Apple

My biggest advantage in my house is AirPlay 2. I’m not 100% sure if android now has access to AirPlay as well, but I use it every single day in every room of my house.

And the fact that all my friends that visit can use it as well, without any type of “pairing” is a plus.

IOS is the caring spouse, Android is the fun boyfriend/girlfriend. Decide what relationship you want. This is my summary after 15yrs w these two.

Define feature

Is having an IR blaster (android) an actual feature to you? Is making some avatars like memoji, or use emojis as 3d filters on video calls (ios) an actual feature to you?

Noone can just make a list with all ‘features’. There are so many of them, on both iOS and Android, useful or useless, it always comes to preferences.

Since most of this sub would probably be iphone users since always (like me) we cant really know all the features on Android, to compare them. Some iPhone users dont even know all the features of iOS.

The only practical thing i can say about iOS is the integration and finish of the features. As we all know all the features in this world first appeared on Android, but when Apple makes them, they become standards in phone industry

If all you want is a list of iOS’s advantages, I’ll try:

• iMessage and Facetime (they are literally what a phone needs to be an iPhone, biggest advantage imo)

• (smooth and easy integration in) Apple ecosystem

• consistency

• a more controlled enviorment for the devices as in available apps / accesories (yes, ‘limited’ but safe, thats why it comes to preferences)

• cameras, in the right hands

• security (bash me for this one as much as you want, sideloading and jailbreaking are not for the average user, so they cant get malware on their iOS even if they tried to)

• homebar, dynamic island, silence switch/action button

and as advantages to iPhone itself

• hardware and its integration

• resell value

I have the 14 pro max I only got due to a BOGO deal Verizon had. I still much prefer my Android gaming phone over the iphone. The iphone has nice facetime calling and that's about it for me as far as it's usefulness. The android I download music for free, play games, download cool apps outside of the app store, etc.

The magic wi-fi password sharing is neat. If you’re trying to connect to the same network as one of your friends, they get a pop up to share the password with you to save you typing it in. I think it can all be mediated over Bluetooth so it works even if you have no signal.

Privacy.

There are still pros and cons. I use both for specific reasons.

iOS > Android

1. On-screen fingerprint on Android just doesn’t work for me, even with the Face detection thing was turned on. It fails more..so I always end up using the pattern or number pin code..with Face ID, even with surgical masks on, ios can detect in a snap.

2. Android’s camera loads so slow from lock screen. I can quickly pull out my iPhone from my pocket and still get the shot. With Android, even the latest model, couldn’t beat it. I’d surely miss the moment. (I always carry 2 phones with me)

3. Clarity of camera (good lighting) if you’re into pixel peeping. Android wins on night shots tho, no doubt. Sunset/sunrise, too. iOS tops for diffused lighting/portraits. Perfect skin tone, no adjustments. Androids make skin tones a bit reddish and wipe out impurities (probably in the settings which you have to tweak for the first time I guess)

4. I get more typo on android keyboard for me. I feel like the touch screen (target?) isn’t as precise as on the ios’. Sorry not familiar with terms

5. Apple Shortcuts. Automate. Sample use case: when you charge your phone it goes on low power mode, turns off wifi and data to charge faster. Less heating up It can program calculations (sample use case: price costing on the go. Input cost, it’ll provide different tiers of selling price with its margin) which you have to use third party apps for Android.

6. IMO iOS has a cleaner interface. Minimal. It just displays what you need. Not much on customization (personal preference)

7. GPS!! I use the same phone network and the Android always mess up with the directions on way out of some village. It gives me different directions as it redirects to another road…which i rarely encounter with ios.

8. Probably the best part is I can use Android to charge iOS since Android has a longer battery life even with the mobile data turned on 24/7. I haven’t tried to charge the other way around since the iPhone always drains out first.

9. Screen resolution. The color tones on 4K movies on Android messes up the colors!! Too red skin tone. With iPhone, nothing to tweak.

10. Android wins on having built-in pens to write notes or fill out and sign quick documents.

I could list so much more lol I use iOS as my main. Android for company phone.

I chose the iPhone se(2016) as my first phone back in 2018. My first apple device was the first iPad mini from 2012 which I still use today.

