Admit it, buddy, you too have at some point argued about which device is better – an iOS-powered iPhone vs an Android smartphone. Back in the early days of these smartphones, I used the good old HTC’s T-Mobile MyTouch 3G which was a really tiny 3-inch flip smartphone in the modern days of giant smartphones now but back then it was obviously bucky enough and good looking.

Okay enough of the hype, one thing I always bragged about back then was that this device gave me everything I wanted, and compared to the reigning smartphone as at that time, the BlackBerry smartphones, I would keep questioning why people flocked towards the “Useless, constantly freezing and nothing really good to offer” BlackBerry because I had a really terrible experience with the olden BlackBerry Storm and Bold smartphones I used earlier before trying out Android-powered device and all at once, my mind changed and I fell in love.

It’s not a tale that Android smartphones are very great and really powerful nowadays taking up the majority of the smartphone market with two major Android smartphone makers dominating the smartphone in 2018 and 2019, Samsung and Huawei.

Maybe I should also speak in favor of the iPhone users. They are premium and expensive at the same time.

During those days, we would brag about iPhone devices as being “Go f**k yourself if you can’t afford one” I mean that was literally how the iPhones are being marketed back in the day.

People basically bought them just as they bought the BlackBerry devices because they were expensive and people love to show off just to brag about how expensive their smartphones were even though they were pure garbage…we all knew BlackBerry devices were pure garbage.

But then Android started off and with Google making it open source and the “Android market” giving me endless access to applications, games, and lots of fun things to do, I realized this is just what I wanted considering my experience with the good old Sony Ericsson K800i which was my favorite feature phone back in the early 2000s.

Google is one of the biggest tech companies in the world and the access they give us within the Android ecosystem is really intriguing.

Consider Google Assistant for example and its endless capabilities. Okay, let’s leave Google out of this, what about in the terms of hardware, we know Android OEMs are pushing the limits.

First, the hole-punch cut-out, then the motorized pop-up camera from the top of the device, then water-fall display, foldable screen, and now roll-out display what else.

We know how powerful the ASUS ROG Phones are and even nowadays, The point I’m trying to make is that there is a niche Android-based smartphone for almost every type of person – gamers’ smartphone, rugged smartphone, affordable smartphone, camera-based smartphone, etc – all of which are powered by Android at their core.

Xiaomi is also known for constantly flooding the Android smartphone market with really interesting mid-range devices that have nearly the same capabilities and features as premium devices which is really why I am proud of my Android smartphone, the Huawei Mate 20X precisely.

It’s a massive 7.2-inch AMOLED device but that later. Let’s talk about what makes an Android smartphone much better than an iPhone.

You can set your own rules and not following Google’s rules

If you’re an iPhone user, you probably wouldn’t understand what that meant but as an Android phone user, you get to make the rules not the default rules made by the OEM.

Because Google owns Android doesn’t mean they get to enforce their set of applications on you since you can always change whatever application from default to whichever you find more appealing.

You can basically download some third-party application from the Google Play store and set it up as a default application to replace default applications such as the Google Mail app or Message or even Google Assistant that comes with the core of Android.

The same if you’re using the Huawei devices that have no Google Mobile services because you can swap out the Huawei native apps for your own third-party apps.

You can change your default application by heading to the Settings app and then head over to Apps & notifications > Default apps. It doesn’t matter what app has been earlier labeled default, if you have a similar one from a third-party developer, you can replace them.

Google Assistant is just the best out there

You obviously can’t compare Siri with Google Assistant because the latter does better.

Although both are just AI Bots within two different smartphone operating systems which means they might have their shortcomings here and there sometimes, Google performs better because it has a database of trillions of information which it can use to build a better AI voice assistant – we all know how invasive these tech companies can be.

The ability to understand basic tasks, requests, names, and even addresses make it a cool tool. Also, Google tries to give you back good responses based on its search engine capability.

Do you need to know when next your meeting is, guide you to a destination or even use it as the command for your smart home speaker maybe you have a Nest Thermostat or the Google Home, this is all you need to turn your home into a smart home?

And it’s built right into your Android device. “OK, Google” and “Hey, Google” are the two wake words.

If you need help knowing what to ask, you can ask Google Assistant for a list of commands: “OK, Google, What can you do?”

Meanwhile, iPhone users can also download the Google Assistant app on their devices but it does not default and cannot be set to default because Apple doesn’t want that.

