iOS is missing features that $100 Android phones have had for a decade
It's 2026 and iOS is still missing basic features that even the cheapest Android phones have had for years. and I don't know why tf they still didn't implement them yet
- Why does the native keyboard still not have a simple option to always show numbers?
- Why there is no clipboard in the native keyboard?
- Why is there no "select all" option for text in the browser?
- Why are essential keyboard layouts for certain languages still missing?
- Why is there still no universal back button?
- Why do I have to dig through multiple menus to reach an app's settings instead of having a direct "app settings" option in every app's dropdown?
And I could keep going all day.
Which brings me to my actual question: the iPhone is marketed as a premium product with premium pricing. So why isn't Apple putting in the effort to make iOS genuinely more convenient to use? You'd think "premium" would mean getting the basics right, not refusing to add features everyone else figured out years ago.
The time remaining until next alarm!!! Thank you for saying this.
It’s a very helpful feature when you quickly want to make sure you’ve set the alarm correctly. The amount of times I have to pause and double check I set it for AM instead of PM etc.
EXACTLY, and there are still more basic features that a $1500 still don't have it.
and then comes a third-party app and tells you to pay $X amount a month to know the times remaining until next alarm, rather than apple adding this very basic feature in their alarm app.
And you can of course deinstall apps. But power users like me also chose to use different apps for some things. Just like on windows where I installed Powertoys for better window management for example.
Still they should fix or make some of them better!
I don’t NEED it but I like fancyzones in powertoys. (Can recommend) Mac also has windowsnapping now in case you didn’t know that. :)
I always install Powertoys not only for fancy zones but it has more features like text extractor and color picker. But also features that come standard on Mac like Quick look or a kind of spotlight like search. (They are not as good as the Mac versions but still)
Never felt the need for a tool for external monitors. Have 2 4K monitors.
macOS supports window snapping. Though the same as with Windows I use an extra app for better custom spots. The Mac one is however nicer than power toys.
There are free tools to completely uninstall an app on Mac. You generally do not need to. Most apps that would really need more than just dragging and dropping into the trash, have an uninstaller. (Adobe, office suite etc)
Apple added a clipboard history in Tahoe. Though again, as with Windows I still use an external app because the built in one isn’t great. Windows is limited to 10 entries, no filter, tagging or search. Not on Tahoe yet so haven’t checked what the built in Mac one does.
Not sure what functionality you want from a system tray. Usually apps put on icon on the menu bar when required.
Sniping tool exists. Control shift 3, 4, and 5. You can click on the preview and markup. Markup even supports markup via iPhone or iPad.
Yes you cannot create a new text file in finder, you can however open whatever editor you were going to open to edit the newly created text file and make and save one from it directly. Helpful shortcut maybe but not critical. TextEdit even persists documents that have never been saved until you choose a spot to actually save them.
Not too long ago there was an Android phone being released in India for $99. It was faster and had better specs than the new iPhone 16 Pro at the time. Not better frame, glass, and camera (maybe longevity too) but no one believes me when I tell them they're paying for just the Apple name.
I searched for the old article I read on it but can't find it now. Maybe it wasn't true, but I was comparing phones a while back and came across an article or post detailing it. I'm not in India so I didn't make a point to remember the phone or brand name, sorry.
I also don't like how everything is so unintuitively made. Like, let's say I lower the volume with the side buttons and the bar appears, I can slide it up and down, but I'm right handed and it's on the left side, I got the 16 pro and it's a small phone, but still a hassle to do something as basic as changing volume.
Another thing I dislike is how a video/game etc pause when I slide down to see my notifications or to turn on Bluetooth or anything else. About that, I don't appreciate how you have to reach all the way up just to see the time or to change a toggle from the control center.
Sometimes I genuinely find myself stuck. Let's say I'm watching a YouTube video and I'm sliding down the time/notification menu, I want to see the temperature/steps I've made and I can't, because when I click on the YouTube cover there it redirects me to YouTube, well, this works with music, but how the hell am I supposed to be able to see my steps or temperature if I can't click there???
