android, but in Fire OS it is the Silk Browser
• The cloud service in Android is Google Drive while the cloud service on Fire OS is cloud Drive.
• The default email client in Android is Gmail while it is the Amazon’s generic email client on Fire OS.
• Android has Google Maps while the counterpart in Fire OS is Maps powered by Nokia.
• In Android Google services and Google proprietary, apps are preinstalled while on Fire OS they should be manually installed using special techniques such as side loading or rooting.
• Fire OS has a feature called Firefly that use the camera to scan and identify products and which then directs to the Amazon. Google Android does not have a built-in app that carries out such task.
• Fire OS has a feature called Mayday that lets users directly contact a customer support assistance via a video call, but such feature is unavailable in Android.
• Android allows a lot of customizations than what Fire OS lets you do.
• As Fire OS is 4 is based on Android KitKat, so it misses the latest features introduced in Android Lollipop.
Summary:
Android 5 Lollipop vs Fire OS 4
Android Lollipop is a product of Google hence the built-in services are google apps such as Google play, Google Drive, Chrome and Gmail. Fire OS 4 is actually derived from Android KitKat, but there are a lot of customizations done by Amazon making it hard to recognize that it is Android. The Google Services have been replaced by Amazon services such as Amazon App Store, Cloud Drive, and Silk Browser. Android marketplace has a lot of apps than what is found on Fire OS. However, Fire OS has new features such as Firefly , Mayday, X-ray and FreeTime. Android allows lot of customizations by user while Fire OS 4 compromises that to provide a very simple user interface as in iOS. As Fire OS 4 is based on Android KitKat, it does not have the latest features introduced in Android Lollipop though.
Images Courtesy:
- Android 5 Lollipop by Birdies100 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
