Lukas Mathis:
A virtual keyboard lives and dies by the details. It’s not that there’s a single feature which makes the iPhone’s virtual keyboard better than Android’s; it’s death by a thousand cuts. Apple obviously spent a lot of time on getting every little detail just right (well, except for the ducking dictionary), while Google decided to go ahead with what they had – which is usable, but no match for what the iPhone offers. I have no doubt that Android’s virtual keyboard will be improved in the future, and I’m looking forward to what they come up with.
When you’re designing something that people interact with constantly and absolutely need to work, the details, as Apple demonstrates, clearly make the difference.