Quick question – which is safer? Android or iOS? A lot of people would instinctively pick the latter, and argue that it’s Apple’s ‘walled garden’ approach that makes it so – in fact, Apple itself keeps saying something like that every time the EU is trying to make it open up some other part of its ecosystem.
But things are not always what they seem. And at least in one specific way, Android is actually safer than iOS. We’re talking about protection from scams. A YouGov study says iOS users are 65% more likely than Android users to report receiving three or more scam texts in a week, while Android users are 58% more likely than iOS users to say they haven’t received any scam texts at all in the week before this survey took place.
Furthermore, Android users are 20% more likely than iOS users to describe their device’s scam protections as “very effective” or “extremely effective”.
These results come from a survey of 5,000 smartphone users across the US, India, and Brazil, but do note that Google was involved alongside YouGov. Speaking of Google, Pixel device owners were 96% more likely than iPhone owners to report zero scam texts, iPhone users were 136% more likely than Pixel owners to say they’d received a heavy volume of scam messages, and iPhone users were also 150% more likely than Pixel owners to say their device was not effective at all in stopping mobile fraud.
In a different evaluation, comparing built-in scam and fraud protection on four devices (the Pixel 10 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, and Motorola Razr+ 2025), the iPhone came out dead last when it comes to the number of security features it has (see the image below).
This report noted Android’s “robust call screening”, scam detection, and real-time scam warning authentication capabilities as key differentiators vs. iOS. Google Messages filters known spam and for more complex threats, Scam Detection uses on-device AI to analyze messages from unknown senders for patterns of conversational scams and provide real-time warnings. The app also blocks links in messages that are determined to be spam or scams.
The Phone by Google app automatically blocks known spam calls, and Call Screen can answer the call on your behalf (in the markets where it’s available) to identify fraudsters. Even if you answer, you have Scam Detection, which uses on-device AI to provide real-time warnings for suspicious conversational patterns. Finally, Android helps stop social engineering during the call by blocking high-risk actions like installing untrusted apps or disabling security settings.
