Which mobile operating system do you think more people switch from and to? Android to iOS? Or iOS to Android? The answer in your head may depend on your feelings toward the OS you use daily: "You'll pry my iPhone [or Galaxy, or whatever] from my cold, dead hands!" But the numbers—which we gathered in a three-day survey in August from 2,500 US consumers via a Google Survey—don't lie.

The majority of smartphone users who have switched mobile OSes—18 percent—went from Android to iOS. Only 11 percent went in the other direction. (We didn't ask about Windows Phone or BlackBerry.) Naturally, the other 71 percent haven't switched because, you know, cold dead hands, and so on. Over half of respondents (54 percent) have an iPhone, by the way, and 27 percent have a Samsung phone.

It's interesting to drill into the reasons people make the switch from one mobile OS to another, as shown in the chart above. The outstanding number: Forty-seven percent of those who moved from Android to iOS said their new OS delivers a better user experience. (Apple would agree.) The percentage of those who went from iOS to Android and claim a better experience is 30 percent. Perhaps having a shiny new OS to play with is reward enough.

The area where people clearly feel a switch to Android is a deal is in the deal itself: 29 percent said the prices are better. Only 11 percent switched Android to iOS and claimed it was for the savings.

Other criteria for changing back and forth (and maybe back again) are neck-and-neck. Better features, for example, is cited by 24 percent of respondents as the motivation to go from iOS to Android, and 25 percent from Android to iOS. Other reasons include more apps, better customer service, and faster software updates—each of which was cited by fewer than 6 percent of respondents, no matter which direction the switcheroo was taking.

The operating system itself isn't even the biggest consideration for the survey-takers. When asked to pick one main criterion for going with a particular smartphone, only 19 percent said it was because of the OS. The higher criteria: the price, at 33 percent, and the brand, at 26 percent. (In Apple's world, of course, the brand and the OS are pretty much synonymous.)

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Some other nuggets from the same survey: When we asked people who've made a switch or are considering switching, most said they don't care about the new release of a smartphone (56 percent). Thirty-four percent buy a newly released phone when their contract is up, and 17 percent purchase a new phone only when they break the screen on their current phone. In fact, when all respondents were asked how often they replace a phone, over half (53 percent) said they replace a phone when it breaks.