What’s the best thing you can do with an iPhone that you can’t do with Android?

Are you torn between an iPhone or Android device? Well, here are a few amazing things you can do with an iPhone that you can’t do with Android?  

It is true that Android is the more feature-packed mobile operating system, however, that is true only to an extent, Android still does not have a few features that you get on iOS. Few of these missing features have been an integral part of iOS for years. 

If you are someone who is planning to switch from an iPhone to an Android device, or vice-versa in the near future, you have to know the software functionalities you will miss out on or gain. In this article, you can take a look at the things that an iPhone can do that an Android can’t.  

The best thing you can do with an iPhone that you can’t do with Android  

1. iMessage gives you that blue bubble feeling  

Perhaps the biggest feature that Android users don’t have, is Apple’s proprietary messaging platform iMessage. iMessage seamlessly syncs across all of the Apple devices you own, and it is fully encrypted and also has a ton of playful features, for example, Memoji.  

Say you send a message to another iPhone, and if you see the chat bubble turns blue, this means that the person on the other end of the conversation is also using an iPhone. It includes certain benefits, for example, chatting over Wi-Fi and being able to share high-res videos as well as photos with the person on the other end.  

iMessage also allows its users to request or send money via Apple Pay, you can also decorate the message with extra colorful animations.  This makes for a comparitively robust conversation than using standard SMS. You will know you are in typical texting mode when the chat bubble is green.  

Google has recently announced the global rollout of its take on iMessage as part of its Messages app. It uses what’s called a rich communication service that allows its users to send higher quality photos as well as videos, and see read receipts and even typing indicators. While Google’s RCS brings huge improvements to chatting on an Android phone, it is not as widely used as iMessage right now.  

2. Wireless headphones and earbuds are easier to set up and use  

Pairing the wireless AirPods to your iPhone is a seamless experience, one of the most impressive benefits is being able to use the same AirPods with your Mac or Apple Watch without having to pair them again.  

Though Samsung’s Galaxy Buds have tried to match the AirPods, however, they lack the range and ease of use across multiple devices. Google’s Pixel Buds 2 are fantastic, however, AirPods still provide a seamless and better experience.  

The AirPods have plenty of features as well as tricks you will want to learn, for example, sharing audio as well as asking Siri to read your incoming messages, and more.  

3. Every eligible iPhone gets software updates at the same time  

Software updates have always been a plus point when it comes to the iPhone. On the contrary, unless you own one of Google’s Pixel phones, you never really know when you will be receiving a security update or major feature release. Because the timing is up to each individual phone brand, while some are more consistent than others.  

On the flip side, when Apple releases a software update for the iPhone, every single iPhone user has immediate access to that update as long as their iPhone is still supported. Currently, iOS 15 supports iPhones way back to the iPhone 6S, which was released in 2015. When iOS 15.5 is made available, every eligible iPhone, from the iPhone 13 to the iPhone 6S will receive the update at the same exact time.  

4. Seamless backup and restore  

Setting up a new iPhone is a painless experience. With the iPhone, you just need to log into your iCloud account, tap on Restore, then wait for about 20 minutes. This is not the case if you use an Android phone.  

Google’s backup and restore service is great, however, more often than not there are apps that require you to reinstall or log into, and settings to adjust. It is also disappointing to see that the phones frequently fail to restore the home screen layout to exactly how you had it. The Restore feature is supposed to save time, however, you would have to still spend a chunk of it to fine-tune the Android device.  

Whereas, iPhone backs up to iCloud every night (as long as it’s connected to Wi-Fi and charging,) It completely restores installed apps, accounts, home screen as well as settings without fail. 

5. Video calls with iPhone are easy and simple  

FaceTime is a feature that Android has not been able to match, despite Google’s best efforts with the Duo app. FaceTime works well because it is encrypted, it is ready to use the moment you set up the new iPhone.  