I had the option to get pretty much any phone I desired as long as it fit my budget of $400. At that budget (and time), you wouldn't get that long of software support so it was an easy choice. iPhones last much longer than their android counter parts. Five years later, my sister got handed down my iPhone SE. Many of my friends with androids upgrade every 2-3 years while I can get double the mileage with an iPhone.

Now, there's a lot of good mid-range androids that offer a comparable/better experience than the iPhone such as the Pixel 6a/7a and the s23fe. Will they last as long as my iPhone? Maybe. But Apple did this a long time ago. Android's playing catch up here. And longevity is very important for an average user especially if you're willing to buy something that isn't <$200.

As you can tell from my flair, I've decided to stay with iPhones. I believe android has more features, but iOS has many advantages. Features =/= advantages. Key detail.

• App quality. This is the biggest reason why I chose iOS in the first place. My experience with android has always been lackluster when it comes to app quality in pre-2015 era. Even now on my 2021 Galaxy Tab, apps work much better on iOS. It's actually quite saddening to see google apps work better on iOS. Features even come faster on iOS. Although, android users do have a Gboard app that's miles better.
• Airdrop/iMessage/Facetime. These are the biggest reason I imagine people who are in the ecosystem appreciate. I only have an iPhone but the fact that I'm in the US, having iMessage, airdrop, and Facetime is much more useful. Everyone knows about airdrop yet no one knows about nearby share because Apple's marketing works. These advantages aren't mitigated outside the US either if you're in the ecosystem. RCS coming to iPhone next year will somewhat mitigate this advantage but Airdrop and Facetime aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
• Timely software updates. iPhones get updates the same day all over the world. With android, you have to wait until Google decides to give you the update which sometimes takes months. You'll notice that many more people are on the latest update of iOS but there's still a bunch of people on Android 11 and 12.
• No useless bloatware. From what I've seen, only the Pixel and Asus have close to none bloatware. I know you can delete the bloatware with ADB but it's nice to have none of it in the first place.

These are some noteworthy features off the back of my head:

• Find My(Ultra wideband). Google's trying to catch-up but Apple's implementation is superior. You're telling me that I can spend $30 on an airtag and can track my car all over the world without GPS? Samsung has their own version but Apple wins here because the more iPhones there are in an area, the more accurate the airtag will be. So if you live in an iPhone-concentrated area, this is a clear advantage.
• Face ID. It really is a game-changer. Works in the dark and even if you wear a mask.
• Security options. In settings, you can choose to opt out of a lot of first-party and third-party data collecting. No android stands up to Apple's security. To get something better than that on android, you would need to install GrapheneOS on Pixel, but that renders a loss of a lot of features.
• Proper backup/restore feature. Not many people talk about this but when you backup an iPhone, it backs up everything. And considering both Android and iOS are pretty buggy these days, iOS gets you back running a fresh OS copy with minimal bugs. Google's version doesn't perform as well and doesn't backup as much data.

Now I can list all the features/advantages android has over iOS but you seem to get the idea. On paper, android is better hardware-wise and software-wise. But it's also why they're worse. Top of the end androids have much better specs as iPhones but usually will lack something software-wise while others like the pixel offer a better software experience but lack in hardware quality.

iPhones are the the best average phone. When you look at iOS, you have to look at the iPhone, but when you look at android you look at multiple devices with different advantages and disadvantages. I know many android users that wish they had an iPhone but with Android instead of iOS. Across the years, many long-term android users switch to iOS as iOS slowly adopts/copies those android features they can't live without. I think MrWhosetheBoss made a great video on how iOS can only improve because it's behind Android while Android will eventually level off. You already see android copying features from iOS in A14.

Also there are features you'd think that aren't available on iOS such as sideloading, chrome and firefox extensions support, customization etc. Although they're limited compared to android, they are still possible on iOS.

TLDR: Not many advantages/features over android. But it's the experience long-term that counts. Apple hasn't been taking full potential of iOS and what it's capable of. They're slowly getting there.

I’m a long time android user that’s been getting into the iPhone.

I think you said something key “androids just have far far more features than iOS does.”

