The debate between Android and iOS for which is the better operating system is never going to end. Over the years, both OSes have had many upgrades and UI changes, and today they share many similar features.
But after all these updates, it turns out that there are still some things exclusive to Android phones. To help you decide between the two, here's a list of the best features an iPhone lacks.
1. Create Multiple Users and Guest Accounts
Multiple Users and Guest Mode is a blessing for users who share their smartphones with other family members or friends. On Android devices, it was introduced with Android 5.0, while Apple has completely ignored this feature over the years.
The feature allows you to maintain privacy if your kids or friends use your phone. You can log in to another user or guest account and then hand over the device. Each user can have their separate passwords, data, and apps. We've shown how to create multiple users on an Android phone in case you want to set them up.
The multiple-user feature also has an option to customize phone calls and SMS settings. You can choose to allow calls and SMS notifications for other users. Also, you can install apps directly from other users instead of downloading them again, and an app will be updated for every user if one user updates it.
2. Access Internal Storage Over USB
When connected to a computer via a USB cable, an iPhone merely gives you access to photos and videos. On the other hand, an Android phone offers access to your entire internal storage, allowing you to share any file between an Android phone and a desktop.
With a USB cable, you can connect an Android phone to Android Auto on any supported vehicle to use various apps and navigation. Also, using the USB Tethering option, your phone can share its internet connection with the PC.
Furthermore, if you don't want to use any of the features, you can select No data transfer to only charge your phone when connected to a computer.
3. Fully Customize Your Home Screen
The options for home screen customizations have always been limited on iPhones. With iOS 14, Apple introduced some features like App Library and Home Screen Widgets, but they are still far behind what an Android phone offers.
From changing icon packs to using different launchers, an Android phone has a plethora of tweaks for home screens. The Google Play Store has plenty of third-party icon packs for your home screen. Some Android phones even have a preinstalled Themes app that allows users to apply system-wide themes and change fonts or icon packs, all in one place.
Customizations on Android don't end here. With the home screen settings, you can change the size of the app grid, hide app icons, and show notification counts on the app icons. Moreover, you can also change the default launcher if you want to use an alternative like Nova Launcher, which offers even more customizations.
4. Use Multiple Copies of an App
On Android phones, you can make clones of apps and use multiple accounts on them. So if you want to use two WhatsApp accounts on your phone, you can make a clone of the original WhatsApp app and use another account on the clone.
Android phone manufacturers like Samsung and OnePlus have included this feature in their software. You can also download a third-party clone app from the Play Store if your Android phone doesn't come with this service preloaded. If you're looking to clone apps on your phone, we have a detailed guide on creating multiple copies of an app for Android phones.
5. Change the Default System Apps
For default apps, you can't personalize much on an iPhone. After the iOS 14 update, iPhones got the option to switch their default apps, but only for the Email and Browser apps. An Android phone offers a lot more.
You can change all the default apps, like the phone, messages, digital assistant, and home apps, to any third-party app with better UI and more features. You can also set third-party apps to open certain links directly, rather than having them open in the browser.
6. Install Custom ROMs and Gain Root Access
Custom ROMs are modified versions of the Android OS that offer better functionality and plenty of customization options. Custom ROMs have many advantages, the biggest being extending the life of your Android phone by providing access to the latest software.
Root access allows you to have complete control over your Android phone. Once you've rooted your device, you can install different mods for customizations, overclock or underclock the processor to increase performance or battery life, or even use some of your internal storage as extra RAM.
The closest thing the iPhone has to rooting is jailbreaking, although that's harder to do and doesn't provide the same level of access to your device.
7. Multitask via Split-Screen View
Android offers a plethora of features to multitask on your phone, and one such feature is the split-screen view. As the name suggests, it splits the display in half, allowing you to use two apps simultaneously.
For instance, you could have Google Sheets at the top and the Calculator app at the bottom so you can do calculations while referring to your spreadsheet. Or, perhaps, you could have a web browser running at the top and a note-taking app at the bottom to take notes while researching something on the web.
Split-screen view (and multitasking in general) makes the most sense on large-screen devices, especially foldable phones such as the Galaxy Z Fold 5 which allows using up to three apps at once in split-screen mode. You can also add a fourth app in a pop-up view to truly master multitasking. iPhones, on the other hand, are yet to catch up to Android phones in this aspect.
8. Change System Font Style and Size
The great thing about Android phones is that they allow you to customize the UI and make it look exactly the way you want it to. One of such customizations you can perform on Samsung and some other Android phones but not on the iPhone is changing the system font.
Although the default system font is perfectly fine for most people, you should still have the option to change its size to improve visibility (especially for elderly users) and change its style to customize your phone according to your taste.
Even if you don't like any of the pre-installed system fonts available on your phone, you can always download a third-party one from the Google Play Store or any other source.
9. Move Files to External Storage
iPhones have never come with external storage, forcing you to guess how much storage you need on your phone—and potentially getting it wrong. However, some Android phones come with an SD card slot, so you can simply buy more storage if you need it and aren't forced to delete your apps and files to free up storage space.
SD cards also make it easy to transfer your files from one phone to the other since all you have to do is pop up the card and insert it into the other phone.
However, do note that if you want an Android phone with an SD card slot, you might have to settle for a mid-range one since many flagship Android phones today don't offer expandable.
That's because internal storage on flagship phones comes with the latest flash storage standards such as UFS 4.0 that offer significantly faster read and write speeds, making your phone feel super responsive and premium.
A third-party SD card will simply not be able to match that speed which may give users the negative impression that their new flagship phone has inconsistent performance. Hence, manufacturers avoid it.
Enjoy a Better Smartphone Experience With an Android Phone
Android is a powerful operating system backed by a vast community of developers continuously working on improving its stability, performance, and features.
We've looked at the unique features found only on Android phones. iPhone has been quietly catching up, but it's hard to say that it'll ever match the level of freedom that an Android phone offers. Now it's up to you to decide if you want complete flexibility with your phone's OS or if you can live with restrictions.
