You sort of already know that the people who pick an Android phone aren't quite the same as the people who pick an iPhone. It's a matter of style but it seems to go very deep. So much so that it is important to understand the differences when you target your application.

Image matters - and the smartphone you choose does say something about you. As a developer knowing something about the user group you are writing apps for is an advantage - so stereotyping can be helpful.

The recommendations website Hunch, has a new infographic that summarizes some revealing data about Android and iPhone users.

In order to provide its users with recommendations it needs to discover detailed information about them and for this it uses "Teach Hunch About You" questions, one of which is "What type of operating system does your cell phone use?"

An analysis of the 15,818 users who answered the question revealed that almost a third of Hunch members were iPhone users and over a fifth were Android users and it went on to compare these two groups on a range of other characteristics and preferences.

The core demographics section of the infographic shows that the iOS group tends to be older, more likely to be female, have a higher educational level and higher income category, and be more likely to live in the city.

Android users on the other hand tend to be in the age group 18-25, male, much more likely to have only a high school diploma - which may account for their being in a lower income category which in turn tends to explain their tendency to live in the country or the suburbs. living. In terms of politics Android users are more likely to be conservative and Apple users liberal.

In terms of personality it is iOS users who are more likely to be optimist and extrovert and to prefer to spend their money. Android users prefer to save their money and tend to be followers as well as being more likely to be introverted and pessimistic. 

In terms of technology there is a big, but completely understandable difference between the two groups in terms of choice of desktop OS - as you would expect iOS are more likely to be MAC users.  The finding that 50% of iOS users were more likely to have first used the Internet  before 1992 and  47% Android users more likely to done so after 2000 is largely explained in terms of age, while the tendency of iOS users to be well-travelled is probably a function of income.

Even if the inforgraphic doesn't show interrealtionships it does have information of value to anyone concerened with breaking into the app market -  from their preferences for music, books and TV shows to their tastes in fashion food and drink.

At the end of the infographic there's a brief overview of users of Windows-based phones - they tend to be women, suburbanites, politically middle of the road, extroverted and not particularly well travelled - and  BlackBerry/Palm group who turn out to fit their stereotype very well by being well travelled but introverted, politically liberal, city-dwellers. 

Click to see full sized version (scroll to top to close)

For another take on these stereotypes see:

iPhone v Android v Blackberry v Windows Phone 7

More information

Hunch Infographic

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