US Army Special Operations Command to dump 'glitchy' Android for Apple

Apple's iPhone 6S to replace Adnroid as the device of choice for the US Army's Special Ops

The US Army is planning to ditch Android as its tactical smartphone in favour of the Apple iPhone for its Special Operations Command (SOC).

The shift is, according to reports, due to the "glitchiness" of Google's Android operating system. The US Army will instead issue Apple iPhone 6S devices to its SOC staff.

That is according to a report at Military.com's DoD Buzz, which cites an unnamed source "not authorised to speak to the media".

The SOC found its Android Tactical Assault Kit - a modified version of an Android-powered smartphone that is connected to a networked Harris radio and designed to run custom-made military apps - slow, glitchy and prone to crashing.

The shady source said that "Android freezes up" and has to be restarted too often, wasting valuable time. This occurs in particular when viewing live-streamed footage from an unmanned aerial system such as Instant Eye.

The SOC will switch to an iPhone Tactical Assault Kit, according to the report, with the iPhone 6S reportedly selected as the main end-user device. "It's seamless on the iPhone," according to the source. "The graphics are clear; unbelievable," they claimed.

The US Army has yet to comment on the switch, and some questions are still looming. While it has been reported that the SOC was using Samsung Galaxy Note handsets, it's unclear which model had been deployed. If, say, the Army was using the first-gen phablet from 2010, it wouldn't be all that surprising that the iPhone is quicker.

It's also not known whether the Army has tried out any newer Android devices, such as the Snapdragon 820-powered Galaxy S7, which has proved itself to be on par with the iPhone 6S performance-wise.

This isn't the first time the US Army has placed an Apple product into the hands of soldiers. As reported at 9to5Mac, the Army began handing out iPod touches to soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010, equipping each with language modules including Iraqi Arabic, Kurdish, Dari, and Pashto.