This doesn’t really matter at the end of the day because if even on paper iPhone has 50% less features, it’s still dominant. Sometimes, less is more. So it’s really about quality and meaningful features, not numbers.

OP I’m curios, I’d like to get your input on what do you consider your top 4 favorite android features?

All apps that exist on both ecosystems are more optimized for IOS.

It. Just. Works.

As an android user, I can say that one main advantage iOS has is better app design/optimization. Just the other day I was using the McDonald's app and a little survey window popped up and it looked like it was from 2008, I mean it was UGLY! Mismatched design ideology is actually fairly common in even popular modern apps on Android. With that being said, as someone who likes making apps, android has it's advantages. You can download the tools to make an app and start making Android APK files for free. This means you can make yourself an app and keep it on your phone permanently without paying for a developer account. I remember when I was doing iOS development you were only able to "test drive" the app for free and after like a week or two the app would delete itself.

Mostly personal preference. iOS just feels so much faster and optimized to me. Also the hardware looks more attractive and feels better in the hand.

Troll

The ease of use. My grandma isn’t technological but she knows how to use an iPhone? iMessage, FaceTime etc just WORK. no downloading WhatsApp, no creating a Google, Facebook acct etc. just tap her name and FaceTime away. She needs help with something? SharePlay. AirDrop. Everything just works

I always wonder why Android users have these delusions that Android has more features than iOS.

Because the truth of the matter is, features on iOS is simply better defined that the crazy world of iOS.

When you talk about iOS, 15 has more than 14 has more than 13 and so on. Rarely does a feature that existed on the previous model of iOS goes missing on the current model.

Android? Be ready for features to come and go, because now you have to factor in manufacturers, Google itself, etc etc. Notwithstanding the fact that Google has start to offer features than are behind paywalls - case in point, some extra photo editing features you need a google drive subscription to have.

And Google can always change their minds. Used to be that using google photo was an advantage since you can upload for free - that now is gone.

In the end though, I leave you with this point - When you talk about features, are you talking about the OS or the associated feature that came with specific apps - Cause we have Google apps in iOS.

Barring Apple Music, not sure what else you have from Apple in Android.

I'm a Samsung kind of guy and I think Android is just vastly more flexible than iOS (not needing to jailbreak just to install emulators for one), BUT I do think overall security is superior on iOS. I have run across malware situations on Android that I never experienced on iPhone. If you use banking apps and such and are paranoid about that, stick with iOS. To me, that little extra reassurance isn't worth it to give up all the things that make Android such a better experience, but to each their own.

Shortcuts.

For me it’s that the apps are so much better designed on iOS and usually work without breaking. They’re also much more integrated into products than Android.

It’s been 6 years since I switched over to iOS and that was the deciding factor for me. I was tired of never getting the needed support to get apps to work as advertised.

Security, better feature implementation (it just works), best in class chipset, battery life, security, scummy adds, build quality etc etc

I’ve switched between both many times and iPhone is just better. It’s faster, it lasts longer (years-wise), the price doesn’t drop so quickly, the performance lasts longer, and it has much better privacy (if that matters). Big advantage is the ecosystem….again. But it truly is. Also the family “services” as better.

Disadvantages are that you are locked, it’s not easy to leave and even services which should be platform independent are not. Or are terrible.

And…be careful if you are using Google services and their cloud. Docs, photos…you won’t be able to take your data back as files. It’s almost impossible to export them in a useful format/structure. This is not truth for Apple.

But as being said. The most important is what suits you best.

I just recently used a 1+ open for 11 days. It was such an amazing device and Android has come a long ways since the days of Jellybean. But there’s still things that annoy me about Android. Android auto being one of the main pain points, it’s just so bad. Also I still hate how apps don’t have feature parity between OSes.

I returned the phone 3 days before this news was announced dang it, I might have kept the phone if this news had been announced sooner. Yes it certainly all comes down to preference and I still prefer iOS at the moment.

Well Android devices are inherently fragmented while Apple employs a unified experience or central voice to their operating system.

I was one of those pro Android debaters up until 2018 when my wife convinced me to try Apple for a month. After about two weeks of customization withdrawal I was absolutely hooked to IOS. IOS just feels like a more polished experience over Android while Android feels like they’re too many competing perspectives on what the operating system should be.