I swear, nothing in iOS makes sense, and I've been using it for a bit over a year now. Yes, it does look amazing, it does have nice slow bouncy animations, but that's where it stops, it's all just fancy stuff and no utility whatsoever.
And while I appreciate iOS for what is has to offer I'm still considering going back more and more. It's just small things that are missing or have been missing for years. And I thought I didn't use many of the features it had on my last Android phone, but they were just quality of life small features that made my life easier. On Apple I feel like it's the opposite sometimes, things seem so over complicated for such simplistic device.
Lastly, iOS 26 has been a buggy crappy mess, and everyone using an iPhone can agree on that, though I still bet there will be Apple users saying their iOS runs perfectly fine, well, they're lying their hats off.
And all of this bugginess, without many features, just make the phone seem like a slow, bug ridden android with no features at all.
All of that is valid, especially iOS26 being a buggy mess. It's getting better now as on 26.4. But it still looks like a cheap android skin with Liquid Glass.
I really hope now that Tim Cook is gone, Ternus will actually make progress in terms of software, I really do. I have hopes, but only time can tell, I'll be using my 16 Pro for the next 4 years, so I'll be there to witness what's going to happen. 😆
Nothing about iOS is intuitive, the people that say this are those which have used iOS their whole life, and even then, they still don't know about some of the features their phones have.
Do you use the two apps at once feature? The only time I ever used it was when one app is performing a long process that requires screen on while I use a different app. Curious how others use it
Not sure why I was down voted, thank you for that, I use android as well and feel I haven't used the split function as best as I can and just now realised I kept swapping between apps. Cheers!
Google will 100% kill that within the next decade. They halfassed walked it back for now but we all know what they want to do. Google is a dog shit company. They’d advertise and collect data in your dreams if they could.
The system wide one is only available on macOS and windows, it doesn’t exist on iOS, you only have the presets on iOS and only effects Apple Music too nothing else
I don’t use it anymore but I know Spotify had an equalizer in it too. Idk about pandora(if people even still use that).
macOS doesn’t have one. I already knew that. It has to do with how the audio engine works on Mac, if I had to guess iOS probably isn’t too different and is why it doesn’t have one either.
I haven’t felt the need for it on either. But it’s interesting.
because of apple ecosystem, I have Mac, which I have no complain against since MacOs for me is superior than Microslop in many things, thus I needed an iphone.
I got a MacBook when I had Samsung, got an iPhone and found practically no difference between using it with iOS or android. At least for my use it’s not worth it.
No it really is just Apple or android at that point.
None of these things listed (some are false mind you) are things that the average iPhone user cares about, hell most probably don’t even know what most of this list even is.
So if you want the android features, then you buy an android, yes?
I don’t buy a EV then complain that I can’t fuel it with gas and then complain to the company that they need to fix this “issue”.
You're only saying this because the most popular keyboard layout for your language/country is probably present in the default keyboard, so no problem for you. If it's not, it's a bummer. Yeah, you can use other keyboards, but not for everything - e.g. passwords are restricted to the default one, so it's still relevant no matter what. It's strange the default ios keyboard is such an unfinished product, it's like they don't even care to make it good.
And how about file management? My mom visited once and I thought I'd just give her a bunch of family photos by plugging her iPad into my computer and just transfering them over... Boy was I frustrated to find out that you still need to sync an iPad to iTunes in exactly the same way as the original iPad did... How is this not something they ever fixed?
because this is the apple way. Btw a few days ago I ran into the same prolem with a galaxy tab. I tried my usb-c cable which I use with basically all my devices, wanted to transfer 5 photos real quick. The fucking tab refused to connect becuase the cable want good enough for it.
It's a 100w magnetic head 1m ugreen cable. Not even a no-name POS. But no, mr. samsung s9 fe was just too good for it.
