Why iPhone With 1GB RAM Performs Better Than Android Devices With 2GB Or More RAM?

[Draconian Guppy]

I've always wondered why windows phone and iOS are more smooth than android... this is one of the reasons..

 

 

 

 

There is a lot of talk right now about Apple?s decision not to throw multiple gigabytes of memory at the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, especially in light of how makers of Android smartphones tend to offer memory upwards of 2GB. Why, when some Android phones have up to three times as much memory, does the iPhone perform so well?

 

That was basically the same question put to Quora, the social website that gives people a way to ask questions and then have them answered by people who are experts in their respective field. The upvoting system adds a spot of authority tracking to the answers that are provided, and we have a clear winner as far as the question around why Android phones have so much more memory than iPhones.

 

Enter Glyn Williams.

 

 

he response, upvoted by over 2,600 people, included a handy graph and an explanation that involves garbage collection and Java. Basically, Android needs more memory because of the way it handles things.

You can head on over to the Quora question and check out Glyn?s explanation yourself, but what it boils down to is this: Android apps use Java, and as a result Android does something called garbage collection which involves memory being recycled once applications are finished with it. That?s all well and good, and actually performs really well when given plenty of memory to work with. The problems arise when the system is starved of memory.

Using the diagram provided, Williams points out that garbage collectors are at their best when they have a relative memory footprint of 4 or 8. In effect, that means that Android needs 4 or 8 times as much memory as it?s actually using in order to perform its garbage collection duties. Reduce the amount of available memory, and things start to suffer greatly.

 

 

 

Sauce:

http://www.redmondpie.com/why-iphone-with-1gb-ram-performs-better-than-android-devices-with-2gb-or-more-ram/

[+Warwagon MVC]

Because manufactures customize  the ###### out of Android. They add so much bloat, for it to run even remotely good they have to throw more ram at it. My Moto G 2013 with practically stock Android, 1 GB of ram and a Quad Core is Crazy responsive.

[Draconian Guppy]

Because manufactures customize  the ###### out of Android. My Moto G 2013 with practically stock Android, 1 GB of ram and a Quad Core is Crazy responsive.

that would be another reason, but what the article suggests, has nothing to do with OEM addingt their garbage to it, rather something of android itself.

[+Warwagon MVC]

that would be another reason, but what the article suggests, has nothing to do with OEM addingt their garbage to it, rather something of android itself.

 

ya i'm gonna go read it now. I just wanted my post to be above the fold :laugh:. That being said I'm still a firm believer in what I said. I came from an S3 III which has 2GB of ram and in my case was running CM11. My Moto G is as fast if not faster. ... they must have optimized the ###### out of that phone.

[techbeck]

that would be another reason, but what the article suggests, has nothing to do with OEM addingt their garbage to it, rather something of android itself.

 

Yes, one reason.  But look at the speed comparisons of opening apps on a high end Samsung device and a low end Moto device.  The low end is faster in many areas.

[Rippleman]

I laugh every time i see the Android boys calling down other phones because "it does have the specs of my Android", or "those specs are so 2011". Lol... just smile and nod.

[Skiver Veteran]

I literally don't understand what that graph actually represents? what is GenMS,GenCopy etc? I can see the obvious I'm using more memory, but what are these things in the real world?

 

What I get from this article is, Android uses more memory because it was designed that way, but that's OK because Android devices tend to come with more memory anyway. What I would like to see, is a like for like comparison;

 

iOS Phone opens Facebook, Android Phone Opens Facebook
iOS Phone opens Twitter, Andriod Phone opens Twitter

 

Do the above over and over with new apps that are available on both platforms and see which one hits performance issues first that can be specifically linked to memory usage. I know you will get app differences because of the underlying OS etc but just as a functional test.

 

[Draconian Guppy]

Yes, one reason.  But look at the speed comparisons of opening apps on a high end Samsung device and a low end Moto device.  The low end is faster in many areas.

Sorry, i'm completely biased against samsung... touchwiz is such an un-optimized-resource-hogging-useless-POS :P  /rant

 

on topic, yup, that's basically what war wagon stated.

 

I literally don't understand what that graph actually represents? what is GenMS,GenCopy etc? I can see the obvious I'm using more memory, but what are these things in the real world?

 

What I get from this article is, Android uses more memory because it was designed that way, but that's OK because Android devices tend to come with more memory anyway. What I would like to see, is a like for like comparison;

 

iOS Phone opens Facebook, Android Phone Opens Facebook

iOS Phone opens Twitter, Andriod Phone opens Twitter

 

Do the above over and over with new apps that are available on both platforms and see which one hits performance issues first that can be specifically linked to memory usage. I know you will get app differences because of the underlying OS etc but just as a functional test.

 

 

Neither did I. I tried looking further and got this:

 

http://www.quora.com/How-come-the-iPhones-1-GB-RAM-is-touted-to-be-able-to-compete-with-more-than-2-GB-RAM-of-Android-phones/answers/7061202

 

 

which is basically the same.

[DeadEndAccount]

that would be another reason, but what the article suggests, has nothing to do with OEM addingt their garbage to it, rather something of android itself.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens when it comes to Android 5.0 and whether we'll see improvements. End of the day though you have many vest interests pulling the Linux kernel development in one direction over another - conflicting interests that don't always benefit it use as an embedded kernel. As much as Apple liked to talk about sharing code between OS X and iOS I wouldn't be surprised if a large portion of the code is split off from the main line with its own scheduler, aggressively freeing up memory, a focus on aggressive timer coalescing etc.

[TAZMINATOR]

I don't care about the specs....

