iPhone Owners Love Superman and Sushi; Android Fans Dig Batman and Booze

It’s a religious war that’s been raging across the Internet for nearly a decade. iPhone owners would never allow their manicured fingers to be sullied by an Android touchscreen. Fans of Android phones sneer at Apple snobs, declaring their loyalty to all things Google.

The truth? Android and iOS users have a lot more in common with each other than either group would like to admit. Earlier this month, Yahoo Research surveyed 1,000 smartphone owners on a wide range of topics.* Half of the respondents said they used iOS devices, the other half Android. Here’s what we found out about them, beyond their preferences in smartphones.

(Are these numbers definitive? Of course not. With a margin of error of roughly 4.5 percent, some of the differences we noticed could probably sway either way. Our research department warned us not to go there. We went anyway.)

Demographically, the Apple owners in our survey self-reported to be better educated and to make more money. The Androidistas tended to be slightly older and more likely to live in the Midwest or the East. Politically, they’re more or less identical.But beyond those superficialities, we found some fascinating (if slight) differences.   

Pet pals

If they had to pick just one furry companion to spend the rest of their lives with, 62 percent of iPhoners would choose cuddly puppies; 56 percent of Androids said the same. One out of three Google-users would go for adorable kittens, but only 25 percent of Appletons.

 

 

Music

If stranded on a desert island with only one type of music to listen to, more than half of all smartphone owners would choose rock ‘n’ roll while they waited to be rescued. (How they’d reach a viable music-streaming service out there in the middle of the ocean is another matter.) But Apple fans are slightly more inclined to listen to classical (16 percent to 13 percent), while their counterparts lean more toward hip-hop (13 percent to 8 percent).

Ringtones

When forced to pick one anthemic ringtone, Android fans preferred Steppenwolf’s 1960s classic “Born to Be Wild” (35 percent, compared to 32 percent of Apple-eaters). More Appleheads (39 percent) opted for Bruce Springsteen’s ‘80s nugget “Born in the USA.” Only one in six smartphone users chose Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” or the Boss’s “Born to Run.”

Dan Tynan is the Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo Tech