The 11 Best iOS Features That Android Still Doesn’t Have
Reading Time: 6 minutesTorn between an iPhone or Android device? Here are the best iOS features that you still can’t get on Android.
Most people consider Android to be the more feature-packed mobile operating system, but although that’s true to an extent, Android still doesn’t have some features that you get on iOS. In fact, some of these missing features have been an integral part of iOS for years.
If you’re someone who’s planning to switch from an iPhone to an Android device in the near future, you need to know the software functionalities you’ll miss out on. Here, we’ll take a look at the best iOS features that Android devices still don’t have.
1. AirPlay
AirPlay is one of the biggest features that Android devices are still missing. Since AirPlay is a propriety protocol that Apple developed, we don’t expect it to come to Android ever.
Although several third-party apps on the Google Play Store let you wirelessly stream audio and video content from your smartphone, nothing comes close to this built-in solution. This is why we want Google to crack the code and bring similar functionality to Android devices natively.
Back in 2020, Google managed to bring an AirDrop-like functionality called Nearby Share to Android 11 devices. So, we won’t be surprised if the company is working on something similar to AirPlay for the Android platform.
2. FaceTime
FaceTime is Apple’s video calling service that comes baked into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices. Thanks to its simplicity and seamless functionality, FaceTime is extremely popular among Apple users.
On the bright side, Android users can finally join FaceTime calls from their devices thanks to iOS 15’s FaceTime on the web functionality, but you’ll still need a friend with an Apple device to actually start the call and share the link with you.
Android devices have access to a similar built-in video calling feature in the form of Google Duo, but it’s not nearly as popular since most users rely on third-party apps for video calling. Therefore, we wish Apple would bring the FaceTime app to Android devices at some point down the line.
3. iMessage
Apple’s iMessage service is one of the biggest reasons most iPhone users hesitate to switch to an Android device. If your circle of friends is mostly Apple users, switching to an Android phone would mean feeling left out of iMessage groups.
Android users may have gotten a taste of FaceTime via its web functionality, but unlike its video calling service, iMessage will probably never see the light of the day on Android devices, as Apple knows it brings a lot of users to its ecosystem.
4. Live Text in Videos
When Apple introduced Live Text alongside iOS 15, Android users quickly pointed out that Google Lens had this functionality for quite a while and that Apple was late to the game. Well, in iOS 16, Apple took Live Text to the next level by bringing the same text detection functionality to videos. How cool is that?
You can pause any video in Safari or the Photos app to quickly copy text content to your iOS clipboard. Live Text in videos can come in handy when you want to take down notes from an online lecture, tutorial, and whatnot. That said, you’ll need an iPhone XS, iPhone XR, or later to take advantage of this feature.
5. Lift Subject From Background With Visual Lookup
Visual Lookup is yet another feature that works similarly to Google Lens in the sense that you can use it to identify objects like landmarks, plants, animals, etc., and get more information on them. However, with the iOS 16 update, Apple integrated a machine learning feature into Visual Lookup that lets you lift a subject from a background and paste it into another app.
All you need to do is long-press on an identifiable object, and Visual Lookup will lift it. You can be really creative with this feature and use it to make fun stickers and emotes or remove the background from any image on your iPhone.
Google Lens doesn’t offer a similar feature, and the closest thing you’ll find on an Android device is the Magic Eraser tool that Google introduced with the Pixel 6 lineup. Unfortunately, this tool does quite the opposite—it removes unwanted objects from the background.
6. Drag and Drop
Drag and drop is a feature that iOS devices have had for a few years, but with the recent iOS 15 software update, drag and drop now works system-wide. You can drag content from one app and drop it into another to replace the copy-and-paste action. This works better in iPadOS with Split View and Slide Over.
Apple has managed to perfect drag and drop over the years, but unfortunately, even the most recent Android 13 update doesn’t offer this functionality, which is quite a bummer.
7. Offloading Apps
Offloading apps is a unique way to save storage on your iPhone. Apple allows iOS users to remove unused apps while keeping their files and data intact, so you don’t have to start all over again the next time you install it. You can save gigabytes of storage space by setting an iPhone to offload unused apps automatically.
Unfortunately, Android users don’t have access to a similar feature and, therefore, they need to rely on third-party apps to quickly free up space on their devices.
8. Battery Health Check
A few years ago, Apple got into trouble for intentionally slowing down its iPhones to compensate for battery degradation. Shortly after the public backlash, the company introduced a new feature that allows iOS users to conveniently check an iPhone’s battery health. When battery health goes below 80%, iOS prompts users to get their battery serviced or replaced.
There’s no built-in way to check the battery health of an Android device, but you do have other options, which include a third-party app that gives you additional information about the battery.
9. Hide My Email With iCloud+
Apple is very strict about user privacy across its devices, and over time, it has made several changes to iOS and the App Store to improve security. Alongside iOS 15, Apple introduced its iCloud+ service, which gives users access to the Hide My Email feature and a hidden VPN-like service called Private Relay.
While Google already offers a similar VPN service in the form of VPN by Google One, it doesn’t have something similar to the Hide My Email feature for Android devices yet.
Hide My Email, for those who don’t know, allows you to use a random email address while signing up for websites. This random address will automatically forward all the emails it receives to your personal inbox.
Thanks to this feature, you can use a random email address while keeping your personal email address completely private whenever you create a new account on a website.
10. Shared with You in Messages
Apple has mastered the art of segregating the content you receive in the Messages app with the iOS 15 update. Shared with You works together with Apple’s stock apps and puts shared content where it belongs, so it’s ready for you when you launch the relevant apps.
For example, let’s say your friend shared a link to a webpage. The next time you launch Safari, this particular link will show up under the Shared with You section on your start page.
Google has not yet found a way to smartly integrate content with its stock Messages app and, therefore, you’ll have to manually scroll around and find the content your contacts shared with you.
11. Focus Filters
Focus Mode is available on both Android and iOS devices, but Apple takes it up a notch with Focus filters in iOS 16. Consider this an extension or improvement of the existing Focus feature that Apple introduced alongside iOS 15 in 2021.
With Focus filters, the Focus you set can work within Apple apps, like Safari, Messages, Mail, and Calendar, to filter out distracting content. For example, if you have turned on Work Focus on your iPhone, Safari will only show you the tabs related to work to minimize distractions.
While Google introduced a proper Focus Mode that can rank distracting apps alongside Android 13, it still doesn’t integrate with apps to hide distracting content.
There’s Still No Clear Winner Between iOS and Android
Comparisons between iOS and Android have been going on forever, but you can safely say there’s no clear winner to this day. Sure, iOS acts more like a walled garden, whereas Android is generally more open and feature-packed, but Apple still manages to stand out with the unique set of features above that seamlessly work across its devices.
In the end, the software alone isn’t the deciding factor for most people, which is why you’d need to compare the top-of-the-line iPhones with the latest Android flagships to get a better idea on this subject. As much as we love both operating systems, the hardware you choose can go a long way in determining the overall user experience.