Android Fan Reacts To iOS 18
Can’t wait for this update!!
Apple officially announced iOS 18 during the WWDC event yesterday, and can I just say, this was possibly one of the most exciting Apple events that I’ve seen in a long time.
For starters, it’s nice to see the Vision Pro being released in more countries. However, I’m still not sold on it, maybe I will have to try it for myself.
During the event, Apple also announced some really cool updates for the AirPods Pro, where you can nod to say yes or shake your head to say no. As someone who is often out and about in busy places, I think that this is really cool.
Apple also announced their AI features, which they are calling Apple Intelligence, which I find pretty interesting.
But, in this article, I wanted to talk about iOS 18 as there is a lot to talk about.
I’ve used many smartphones over the years and I think it’s fair to say that I am a fan of both iOS and Android, I think that both platforms are great and that both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Before we get any further in this article, I just wanted to say that this isn’t one of those articles where I make fun of the platforms I mention. Instead, I will be sharing my thoughts and opinions about some of the features that are coming to iOS from an Android fan’s perspective.
So without any further ado…
More customisation features
Many years ago, I was a big fan of customisation, my favourite luncher on Android was Buzz Launcher. Not only did it allow me to heavily customise my phone, but it also allowed me to pick from a gigantic catalogue of cool themes.
When I moved to iOS, I was always told by the people around me that I couldn’t improve perfection, and I agreed with that. Don’t get me wrong, Android has countless possibilities when it comes to the interface, but I prefer the clean look of iOS, and I didn’t need to customise it too much.
This was a personal preference, but the fact that the iOS didn’t have many customisation options actually made me more productive as I wasn’t procrastinating, playing around with the themes and interface.
Watching the event yesterday, I was very surprised to see that Apple is bringing in new ways of customising your phone, some of which sound very familiar, especially if you come from the Android world.
Having never used iOS 18, I can’t comment on how good these features are, but I think it’s nice that I have more control over where I place app icons. I also like that you seem to be able to make some icons bigger and some smaller, which gives off Windows Phone vibes.
Speaking of which, do you think that Microsoft should reintroduce the Windows Phone?
You will now be able to change the colours of the icons to suit your wallpaper. This is a feature that I’ve seen on the Pixel 6 and 7 Pro, but from what I see, it looks like Apple are treating us with more options.
New Control Center
I use the Control Center on my iPhone a lot and the new redesign looks great!
I’m a big fan of the idea of putting apps into groups, such as home controls and media. Not only that, but I also think it makes the Control Center cleaner and somehow bigger.
But what stood out to me was that developers can add controls to the Control Center too. I think that this will be a great idea, and it will make it even more useful.
Coming from the Android world, these sorts of advancements aren’t new, especially since we can achieve similar features by simply pulling down the quick settings menu.
I’ve seen Android smartphone manufacturers design some incredible-looking quick settings menus, I think my favourite ones have got to be the Samsung and Google Pixel menus, as they both have a unique style and are very useful.
But, Apple has done it differently, and I like that they keep the notification menu separate from the Control Center. When it comes to practicality, I think I prefer the Apple approach, but I prefer the style of the quick settings menu on Android.
Updated Apps!
I’m a big fan of the default Apple apps, such as Apple Reminders and Notes. I think that they look great and function incredibly well.
With iOS 18, Apple released some much-needed updates and improvements.
Starting with Messages, they have redesigned Tapbacks, which I always felt was a bit dated. Now, they’ve added more options to choose from and made them look more modern. They’ve also enabled the ability to send later.
But the two biggest updates are that they’ve introduced text formatting and the ability to send messages via satellite, which I may find useful as I can never get any signal when travelling by train here in the UK.
Mail also received an update, and I must admit I like the way that categories appear in the app. This isn’t a new feature, as Gmail and other mail apps have had categories for years. But the way they look on the Mail app just looks so much cleaner.
Wallet received the ability to send cash without sharing any details, they call it Tap to Cash and I think that it’s really cool. It works by users holding two iPhones together, without sharing any details.
Photos received a redesign, which looks nice, but somehow I still prefer the Google Photos app for managing my photos.
But where it really gets exciting is the gaming side of things, Apple is releasing a new GameMode which minimises background activities, allowing you to focus on playing your game without any lag.
I don’t tend to use Keychain, but I like that Apple has decided to separate the password area into its own dedicated app. However, from the screenshots that I’m seeing online, they are calling it passwords, and I’m not sure that having an app on your Home Screen with the word “Passwords” underneath it is a good idea security-wise.
Last but not least, I wanted to discuss the iPad because the iPad is finally getting a calculator app, which is something that I totally did not expect, so it was a nice surprise. But the main reason the app stands out is the AI side of things. With the help of a feature called Math Notes, you can now use your Apple Pencil to write down maths problems, and it will help you solve them after putting in the equals sign.
How cool is that!
Apple Intelligence
I’m not surprised that Apple has included AI features in the latest release of iOS, especially as other manufacturers are doing it.
The first AI feature I wanted to discuss is priority notifications, which, I think, is a great idea. I mean, let’s face it, notifications can be annoying, especially when you receive many of them.
This is a feature that I use within the Spark email app, and I find filtering out the noise to be extremely beneficial, especially as it means that I can respond to important things faster.
Moving on to the new writing tools, as a blogger it’s no surprise that I write a lot, but having that extra hand proofreading my text is extremely helpful, especially when I’m typing in a hurry from my phone.
Siri is also set to become more advanced thanks to Apple Intelligence and as a bilingual person with a mixed accent, I like that Siri will now be able to better understand even if I stumble over words.
Final Thoughts
As someone who uses both Android and iOS daily, I would like to compare AI features on the two platforms before I make a final decision.
Unfortunately, this will mean that I have to update both of my phones as my iPhone 14 Pro Max is incompatible with Apple Intelligence, and I doubt that the Pixel 7 Pro will receive any major feature drops to include AI.
I think that Apple has huge potential with AI, especially when thinking about the Apple ecosystem and productivity.
I believe that this was possibly one of the best Apple Events that I’ve seen in a long time, and I am genuinely excited about iOS 18.
From the perspective of an Android fan, I think it’s too early to say how good these new features will be and whether we are going to see more manufacturers take this approach to AI. I guess we just have to wait and see.
But what is interesting to see is that many of the people I follow on Twitter who are Android fans are thinking about moving to iPhone following the announcement.
Have you watched the event? What are your thoughts?