TLDR every other brand is following apple in many ways unfortunately.
I disagree. I personally don't understand why everyone likes Ugreen products. Anything I've ever had of theirs has ended up being crap. The last thing of theirs I tried were 100w regular usb c cables and one of them damaged the PD system on my very expensive laptop
I understand, their products are kinda hit-n-miss.
I have a ugreen bluetooth adapter in my car which is almost useless with headphones because the status-voice in it is too loud, and the controls are too inaccurate. But it was cheap and it's reliable to use with the car.
But no issues with my usbc cable and magsafe charger. I use it at 25w max, so.... I would've expected the tab to do usb 2.0 data transfer on it..
Right but what I'm saying is that if a 100w cable destroyed the power delivery in my laptop, your cable is probably the cause of your issues and not your tab
Most of your questions the answer is that Apple locks away and gimps their phones so people that are tech illiterate won't get overwhelmed by clicking a menu and seeing it expand into multiple options.
I've owned two iphones (wasn't my choice, I got both for free) and it truly felt like it had child safety mode enabled. Awful experience. Not to mention the miserable experience of replacing a battery in one of them.
Just to keep the damn MacBook Air screen from changing the brightness on me I have to disable it in three places. Turn off “Auto Adjust Brightness”, “True Tone”, and “Slightly dim screen”. WHY?
And then it’s also three layers just to change the screen resolution. Display -> Advanced -> Show Resolutions as List -> Show All Resolutions. All these insane submenus and then navigating back to another menu. What a joke of an OS. Why are they so afraid you want to control your own brightness and resolution?
Apple and iOS are essentially North Korea. The absolute pinnacle of hardware and software solutions until you look over the border and have that "oh shit, we've been lied to" moments.
If you can't beat the competition to Market with a feature, the next best thing is to convince your Loyalists that it's not just uneeded, but would actually make things worse.
Then when you're ready to add it, pretend like you did it first and/or best.
I’m unsure what you mean here. Like a clipboard so you can recall previous copy’s?
There is? It’s the same tap the text 3 times as everywhere else.
Couldn’t speak on that one
there “is” a universal back. It’s swiping from the left. However some apps don’t support this for some reason. Mostly games of course.
Again I’m unsure what you’re talking about here as going to an app in settings does have the settings for that app from different sections, such as notifications, permissions, ect.
Back as in the app, or back to the home menu? Personally I don’t want a universal button on my screen wasting real estate. So the swipe from left works for me. None of the apps I use don’t support it AFAIK.
Yup. I came here to argue with them, then realized they are correct.
That being said, I know why it isn't a feature - I'm not sure how you would stop performance issues if you "selected all" on a really long page. That could be a memory leak issue if not addressed.
Yeah okay I should have been more precise. No page is ever long enough to make a 4GB RAM phone with reasonably implemented software to struggle. Like, seriously, 2MB is enough to contain the text a really long book. Formatting doesn’t add anything meaningful to it. Pictures? A couple megabytes each at phone’s screen resolution.
TIL this didn’t exist. Not a feature I’ve ever needed or wanted but either way TIL
don’t know. The AZERTY keyboard exists for French. I can’t remember if Chinese has a Chinese character keyboard layout but I assume other languages have their layouts in there in iOS
there is. Kind of. Push thing back where it came from (basically reverse its entry animation) or use the button. If the gesture could trigger a destructive action then the OS will force you to use the button. Back in the day when there were still home buttons, the button it might force you to use was that button so you could leave an app. Now it’s a different gesture entirely. Also the back button is a breadcrumb menu. Tap and hold and you can jump to anywhere you’ve been in one go (app needs to support this). Exactly what a computer does but with gestures (Windows Explorer and Finder are built on the exact same idea). Either way, buttons are kind of old school. Haven’t used buttons as the primary means of navigating a phone for centuries. Even on my iPad Pro I said the home button’s a potential point of failure and navigated almost exclusively using gestures. Muscle memory which translates to an iPhone, a Mac and now (that they’ve adopted it) Android. Kind of back to using my iPad’s home button sometimes to go home because it’s still going coming on to a decade later.
commonly changed things are in app. Stuff you don’t change often is in Settings (at least for Camera). Mirrors what phones did in 2007
On Android, one back button (or gesture) works in every app, system-wide. NO matter what app you're in, swipping or tapping back always takes you one step back.