Just like iMessage, FaceTime for many people is synonymous with video calls. It is the only app they would like to use as it does not require the user to log into a third-party app or search for contacts to set it up and start a video call. It is automatically linked to your contacts, camera as well as a dialer.   

6. Shortcuts Siri saves time  

Apple’s Shortcuts app is preinstalled, it allows the users to create as well as share automation for common tasks, for example, checking the spelling for a document, viewing the Amazon price history for an item, or even converting a video to a GIF with just a few of taps.  

Shortcuts are used by many users daily, and so is Siri, to give voice commands to do things. For example, combine recent screenshots into one image or even used the Stats app to tell Siri to “warm up my car.”  

For years, Siri had a bad reputation as being inferior to Google Assistant as well as Alexa, and rightfully so. Apple’s personal assistant was behind the competition for too long, however, if you use Siri for common tasks ranging from playing music, trivia questions, and weather forecasts, the results match Amazon’s assistant.  

The addition of Shortcuts support to Siri’s bag has strengthened it. Indeed, Google Assistant has routines as well as the ability to automate certain aspects, however, the flexibility, as well as on-device automation of Shortcuts, makes it indispensable.  

7. AirPlay  

AirPlay is one of the biggest features the Android devices are missing. As AirPlay is a propriety protocol that Apple developed, it is highly unlikely it will even be on Android.  

Yes, several third-party apps on the Google Play Store let you wirelessly stream audio as well as video content from your smartphone, however, nothing is close to AirPlay.   

In 2020, Google did manage to bring an AirDrop-like functionality, called Nearby Share, to Android 11 devices, so, it won’t be a surprise if the company is working on something similar to AirPlay for Android.  

8. Drag and Drop  

Though drag and drop is a feature that iOS devices have had for a few years, with the recent iOS 15 software update, drag and drop works system-wide. You have the ability to drag content from one app and drop it into another to replace the generic copy and paste action.  

Apple has managed to perfect drag and drop over several years, however, unfortunately, even the latest Android 12 update does not offer this functionality.  

9. Offloading Apps 

Offloading apps is a unique way for you to save storage on the iPhone. Apple allows iOS users to remove unused apps while keeping their files as well as data intact, this way you do not have to start all over again the next time you install the app. You could save gigabytes of storage space by setting an iPhone to automatically offload unused apps.  

As Android users do not have access to a similar feature, they have to rely on third-party apps to quickly free up space on their devices.  

10. Battery Health Check  

A few years ago, Apple faced backlash for intentionally slowing down its iPhones to compensate for battery degradation. Shortly after, the company introduced a new feature that allows iOS users to check their iPhone battery health. When battery health goes below 80%, iOS prompts the users to get their battery serviced or in cases even replaced.  

As there is no built-in way to check the battery health of an Android device, third-party apps provide you with additional information about the battery.  

11. Hide My Email  

Privacy is incredibly important, especially, when online, however, it is hard to keep your identity secure when you have to enter your email address away on a website. If your email address is just your name looking, for example, [email protected] you could be giving away even more of your data.  

This is where Apple’s “Hide My Email” service comes in handy. Hide My Email allows the user to create unique, random email addresses to use with apps, websites, as well as more so your email is kept private. It is built to Sign in with Apple along with iCloud.  

Hide My Email is a service that allows users to keep their email address private whether they are creating a new account with an app, or signing up for a newsletter online. This keeps people from seeing your email address, while also receiving the emails you want.  

Google does not have a similar feature for its Android devices yet, which causes the users to rely on third-party alternatives, for example, VPNs. 

So, what’s the best thing you can do with an iPhone that you can’t do with Android?  

If you’d ask me what is the best feature of the iPhone over its Android competitors, I would say it is Apple’s software support. iPhones (as well as all devices Apple makes) receive software updates for seven years from the last time it sold that particular model. This guarantees that you could own an iPhone for a long time, with the latest software from Apple, that is unless you haven’t broken your iPhone, or if the batter hasn’t become extremely unusable.  

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