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Few Android users keep the default backgrounds so it's only natural for Google to change too. It also makes it easy to see that it's new and different.

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Background images are the smallest concern; the significant changes are UI accent colors, the unlock mechanism, fonts, input styles, toolbar buttons... while they change many times a year, iOS still looks essentially the same as 5 years go, yet beautiful and usable. The most radical changes I can remember are the switch to rounded radio buttons, lock screen shortcuts and notifications pulldown.

Well, "yet beautiful and usable" is a matter of opinion.

I find the 5 year old iOS UI boring and much less usable than the AOSP Android UI.

And this could be related to the fact that the Android team is refining the UI with every iteration.

Not sure if I agree with your "beautiful and usable" comment, there's a very good reason for design iteration.

Check out some geocities sites from a while ago for some 'usable' websites.

Personally I feel like the UI of iOS is very aged, requiring you to click on a icon to see information about that app whereas a widget allows a wealth of information at a glance. Often even access to an application's controls without having to open the app.

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