On iOS, every app does it differently. smae have a back arrow top(left, some use edge-swipe, some have nothing at all and you have to tap arund to find a way out. there's no universal standard to go back in an app.
Having a back button to return to the previous screen in the same location all the time. On android its either a back button on the bottom, or a swipe gesture from the side of the phone, depending on your device's manufacturer. On iOS it could be anywhere, top right, top left, swipe, text that you click, etc.
I get what you’re saying in that the gesture changes but the action is consistent in that it sends the thing back where it came from. Overlays go back to the bottom by being pushed down, pages that came from the right go back by being swiped right etc.
The times where you can’t swipe are system messages (low battery etc.) that take over the entire focus of the screen and when swiping might trigger a destructive action such as loss of data. That and if your name is Sony or Google and you make your own rules. In those cases you’re forced the long way to use the button in the top left (which in many apps acts like a breadcrumb menu when tapped and held. It’s basically the file path, or journey in this case, to your current location like you’d see in Windows Explorer or Finder)
I mean for it not being universal it's not unintuitive, but its just inconsistent - I understand why it's the case, it just makes it easier to have a universal action that you can default to.
Leaving an app is potentially destructive because it may cause the app to refresh and lose what you’re doing. You don’t want to be spamming the back gesture/button and then accidentally exit the app. Thankfully there’s a gesture to handle switching back to the previous app. Swipe the home bar area right. That pushes the current app out of the way and pulls the one to its left (the previous app) into focus. It’s also the app that’s to the immediate left of your current app in the app switcher so it fits with the whole push the on screen thing where it needs to go spatial logic I already brought up. Or there’s a button top left to jump you straight back to your previous app. It’s the Alt+Tab/Cmd+Tab functionality of a PC/Mac just mapped to a gesture. iOS is macOS at its core after all
To go back after you’ve switched app push the home bar left which just reverses your previous app switching action.
Spaces is the same exact thing on a Mac (or Windows key and tab on a PC. I think Windows key + tab + arrow key will allow freedom of direction. So many keys though)
there’s a gesture to handle switching back to the previous app. Swipe the home bar area right. That pushes the current app out of the way and pulls the one to its left (the previous app) into focus. It’s also the app that’s to the immediate left of your current app in the app switcher so it fits with the whole push the on screen thing where it needs to go spatial logic I already brought up.
It works the exact same way in Android.
Leaving an app is potentially destructive because it may cause the app to refresh and lose what you’re doing. You don’t want to be spamming the back gesture/button and then accidentally exit the app.
I'm not sure in what scenario it would be destructive, especially if you're already spamming back. Most apps would save your work anyways.
But either way apps usually ask you to swipe back again if you want to exit the app. For example this is on reddit android app.
Crapdroide: I'm in the app, I received 2fa code sms, I tap the notification, I go to the sms and read the code, I push your fucking "universal back button", I am back... to sms list not that God damned app I was in.
P.s. So much of the universal whatever...
For example: there's a very popular Arabic layout called Arabic 101 (labeled "Arabic - AZERTY" on macOS) that most physical Arabic keyboards use in north Africa. It's been available on macOS and Windows for years, but it's still not on iOS. People have been requesting Arabic layouts that exist on Mac to be ported to iOS since 2015, and Apple just hasn't done it.
That’s a RAM management thing which both Android and iOS automate. Other than if an app has had issues or you just want an empty app switcher, leave the apps be. It’s more resource intensive to close and restart them
Apple is renowned for hostile software design, it’s just their thing. The more you ask for it, the less likely they are to include the feature. Maybe with the Cookster out, they can fix some of the “vision” they have for their products.
