When it comes to the great iOS vs. Android debate, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates knows which side he’s on.
According to 9to5Google, Gates shared his preferences in a recently audio-only interview via the Clubhouse app. It may not come as a surprise that he’s firmly team Android.
Gates told journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Clubhouse co-founder Paul Davidson that, after proclaiming he preferred Android in the past, nothing has changed. While he keeps an iPhone on hand in the event he wants to use it for any reason (like using the iPhone-only Clubhouse), he has a day-to-day Android device.
Clubhouse is an app that lets you drop in on audio-only conversations. The social network resembles something of a massive series of podcast-like conversations. Right now, it’s currently invite-only and only iPhone users can participate.
Gates prefers the more open nature of the Android ecosystem, as it’s more “flexible” about how software interfaces with the OS.
“I actually use an Android phone,” Gates told Sorkin. “Because I want to keep track of everything, I’ll often play around with iPhones, but the one I carry around happens to be Android. Some of the Android manufacturers pre-install Microsoft software in a way that makes it easy for me. They’re more flexible about how the software connects up with the operating system. So that’s what I ended up getting used to. You know, a lot of my friends have iPhone, so there’s no purity.”
In 2019, Gates admitted the way he handled Microsoft’s own mobile phone division was his “greatest mistake.” Microsoft ended up letting Google transform Android into the only true rival for iPhone. Microsoft missed out on a $400 billion market at the time, something Gates deeply regrets. In 2017, however, he went ahead and adopted an Android phone.
During the interview, Davidson indicated that an Android version of Clubhouse could be on its way. He called it a “top feature,” which could mean the iPhone Clubhouse could soon dissipate.
