Apple calls iOS 26 The biggest update for iPhones for some time, and it has many new features to show. However, if you look at carefully, you will realize that many new tips are strangely familiar because Android phones have had them for some time.
From the projection of calls to live translation and even the care of timer, Apple seems to borrow more features from Android than ever.
I saw the dynamic locking screen clock before
With iOS 26, you can change the size of the locking screen clock as it occupies almost half of the screen. Although the clock is supposed to modify its size dynamically according to your wallpaper, you can also adjust it manually.
Yes, this is a new addition, but it is not something that Apple thought from zero. For years, Android phones on both sides of the price spectrum allowed users to adjust the size of the locking screen clock, as well as the police, color and style.
Android phones have charged charges for years
Another minor but crucial change in the locking screen of your iPhone is the addition of the charging timer. When connected, iOS 26 iPhones display the remaining time until the battery loads up to 80%. This does not change the way you load your iPhone, but it gives you an idea when you will have about a day of battery life.
However, this particular locking screen function is part of the Android operating system and several other personalized user interfaces built above years. It is sure to say that the charging timer is another page that the company has taken from the Google game book.
The adaptive power of iOS 26 sounds like Google’s adaptive battery
The adaptive battery is a functionality on Android smartphones which extends the life of the battery by limiting the activity of the background application, by learning your usage habits (including charging times) and by reducing performance.
Apple introduced similar feature in iOS 26 called adaptive power (settings> battery> power mode). It is available on all iPhones that support Apple Intelligence, which means iPhone 15 pro or more recent models.
Like the adaptive battery function on Android, the adaptive power supply extends the battery life “by making performance adjustments” when “the use of the battery is higher than usual”. However, unlike its Android counterpart, the functionality is based on automatic learning to predict when your iPhone will need an additional battery life.
Pixel phones have been tied for calls for years
Another great iOS feature that Apple borrowed from Android is calling for calls. As its name suggests, the functionality helps the calling on the iOS 26 user screen according to their name and the reason for the call (a robotic voice collects this information and displays it on the screen as your iPhone sounds). The functionality uses live voicemail to display a transcription of the words of the caller.
However, the call screening function is a few steps behind the Google call screen. First, the Bot Ai of the latter is much more conversational; It’s more natural. On more recent pixel devices, the bot can also generate contextual responses depending on what the other person says. Google also offers automatic filtering, while Apple’s functionality simply collects all the information and allows you to make a decision.
This is not one of the cases where Apple copies something Android and improves it, but it surely fills the gap in daily features that use artificial intelligence between Android and iOS.
Hold Assist is similar to the taking of Google for me
Another iOS 26 feature that already exists on the Android operating system is Hold Assist. The idea is to save you from the misery of waiting on hold and hearing boring music for an uncertain time.
Hold Assist automatically detects when an agent puts the call on hold and displays the prompt “maintaining this call” on the screen. Once you have activated the functionality, he actively listens to the call and informs you when a live agent is available. Although it informs you with a ring, the functionality also indicates to the agent that you will return under the call shortly.
It is great that iOS 26 users can now move away from their phone without worrying about boring maintenance music and miss the agent’s return, but the feature has already been available on Pixel phones for about five years (seriously, Apple, you are far too slow).
Samsung beat Apple with a live translation for calls
In 2024, Samsung presented Live Translate for vocal calls, powered by Galaxy AI. The functionality allows a real -time voice translation which takes place entirely on the device (as long as you have downloaded the required voice pack). About about a year and a half later, Apple equipped its latest iPhone operating system with a similar feature called Live Translation.
However, this is one of the few instances (like the screen always on) where I prefer the implementation of Apple. In iOS 26, translations are pronounced on the voice of the other person, which helps to maintain a natural flow in the conversation. With the AirPods Pro 3, you can have a conversation hands free with someone who speaks a different language, without using the iPhone.
Apple Wallet finally supports digital identifiers
With Google Wallet, Android users can store a digital version of their government identifier, such as a passport or driving license, in the Google Wallet application (the functionality has existed for more than six months). This allows users to store their physical IDs safely and provides a secure means of checking in selected locations, such as TSA control points.
In a future version of iOS 26 (to come in 2025), the Apple portfolio will be able to do the same thing, allowing you to present your digital passport via your iPhone or Apple Watch. To present the ID, you must use the same Face ID or the contact ID used during registration. You can also use the new feature “Check with Wallet on the web” to allow websites and applications to access your identity.
Highlight to search or surround to search?
At this stage, the Google research circle is one of the most popular visual research features. He recognizes what is on your screen (or the part you have surrounded) and uses the powerful visual search Google Lens to find out more about the object.
This particular feature arrived on iOS 26 as “surviving of research”. Do you see what Apple did there? Everything about the functionality – the animation with which he marks the selected part, to the way he recovers the information available on Google – is terribly similar to the circle for research.
The history and the Imessage surveys are not entirely new
This is not exactly something that belongs to Android, but rather something that was available for Android and iOS devices as part of third -party messaging services, such as WhatsApp. I’m talking about cat history and personalized surveys in group cats.
With iOS 26, you can create personalized chat backgrounds in Apple messages, using the image playing field tool, defining a personality or tone for a cat. In group cats, you can create surveys to take into account the world of everyone before deciding a place for a group release or the film that everyone watches the weekend.
The places visited by Apple Maps are “borrowed” from the chronology of Google Maps
There are many similarities between the new Visit Place feature on Apple Maps and Google Maps Timeline. First of all, the two are optional features that are deactivated by default (which is a good thing). When activated, they automatically follow your location to record the places you visit, such as restaurants, cafes, cinemas or even cities. Later, you can review the story of the places visited and revisit a place.
Although the two features allow you to share your places visited, organize them and delete your history, Apple Maps goes further using end -to -end encryption to store the data.
With iOS 26, Apple fills the gap with Android by adopting several features that have already existed for years. While some of them are more polite than their Android counterparts, others still have catch -up to be made.
Consult our list of 10 iPhone settings that you need to modify after upgrading to iOS 26. Want to explore certain iOS 26 hidden features? Here are 14 to help you start.