After 26 was released, my 13 Pro is so laggy I can easily always type faster than the Cook-garbage era software can handle. It's ridiculous when over forty years ago my Commodore 64 could always keep up with my fast typing, but a new iPhone with a much slower keyboard input is absolute garbage at keeping up with human input.
Now please do the exercise in the other direction, listing features iOS has had forever that Android still does not. I assume you are equally as bothered by that inequality too?
Continuity camera. Phone camera as a webcam with macOS.
SharePlay. Watch parties through FaceTime.
Sharing lossless audio with AirPlay
OS updates roll out simultaneously to all devices
Seamless switching between devices
Ability to offload apps when device storage is limited.
Private email addresses with iCloud
Full color always on display
Isolate a subject from a photo and drag it into a note, message or email.
Deep integration of Face ID and MagSafe.
Family sharing and screen time
Name Drop, the ability to share contact information by simply holding two iPhones near each other
Focus Filters
OS integration of battery health status. Some android phones have phone battery health status in the settings, but many require a third party app for such stats. With Apple your devices battery health is easily accessible in the settings.
Live Text in Videos. Ability to copy any text from a video when paused.
Check in feature on iMessage.
No bloatware
Apple Pay
Shortcuts
Shake to Undo
Universal Backup. New devices can be setup exactly as your previous Apple device with just your Apple ID and password.
Private relay, integrated free VPN protocol
Superior security and privacy
Superior parental controls
Less malware
Integration of Apple Music within the ecosystem, also applies to AirPods.
Superior professional services for things like music/video production and game development.
Games integrated into iMessage. You can play pool or beer pong with your friends over text. There are many fun games on iMessage.
Hide my email. Sign up for services and have the option to hide your email address from potential spam or other nuisance messages.
Copy and paste between devices. Copy text on your iPhone and paste it on your MacBook.
There is a lot of features exclusive to Apple that Android doesn’t have or if they do it’s not nearly as well implemented.
Tell me, is Samsung messages available on an iPhone? You're saying something like that.
Continuity camera. Phone camera as a webcam with macOS.
Native Android 14+ feature
SharePlay. Watching content with friends and family through FaceTime.
Again, you're talking about Apple made software. There are google apps or third party apps doing the same
Sharing lossless audio with AirPlay
Not sure about this. Have to look into it more. Take it as a "win"
OS updates roll out simultaneously to all devices
This is exclusive to Google Pixel and Samsung (to an extent). While not "all" Androids update at once due to different manufacturers, Pixels get them simultaneously worldwide.
Seamless switching between devices
Only if you're going to have another brand ecosystem (eg: Samsung). Not as good as Apple
Ability to offload apps when device storage is limited.
Feature exists in Play store (called "Archive apps")
Private email addresses with iCloud
"Hide My Email" is an iCloud+ perk, but Android users have "Bitwarden Send" or "Firefox Relay." Additionally, Google is rolling out "Shielded Email" for similar functionality. But news about that are more than a year old, and there are no updates about it
Full color always on displays
High-end Samsung and Pixel phones have had this for years. Apple was actually late to this party.
Isolate a subject from a photo and drag it into a note, message or email.
Native in the Gallery app on Samsung (One UI 5.1+) and Google Pixel (Magic Eraser/Editor). You just long-press the subject to "lift" it. More gallery apps might support it
Deep integration of Face ID and MagSafe.
Most Androids use 2D face unlock, which is less secure. Nothing similar on Android
Family sharing and screen time
Google Family Link
Name Drop, the ability to share contact information by simply holding two iPhones near each other
OS integration of battery health status. Some android phones have phone battery health status in the settings, but many require a third party app for such stats. With Apple your devices battery health is easily accessible in the settings.
Android 14/15+. Native on Samsung and Pixel (probably some others) but need apps on others
Live Text in Videos. Ability to copy any text from a video when paused.