The Split-screen mode allow two apps on one Android device

Until the release of the iPadOS 13, you are only limited to using a single application on the device at the same time.

A large smartphone like the Huawei Mate 20X gives you the interesting advantage of a split-screen.

Sometimes, you might be watching a movie and then sending a message at the same time or reading the news and staying on YouTube, it’s just a breeze easy thing to do.

Meanwhile, this isn’t possible on iPhones even though they now have large display smartphones since the iPhone XS Max up until the recently released iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The splitting screen can easily be done by tapping on an icon when you open the minimized app mode.

The Split screen icon is usually right next to the app icon and then once tapped, the mode is switched on and you can easily run two different applications at the same time.

Different smartphone makers have different Android OS customization so the way it is on Samsung might be different from Huawei or Xiaomi etc.

You can even adjust the size of each app by dragging the small handle between the two apps to expand or decrease how much space an app takes up on the split-screen.

There is the Homescreen and App drawer

Unlike in iPhone, Android devices have two main screens which are called the Homepage and then the App drawer where all the numerous applications go.

The home screen can be customized with nice widgets such as weather widgets, to-do, gallery widgets, and other interesting that matter most to you, unlike the iOS that basically maintains a simple User interface with apps cluttering the UI and segmented into pages.

The benefit of Android’s approach is that you can completely customize the home screen by arranging app icons in any pattern of your choosing, and Android supports widgets of varying sizes. Right now, Apple’s Today view is the only place you’ll find a widget.

Android Launcher applications are your friend

Launchers basically transform the entire user interface of an Android device to whatever you want it to be. I mean you can literally turn your Android home into a Windows 10 UI or even macOS UI yeah. With a launcher, you can give your Android an iOS UI.

Popular launcher applications like Nova Launcher, Microsoft’s Launcher, Apex Launcher, or Action Launcher, all add their own twists and features to your Android phone.

For example, another popular Android launcher, Evie, emphasizes using a search bar to quickly find and open apps, or anything else on your Android phone for that matter.

I personally use the Microsoft Launcher which is super complimentary to my EMUI 10 with a special icon pack built right on top of it.

Just a little search of the term “Launcher” on the Play Store and you’re set for beautification of your device’s UI.

Compared to iPhones, basically, the millions of iPhone users can operate one anothers’ devices because they’re basically using the same UI.

I can use some really weird launcher that even my geeky friends will find difficult to get around because I basically did it for myself so I wouldn’t need to compulsorily lock my friends out or worry they might snoop through my device while I forgot to lock the device and I’m in the kitchen to get a cup of water.

Then there is the Auto-changing wallpaper

In some Android devices, it’s called the “Magazine” lock screen or display which basically auto-changes the wallpaper on your lock screen or even on the device’s home screen.

You can even go as far as downloading a 3D Live wallpaper which basically has some super cool features.

If taking the time to find and customize a launcher feels like a lot of work, but there’s another way to make your Android phone constantly feel fresh, and it’s yet another thing your iPhone friends can’t do — use Google’s Wallpapers app and a host of third-party applications in the Play store that can get this done for you at no cost whatsoever.

As for the Google Wallpapers app, there are several categories of wallpaper style to pick from, and then the application can pick up from there. Depending on your choice maybe you’re really tech-savvy or just want beautiful nature wallpaper.

Watch a video and text at the same time 

Another interesting feature is the picture-in-picture mode which literally streams videos right on your screen bottom corner while you’re doing something else.

Let’s say you were using the Google Maps application and then left because you needed to check a text, you don’t have to miss this previous action as the function has been added way back since the 2017’s Android Oreo.

In addition to Google Maps and video apps, you can also use picture-in-picture for video calls with supported apps.

My favorite use of picture-in-picture is to begin streaming a YouTube video and then leave the app to browse Reddit or reply to a text message or email while the YouTube video keeps playing in a corner of the screen.

When I want to go back to watching the video full-screen, I just tap on the small thumbnail to maximize it. 

iPhones don’t have any sort of picture-in-picture mode. What you see on the screen is what you get, and nothing more than that.

But anyway, if you want to switch because I’ve been able to convince you, then you can check our Phone finder out to see awesome Android smartphones from big manufacturers like OnePlus, ASUS, Samsung, Oppo, Huawei, or Xiaomi.