Apple have strongly pushed apps from the beginning to still make use of their corporate fonts (Helvetica Neue?) and layouts. This made the phone seem more homogenous. Ironically it wasn't until iOS 7 in 2014 that Apple themselves paid attention to these guidelines by adopting the Flat Design trend that lives on to this day. Apps have always looked a little more 'polished' on iOS.

It wasn't until the launch of Android 5.0 'Lollipop', also in 2014 that Google finally took homogeneity seriously with their Material Design (Read: more Flat Design) UX guidelines. Android does give the user more control over how their phone looks and feels but at the same time things do feel a little less refined.

The kickstarter for all this was, of all things Microsoft's beautiful Windows Phone 7 OS that took its design cues from the low-selling-but-actually-great Zune music player by having an emphasis on large typography and transportation-inspired Metro Design in 2012. At the time it and its apps blew iOS and Android out of the water by looking properly futuristic. I wish it was still here.