The war between pure and hard iOS users and fans of the best Android phones raged since smartphones were invented (or even more, it looks like). The two camps say that their respective devices offer exclusive functionalities of the operating system, and although this is true in some cases, they often get wrong.
The story of Android is confusing, with Google, killing on several occasions and then readed the popular functionalities. So, if you have been out of the ecosystem for some time, it is difficult to know what Android popular features really offer in 2025.
For example, many iOS users seem to have false ideas on the features to which Android users have access. If you look at online or ask some of my friends, you would think that Android users were cave men who only used their phones or tablets to trigger a fire.
This is not in reality, however, and most, if not all, the main iOS features have a kind of Android equivalent. In several cases, “the Android equivalent” is in fact prior to the iOS version, sometimes more than a decade.
So, let’s take a look at six iOS features that have been provided to me are proof of iOS supremacy … and which are all available on Android.
1. Widgets
I am surprised by the number of Apple fans tried to win me by telling me how revolutionary widgets turned out to be on their iPhones, clearly not knowing the history of their phone.
When widgets were introduced to Apple 14 devices with iOS 14, Android fans had already spent years tired by saying “it’s already on Android” with each new iOS wave. This may explain why they did not do enough song and dance on how this feature of “killer” widgets was once a sale of sale in the heart of Android phones.
It was back with Android 1.5 that the widgets were introduced, but obviously, in 2009, they were not as advanced as today. And Android phones have had widgets since.
You can very easily get widgets on your Android phone, with the full list of widgets inflating with each new application that you download. They are really useful, with very few functional differences between the way they are implemented on Android and iOS.
2. Face ID
Fans of iOS curiously insign up that Face ID is one of the killer characteristics of iphones. As you can guess from its inclusion in this list, Android has an equivalent, with an advantage and a drawback.
I should modify my declaration immediately: a few Android phones are unlocking facial recognition. It depends on the model by model, because it is a functionality supported by the hardware, not on software, on androids and some older models do not have it.
But most of the new Android phones allow you to configure and use the face unlock instead of, or a password or a fingerprint scanner.
The drawback is that these Android phones do not have tailor -made facial scanning cameras, where iPhones scan your facial structure to unlock your device. Theoretically, it means your double or someone with a really realistic mask could Unlock your phone on Android, but I never had a problem with the total of foreigners who unlock my phone.
The advantage on the Face ID is that … Well, it works reliably. Anyone who has used Face ID knows that it will refuse you access for the smallest thing: maybe you wear glasses or have a happier expression than usual, or wear your fringe in a different way. It makes me go up the wall on my iPad, and I never had a problem on Android.
3. Air words
Android devices have an Airdrop equivalent which works roughly the same way, but is only known by a fraction of its users.
This is called fast sharing, and you will see it as an option each time you press the “Share” button on a file, a photo or a video. The problem is that being sought on a quick sharing is deactivated by default, so you must activate it in the quick settings menu of your Android phone so that the files are shared with you.
This feature works as well as Airdrop in what files can easily be placed between nearby devices. In fact, I prefer it, as you can choose who can send you things as soon as you turn on the function, reducing strange requests to total foreigners. On the iPhone, you must modify this parameter yourself after activating Airdrop.
One thing to note is that Quick Share was published in 2020, and therefore much older Androids, which do not support the updates of new operating systems, may not have access to functionality.
4. Find devices
Apple has popular search for my function, which you can use to follow your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and other products. You’ve probably seen online screenshots when people leave their airpods in remote or distant places.
This is not a feature that Apple users alone, because Google has something very similar.
In 2024, Google revitalized its research application (which had existed – I have used it for years when I cannot be disturbed to look for my phone), bringing useful features with it.
This application, which has a browser counterpart, allows you to follow the devices associated with your Google account, including phones, tablets, headphones and tracking beacons. You can see on a card where they are, play a sound to help you locate the device and, if you have a Nest device, discover your proximity to the lost gadget.
Using the web browser, there is also a way to secure or reset lost devices, which is excellent if your phone has been stolen and you want to wipe your personal data.
5. Contactless payments
To write this article, I did research on forums like Reddit to see what iOS includes people influenced by the operating system via Android. And I was amazed to see that several times, people mentioned the possibility of paying things directly on your phone.
Just say that Apple Pay has a near and almost identical rival in the form of Android Pay Google Wallet. Okay, I can see how confusion would happen.
For years, Android phones have given you a way to make payments directly from your device using NFC (communication in the nearby field), as long as you have loaded your bank card on your phone. It is easy and quick to use, and you can load several cards in the application.
However, Google continues to change the name of the payment system, so that I can see how people could be confused. This was called Android Pay from 2015 to 2018, then Google Pay, but even it was folded in the Google separate portfolio a few years ago.
So, if you thought that closing the Google Pay app meant that Android phones could not make contactless card payments, don’t worry, they can still.
6. Genmoji
I put this option at the end of the list not because it is not an excellent feature, but purely because it is something that I targeted lyrical on Techradar before. Android has its own version of Genmoji (and did it since before that Apple introduces its AI slal) and it is probably my favorite thing about Android.
Meet Emoji Kitchen, which allows you to combine two different emojis in a new creative sticker. It is available to use on most messaging applications and also on Chrome
Unlike Genmoji, which uses an AI genetive like Frankenstein to spy on two emojis together, the options of Emoji Kitchen were all created by humans. They are much more imaginative and fun than all Genmoji offers, and I am constantly surprised by some of the strange options she offers (that someone has chosen to design!).
There is not much to say about Emoji Kitchen that I have not already chatted, but if you are interested in the way it works, consult my in-depth functionality guide.