 

I rather have open customizable OS/UI ... that's what I want.  as long as it works for me.

 

iPhone is closed but will require you to jailbreak for customizable UI/tweaks 

[Draconian Guppy]

It will be interesting to see what happens when it comes to Android 5.0 and whether we'll see improvements. End of the day though you have many vest interests pulling the Linux kernel development in one direction over another - conflicting interests that don't always benefit it use as an embedded kernel. As much as Apple liked to talk about sharing code between OS X and iOS I wouldn't be surprised if a large portion of the code is split off from the main line with its own scheduler, aggressively freeing up memory, a focus on aggressive timer coalescing etc.

+1

We will have to wait for in depth benchmarks as the above.

 

I have no knowledgement on what you are talking about, but as I state in my OP, in my eyes, iOS and windows Phone, always feel smoother, snappier, high end to low end.

[Skiver Veteran]

Sorry, i'm completely biased against samsung... touchwiz is such an un-optimized-resource-hogging-useless-POS :p  /rant

 

on topic, yup, that's basically what war wagon stated.

Neither did I. I tried looking further and got this:

 

http://www.quora.com/How-come-the-iPhones-1-GB-RAM-is-touted-to-be-able-to-compete-with-more-than-2-GB-RAM-of-Android-phones/answers/7061202

 

 

which is basically the same.

 

I'm clearly simple but what I get from this is...

iOS can do more with less, but as long as you don't push it too far, Android will do it quicker?

 

I think I'm too heavily embedded into things like Google Music now to switch to iOS but I don't see this as being too negative as that extra RAM doesn't seem to equal a greater cost.

[guitmz]

iphones are singular devices, specific hardware where the OS was built for that hardware.. is the same as installing gentoo in your machine, you will have to compile it for your hardware and unless someone has 100% the same parts of your pc, the performance wont be the same (can be better or worse)...

 

android is a generic os made for several devices each with it own specs.. thats good but may cost some performance! like my nexus 5 (and some motorola devices) is way better than a brand new S5 for instance (stock roms on both), thats because the software modifications :) stupid OEMs usually kills the performance of android... but since is a generic OS, even a vanilla android may be worse than the iphone (i dont think the nexus line are included here because you can compile the source for your device, which helps a lot)... 

 

anyway, in a few things android is better and faster and in another, iphone is better and faster... i just dont like apple for they stupid prices and how they steal features and claim it to be revolutionary

 

and now iOS is moving to swift but this is not a finish language.. i face several stupid bugs here at work with that language, performance related bugs that shows that it is not ready for final release

[adrynalyne]

One of the biggest reasons Android needs more juice is obvious:

 

The apps use a jvm. There is always going to be a performance hit vs. native.

[technord]

I'm an android dev, as this guy is spot on!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Lollipop is a step in the right direction, especially with the move to ART.

 

But it's a long known fact iOS has been the far better optimized OS for a long time, and that's coming from an Android fanboy. Apple do overcharge on the hardware side, but they've always done that for all their devices.

[guitmz]

JVM is true, but leaving it aside, which is obivious lead us to the other opinions

[adrynalyne]

JVM is true, but leaving it aside, which is obivious lead us to the other opinions

You cannot leave it aside, so there is no point in trying to do so.

[Draconian Guppy]

I'm clearly simple but what I get from this is...

iOS can do more with less, but as long as you don't push it too far, Android will do it quicker?

 

I think I'm too heavily embedded into things like Google Music now to switch to iOS but I don't see this as being too negative as that extra RAM doesn't seem to equal a greater cost.

 

I think that is spot on.

 

Would like to ask, wouldn't  using less physical ram, mean less battery usage?

One of the biggest reasons Android needs more juice is obvious:

 

The apps use a jvm. There is always going to be a performance hit vs. native.

I'm an android dev, as this guy is spot on!

Care to elaborate?

[francescob]

If Android truly did garbage collection the phones/tablets would disappear into thin air. My 1Gb Fonepad is the laggiest POS ever and it basically has almost-stock Android running :( Apple will never get me to pay 700? for a damn phone though.

[adrynalyne]

 

Care to elaborate?

Sure.  iOS apps are native code.  There is no need for any further compiling or use of an intemediary to communicate with hardware.  Android apps are java.  Java is compiled on the fly to bytecode.  The worst performance hit is the initial compiling.  After that, knowing that the apps have to go through the jvm (in 5.0 its ART) to communicate with hardware is an addiitonal performance hit.

[guitmz]

You cannot leave it aside, so there is no point in trying to do so.

 

i just meant we should point the other reasons other than the obvious one, as there are others :)

 

but sure, this is the most important one but

[gawicks]

Soo.. can somebody explain why windows phone does better in this department? It makes use of a garbage collected VM too.

[Draconian Guppy]

Sure.  iOS apps are native code.  There is no need for any further compiling or use of an intemediary to communicate with hardware.  Android apps are java.  Java is compiled on the fly to bytecode.  The worst performance hit is the initial compiling.  After that, knowing that the apps have to go through the jvm (in 5.0 its ART) to communicate with hardware is an addiitonal performance hit.

Ahhh so basically any app made for android, will not be native, not even in ART?

Soo.. can somebody explain why windows phone does better in this department? It makes use of a garbage collected VM too.

This would make for an interesting debate and/or editorial... ;)

[Rippleman]

 

 Android uses more memory because it was designed that way, but that's OK because Android devices tend to come with more memory anyway.

 

What if every industry followed this idea? If you had a truck that could tow 10,000 lbs, would always leave the 10,000 lb load hooked up?