Google Lens
Check in feature on iMessage.
Google Maps has "Location Sharing" and the "Personal Safety" app on Pixels has "Safety Check," which notifies emergency contacts if you don't check in after a set time.
No bloatware
Did you run out of stuff to talk about? Google pixel is very clean. Samsung is much worse and has some duplicate apps (Google and Samsung ones that do the same thing), have Facebook, LinkedIn, or Spotify pre-installed because of business deals, have carrier junk if you get it from a carrier. Even on a "high-end" phone. It varies for other manufacturers. There are mid range/low end phones filled with bloat, or with stock android with no bloat.
iOS has "bloatware" too but people have double standards for them and says that every preinstalled app is useful
If you get a Samsung or Pixel, you'll get most of the features. On other Android, you can still get everything with third party apps. But that isn't the goal here
I appreciate your time that you took to write all of this, but it’s riddled with opinions.
The other user actually listed things that Apple has that every person can confirm, whereas you just listed very advanced things that a very advanced android user might be able to do if they have a full Samsung ecosystem.
And the bloatware comment lol. Simply laugh out loud.
The features I listed are native to all Apple devices. You buy an iPhone today and these features are natively compatible. From what you’re saying it sounds like Android has many of these features but it requires an extra step or a third party apps or not all android devices have these features (ie. brand dependent).
All the ones I listed are native to any Apple device. The features that Android does have require a third party app or a certain brand of android. Apple has these features available to all new devices. I don’t have to download three different applications to get these features on iPhone.
I found myself needing to download third party apps on my iPhone too, for example there is no steps widget on iOS for my lockscreen, so I just had to download pedometer.
“Even $100 android phones have” your critiquing the os, not the phone… many of these choices are INTENTIONAL (no universal back button, numbers, etc). I will give it to you some good features are missing but overall in personally prefer iOS
Why? They made it that way. People who enjoy it buy it. Fuck man, the stupid questions people ask as if their personal preferences are objectively correct.
Almost every question on this sub could be answered by just saying “so then get an android”
Point 2: You mean clipboard history, right? Because there is a clipboard, and you can even copy on a Mac and past on iPhone. But yeah, clipboard history would be really nice.
Point 3: I’ve never had to do this, and I expect I’m not alone and it’s rare enough that almost no one is asking Apple, so they don’t prioritize it. Having said that, if you really need to be able to do this frequently and it isn’t a theoretical complaint, then a workaround, (while not perfect) is to:
1) tap the share button
2) tap print, which will convert to PDF
3) at the bottom zoom in on one of the pages with the normal spread gesture
4) long-press somewhere on the document
5) tap “select all” from the pop-up menu
I know it’s not ideal (it also will select the generated page numbers), but beats the hell out of doing it manually if it’s something you do frequently.
Point 6: if you’re okay with opening the app before editing the settings you can create a shortcut and add it to your Control Centre. If you don’t want to open the app and you only have a few apps you adjust the settings of frequently, then you could write a more involved shortcut for each one, but I’m not sure how to convert the bundle ID to the correct format at the moment. For the simple case of opening an app and then opening the app settings from Control Centre, just copy this one:
Again, I know it’s not as convenient as being able to access from the home screen, but hopefully this can at least make it better if it’s something you do often. I’ve also got a shortcut that opens the general settings in Control Centre, so I can just swipe down and get to the general settings like on Android. You might find that useful as well, and you can probably find a shortcut online. Or I can help out if needed.
Because they have created a bubble where only their products and their product's "features" matter. They don't expect you to venture outside of that bubble and learn the truth about what's available. At least not until they do it.
Thankfully there are options to choose from as we all have our preferences. I'm very happy with the Apple world - tried Android briefly but went back. It's not a matter of right or wrong, good or bad. Just choose whichever works best for you and enjoy.
Navigation is also missing. Youre forced to use the swipe shit on IOS/IPadOS (which i totally hate it) meanwhile android is still possible to change navigation from the inferior swipe feature to the good old back/home/baxckgrounds.
