New iOS 18 features that Android phones have for years!

Apple iOS 18 will be the biggest upgrade for iPhone users in years. As always, Apple managed to take all the credit for changes it made in the iOS 18, but many of the new features have been available in Android phones for years.

iOS 18 is going to be a big upgrade for Apple iPhone users. However, the features are not so innovative as Android users have had most of them for years. Let’s have a look at the most notable ones!

Homescreen personalization

iOS 18 will enable homescreen customization on iPhone, which was not possible till v17. While Android vendors continued to make homescreen and lockscreen heavily personalizable, Apple realized it too late.

Static app grid is gone, and app icon movement is no longer limited. The iOS 18 also introduces custom color palettes that turn app icons into different shades – a similar approach to Android’s Material You.

Feature-packed Gallery

Android’s Google Photos and Galaxy’s Samsung Gallery are equipped with advanced editing features. Taking inspiration, Apple also made some fruitful changes to its Photos app to uplevel user experience.

iOS 18 improves the search system of Photos app, allowing users to search for details in photos, including numbers, places, and other identifiers. Magic/Object Eraser is also added in the Photos app to remove unwanted objects.

On-device AI

Google introduced Pixel 8 Pro as the first on-device AI-powered smartphone. Later, Samsung launched the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra – all are equipped with Gemini Nano AI innovation.

Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, which is arriving on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max with iOS 18. The company partnered with OpenAI to fuel ChatGPT in products ranging in iPhone, as well as iPad and Mac lineups.

RCS

Google has been criticizing Apple over the lack of RCS messaging in the iMessage app. The iPhone maker was forced by the European Union to adopt RCS messaging innovation, which is debuting with the iOS 18 upgrade.

The integration of RCS tech will allow users to see delivery and read receipts, theoretically typing indicators, and much richer images. Notably, RCS has been available in Android’s Google Messages for several years.

Emoji generator

iOS 18 has a powerful emoji generator functionality, which is better than Android’s emoji kitchen. It lets users generate bespoke emojis with AI in the style of Apple’s existing library of emojis.

Android has an Emoji Kitchen feature, which allows you to create unique stickers. However, the power of artificial intelligence gives an edge to Apple’s version of emoji creator functionality.