I also haven’t used a Google app since 2019 including maps and the search engine.

For the first time I realized that it’s not about the best hardware but about the user experience and I find myself using my Apple phone far more thanI ever did an Android.

What annoyed me the most with the last Android I had was that the „original“ Android has a certain „skin“ on it which is different between manufactures. I had 2 settings menues and couldn’t really figure out why. It’s not that I studied technical IT or work in IT for 20 years. And it was just so not straight forward to use. And even though it may have more feature than iOS - most of them don’t work flawlessly. For me this thing just has to work. And that’s what iPhones do.

Bonus: if I sell the iPhone after 2 years of usage I get back a lot of the price.

Blue bubbles.

One thing that not many people are mentioning here is Swift. Swift is the programming language that is preferred for all apple products, and the vast majority of apps are written in it. Swift was purpose designed for apple, so it unlocks magnitudes better performance for apps than other languages. It integrates directly with apples hardware in a great way, and is a much better developer experience as well. This allows for a few big benefits:

• App Uniformity: since apps are built using the same basic components, there’s a big conformity in the design language of the entire user experience. It’s insanely good for users. Buttons all have haptics, animations are the same smoothness, notifications are all handled the same way, etc.

• Development: since it’s all the same software, and since the software integrates directly with the hardware, there’s a much better developer experience. Everything works. When apple updates software versions, oftentimes new features are able to directly plug into old ones. For example, the Dynamic Island uses the Now Playing API, meaning that music app developers didn’t need to change anything when updating for those phones. Their apps automatically use the island.

• Cross Device Support: one app written in swift, with a few adjustments, can work on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It’s easy to make a version for the watch. All iPad apps work on the AR headset without ANY changes required from developers. When a new phone with a new form factor comes out, most apps still work.

Compare this to android, which has many official languages. Kotlin, Java, React Native, and C++, to name a few. android APIs for these are common, and pretty good, but not nearly as good as swift. Going point by point:

• App Uniformity: there are app style guidelines, but they’re not nearly as assertive in the programming language as Swift. Different languages operate differently, so apps are often wildly different between each other on the same phone. Everything works differently, and especially between languages. This means that every android feature also needs to work and be accessible on every language, which is not always true. So you end up with buttons that don’t feel the same, menus that are inconsistently sized, and apps that don’t work well with each other.

• development: a lot of android developers typically just port their mobile sites to android. While this is valid, it’s introducing a lot of possible bugs and areas for lag where a real homegrown app wouldn’t.

• cross Device Support: when you make an app for android, you need to test it across literally hundreds of different devices. You have wide ranges of form factors to ensure support with, including folding phones, tablets, phones with cutouts, windows devices running android, etc. it’s a massive pain. Swift and iOS take care of that translation for you, meaning one app already works on all iPhones if it was coded for one. But on android, not only do you have different phones and different versions of android, you also have each company making their own flavor of android. So you have to test for those manufacturer versions too, each of which has their own API, quirks, etc.

Also, this is subjective, but a lot of developers prefer the syntax in Swift over Java and Kotlin.

All of this culminates for a better experience for the user and also developers, and higher quality and performance apps on iPhones.

I still believe that iOS is more secure than android, but that’s literally because Apple controls the software. Apple’s also great at rapid security responses to patch security breaches, and hacking/exploiting an iPhone is a bit harder, not to say android isn’t secure either.

App optimizations is one as well. Typically iOS apps receive far more attention than android counterparts. There’s tons of different android devices than there are Apple, so you can tell which would be easier to optimize and update.

iOS looks the same on everyone’s device. That may sound like a disadvantage, but you get past the initial learning curve of using an iPhone the first time, you could pick up somebody else’s iPhone and know how to navigate it. You’d have the same gestures, button for Siri, control center, etc. it’s a blessing but a curse.

I always find funny the argument that Apple copies features from android, which is true to an extent. Android has something for a few phones, then removes it a few iterations later. Apple refines feature the “Apple way” that android had previously. Android brings feature back and it’ll literally look like a skin from Apple’s feature. Everybody’s pointing fingers at each other.

As other’s said. It’s preference. You’d be happy with both, especially since they’ve both matured quite nicely.