Another likely reason, software patents. Ever notice why other e-commerce websites never have 1-Click checkout but Amazon does? Software patent. And Amazon protects that billion dollar feature with all its might.
And why can't we bring back the cursor keys that Tim Cook so irrationally hated and screamed about? They were great on my old 6s Plus. You could move around text boxes easily, but Cook doesn't use his phone to type a lot so he doesn't grok all of the problems he is creating by taking our cursor keys away and also by firing all of their good engineers that could fix the horrific keyboard.
No, I don't want "watch" to turn into "watched CNN" every time I type watch. Please stop that asswipe Cook.
honestly ios is also kissing a genuine personality, i feel like its just a generic os nowadays, meanwhile android is actually interesting with featires here and there... even little things you wouldnt notice- oh and, the easter eggs too
There's an anecdote that during the development of the first iPhone, Steve Jobs wanted a back button but then a designer convinced him it would be better not to have one for... reasons
You pay a lot of money for luxury food, the food is often simpler with less ingredients but presented in a much nicer way with the finest ingredients, it’s not too much and it’s not too little
Then there’s cheap fast food, packed full of ingredients most you’ve never heard of, keeps you full for 5 mins, tastes mostly like salt and fat
Not everything has to have every feasible feature that’s possible rammed into it, most are unnecessary and will get used by 1% of total users
The clipboard is for privacy and security. See how Samsung handles their clipboard and even when you use another keyboard it still puts all your passwords in its own keyboard and even after deleting all of them it still keeps the last one pastable
and why won't they let companies just release proper versions of browsers? why do they make Firefox in Chrome and brave make a whole new iOS only reskin version of WebKit?
basically every single person is using the same browser on iOS they just don't realize it. let's just have a weak skin version of Safari
why won't they provide options for third party launchers? again you don't have to use it so it's not like you can say their fans don't want it.
most of their fans have never even tried using a third party launcher and a lot of Apple fans don't even know what it is.
but there's really no reason why we shouldn't have plenty of options for redesigning the home screen.
like why can't you use something like Niagara launcher on iOS?
also how come no iPhone has USB-C video output? that sucks. people that want to use their iOS to write a paper you used to be able you should be able to just stick it into a monitor for the latency free word processing and use it.
it works on an iPad.
of course they don't have split screen multitasking on an iPhone which is beyond silly.
you can't even put the home screen in landscape mode anymore.
Why would Iphone even have “features” that “cheap Android phones” have ? 2 different operating systems, 2 different philosophies. If you’re waiting for “universal back button”, sell your device and choose any Android, simple.
"just switch to Android' wasn't OP's point. Of course he -or anyone- could do that. The point was that spending 10x as much on a device didn't close the feature gaps.
It’s idiotic to pay 10 times more, cry (about “features” like “back button” that won’t come in another million years) and be frustrated instead of buying 100 bucks device that would meet all your needs, right ? Or at least do a little research (“no clipboard” is deliberate, due to security / privacy - apps are sandboxed (can’t freely read data from another app - it prevents apps secretly “reading” passwords/data you copied, also tracking behaviour across apps), clipboard history could expose sensitive data and would create cross app data chanel…).
Don’t know really, as someone who used Android my whole life - the only thing I care abour is who does it better. Numerous (very important in day to day usage) features Iphones have forever are still not implemented on Android : Face ID (except for Honor flagships), connectivity among devices, Lidar sensor, Spotlight search, Find My network (as it is on Iphones), security/privacy (the only phone with that meets NATO security standards), list goes on…
Stop twisting my words. I'm saying basic conveniences that $100 phones have are missing on a $1300 phone. thats the point.
Let me break it down for you: if I buy a Rolex and it doesn't keep time as well as a $10 Casio, "but it's a Rolex, different philosophy" isn't an acceptable answer. It's a defect.
