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iPhone vs. Android: What Makes Their Best Email Subjects?

Jun 5, 2024

It’s the battle of the ages: iPhone vs. Android! These phones have fostered very distinct cultures that deeply care about their differing price tags, their features, and their memes. While both devices are smartphones that feel similar enough to some, people who use iPhones and Androids can be pretty different!

These differences carry through on their content preferences as well. And fully understanding these content preferences—in this case, understanding email content preferences—is critical to get right. 

Since we’re practically glued to our phones, there's plenty of opportunity to nail your mobile email strategy. In fact, retailers who embrace AI have great opportunities to do this, as:

Backstroke’s email marketing dataset informs us on how to generate effective email subject lines that charm either iPhone users, Android users, or both. Since its models are trained and fine-tuned on clean and industry-specific data from over 10,000 email marketing programs, Backstroke’s AI subject line generator produces messaging content that keys in on what the exact audience you’re targeting is primed to engage with. 

All you need to do is make selections on who will receive your emails. Then, bingo! You can generate great subject lines in a snap. 

With that in mind, let’s analyze what iPhone audiences prefer. And let’s dig deep into how to craft content for Android users, too. 

What Are iPhone Users’ Email and Shopping Habits? 

First thing’s first. The iPhone is the most-used mobile device for checking email, accounting for 28.4% of mobile email opens. So who are all these people? Research informs us of the following, when it comes to iPhone users:

  • In the United States, the iPhone has 58.81% of the smartphone market share. 
  • iPhone users have a 43.7% higher average salary than Android users.
  • Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to be iPhone users.
  • iPhone users tended to be actively using their smartphones more often, averaging 4 hours and 54 minutes of screen time, sending 58 text messages, and taking 12 selfies on an average day.
  • iPhone users consistently spend more when shopping online across most product categories like beauty, fashion, and interior products.

How to Generate the Best Subject Lines for iPhone Users

With the aforementioned information in mind, it’s easy to personalize great subject lines to connect with iPhone users. Visit Backstroke’s email subject line creator to get started.

Note: You can access the free, lite version of the generator in the Backstroke Sandbox. Below, we’re showing off the full power of Backstroke’s email subject line generator. Like what you see? Chat with us!

Once you’ve accessed the generator, make the following selections.

  • Click Add Audience and the Audience pop-up will appear on the left. In the middle of the pop-up, select iPhone under the Mobile Device Ownership section. 
  • Keep in mind that iPhone owners are cross-generational, but the majority of them in the U.S. skew to the younger side. Therefore, select 18-29 under the Age section, if you’re focusing on Gen Z or Millennials.
  • People with iPhones tend to be a bit more spendy, because their average salaries are higher. With this in mind, select the salaries $50k+ in the Household Income section. 
  • They’re also on their phones more. Reflect this in the Email Checking Frequency section by selecting All Day
  • Don’t forget to click Apply at the bottom of the Audience filter, and your changes will be saved! 
How to generate the best email subjects for iPhone users

From there, you can generate great email subject lines for this exact audience. So now, we’ll look at how to customize content for people who prefer having green texts.

What Are Android Users’ Email and Shopping Habits? 

While iPhones are the #1 mobile device in the U.S., Androids are favored internationally, making up a whopping 70.93% of the European market share and 79.46% of the Asian market share. With so much cross-cultural variety amongst Android users, their habits aren’t as cut and dry as American iPhone users. However, we do know a few key insights!

  • Android users tend to be more thrifty, as they tend to spend less when shopping online. In fact, 29% of Android users cited affordability as their top reason for switching from iOS, compared to 11% the other way around.
  • Android users are on their phones less than iPhone users. On average, they have 3 hours and 42 minutes of screen time, 26 text messages, and 7 selfies per day.

How to Generate the Best Subject Lines for Android Users

Just as we did for iPhone users, let’s look at how Backstroke’s email subject line creator can create excellent content for Android folks. 

Note, again: You can access the free, lite version of the generator in the Backstroke Sandbox. Our demo below shows off the full potential of Backstroke’s email subject line generator. Like what you see? Chat with us!

Once you’ve accessed the generator, make the following selections.

  • Click Add Audience and the Audience pop-up will appear on the left. In the middle of the pop-up, select Android under the Mobile Device Ownership section. 
  • In the Audience filter, feel free to experiment with the Email Checking Frequency section. We know that Android users check emails less frequently, so we suggest selecting At Least Weekly to represent this. 

Don’t forget to click Apply at the bottom of the Audience filter, and your changes will be saved!

How to generate the best email subjects for Android users

But wait . . . there’s more! You can customize your campaigns to reflect the thriftiness that Android users tend to prioritize. You can do this in the lite version of the email subject line generator that’s available in the Backstroke Sandbox. No account is needed! 

There are several ways to customize your AI email subject lines in the email subject line generator to reflect a discount or sale. 

  • Within the Campaign drop-down, you can select General Sale or Specific Sale.
  • Within the Promotion drop-down, you can customize the timeliness of your sale, choosing between Start of Sale, Limited Time Sale, Last Chance Sale, or Extended Sale

After making your selections, click Generate Subject Lines and the email subject line generator will craft highly engaging, effective subject lines to meet your thrifty campaign needs.

Backstroke's email subject line generator

Want to see what else AI can help you create? Access our AI message generator—and two other free email AI tools—in the Backstroke Sandbox. Try it now, for free!

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