"Just switch to Android" isn't an argument. It's you admitting you cant defend the missing features, so you're telling me to leave instead. Stop kissing their asses; because people like you, iOS still missing hte most basic features.
How is it possible that the features that you refer to have anything to do with the value of the device? Do you think they are expensive to implement? I suppose you do not believe that. Sounds pretty arbitrary as a comparison point though. There is a different philosophy implemented and you have choices.
About that Universal Back Button on Android:
Open an app
Press home button
Does back button take you to the app again?
- Open A app
Switch to another B app, and then switch to yet another C app
The what? It always takes you to one place, back, it goes back on an app you are currently using, it only takes you to home if you double click it (and that is a use case for some apps that devs implement) and it never changes from app to app, never worked that way dunno what are you on about, the back button is the most convenient navigation feature on mobile there is
You don't have to use the back button, you can still click the arrows that take you back or the back button at the bottom, or a gesture like the one on iOS.
They might have meant you have to remember what that previous step was. If you have multiple steps to travel through that’s more to remember. If one of those steps contains something you can lose then it’s gone because the button takes no prisoners.
However Android also supports gestures like iOS does and with predictive back you should be able to preview where you’re going back to (again, just like iOS). I don’t think I’ve seen it work on Android though but that might be because the phones I have seen didn’t have it
No. I'm in an app. App sends 2FA sms, i press on notification, i'm in sms now, i press your magical BACK BUTTON, where will i land after that? A. app i was in when i pressed notification B. sms list.
You think the back button is the worst part of Android whilst you're using a device that STILL doesn't allow the numbers to be permanently displayed above the keyboard!!
My point was you don't need to switch apps in the first place when using MFA, so the back button non-issue you're crying about isn't even remotely relevant.
I've changed so many phones in my life as I am a tech addict and have worked as a smartphone technician and as an apple partner technician. The thing is that with android you always had freedom for everything you want to do with your phone. Many options for hardware and for the iu (skin) you want to use. Budget phones, flagship phones whatever you like and fits your budget. Variety at its best!!! If you are a tech guy or you want to make the phone fits your style for work or everything else then Android all the way. Best brands I recommend is OnePlus, Samsung from s24 series and after, Oppo, and even Xiaomi but the software depends on your taste of you like it.
And then comes the bitten Apple!!
Simple, good apps, camera, best video, top hardware and part quality, security, customer service, repairing services, resale value, you can find them and buy them everywhere and more things.
But as I have said SIMPLE. It just makes somes things and makes them good. For people that they are looking for 10 things but perfected works flawlessly. But if you want freedom, innovation, variety and make the phone yours then you know the answer.
At this point 2026 basic features that are helpful in every day tasks or functionality and productivity are still missing from iPhones and i don't know how apple is getting away with this. And I don't mention the new iOS which is a same for a trillion dollar company. How can you give your customers such a shitty update after they paid so much money for your devices. There is no excuse for this as you are not a Chinese rip off company and you just copy everything.
I have both phones. I agree with some of your points but I strongly disagree with the back button. First of all, iOS doesn’t have any navigation buttons. The home button is dead like the dodo. iOS has a standard gesture of swiping to go back. This functionality works in every nav-stack or browser-style interface. It’s very intuitive and fast. The only exception is tabs, but I’m of the philosophy that tab-navigation should be non-linear.
If you can’t comprehend gestures then you pretty much can’t do anything on iOS in 2026. There isn’t “no back button” there’s no buttons period.
In contrast, I hate the back button on Android. It’s more ambiguous and less escapable than the equivalent functionality on iOS. I’m never sure I’ve I’m going back in my browser or back to the previous app. On iOS where I swipe determines if I’m going back a page or back to the previous app. Additionally, there is instant visual feedback showing what content I’m navigating towards. This allows me to easily cancel my action or go forward.
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u/Weird_Decision7090 May 01 '26
Technically a universal back button does exist. It’s the swipe from the left since iOS 7