5 Android Features That Make Switching to iOS Impossible (For Me)

I’ve been an Android user my whole life, and as an Android evangelist, I cannot help but admire how far Android has come as an operating system in the last decade or two. Sure, it isn’t perfect, no OS is, but many features in Android just make so much more sense, and have kept iOS from winning me over. While naming them all could be a bit challenging, here are the five Android features I cannot live without, that are still missing from iOS and keep me from switching to iPhones.

1. Granular Notifications Controls

If an app bothers you with too many promotional and unnecessary notifications, iOS allows you to turn off notifications for that app. However, doing so also blocks important notifications from appearing in the case of e-commerce and food delivery apps. This is where Android’s granular notification controls via “Notification channels” come to the rescue.

Notification channels were added to Android back in Android 8.0, and they’ve been one of my most used features. Most apps on Android have multiple notification channels that you can turn off to choose which kind of notifications to receive and which ones to block.

For example, food-delivery apps like Swiggy send lots of marketing and promotional notifications, which could be repetitive and bothersome. With Android’s Notifications channels, I can simply turn off the “Marketing and promotional” toggle to stop getting pesky notifications.

2. Customization Galore

Cliche, but it holds still. Yes, customizations are the strongest suite when it comes to Android, and it still prevents me from switching to iOS. The freedom to move apps on the home screen wherever I like to use different launchers, and install, and sideload apps that can slightly alter the way the default UIs look without much fiddling, making Android THE best operating system in terms of freedom to customize.

One of the recent examples is the release of Lawnchair, one of my favorite third-party open-source app launchers. I switched from the default Pixel launcher which is very barebones to Lawnchair with Smartspacer and the experience has been fabulous.

3. Multiple Profiles, Much Privacy

Handing over your device to someone else daily isn’t very good for your privacy. If you have children or adults at home who you share your device with, the ability to switch to a Guest profile or a second profile will come in handy. It’s definitely a great feature to have that iOS is still lacking.

Multiple profiles will also come in handy when you need to lend your friend or family member your phone for some time, in case they’ve lost their devices.

4. App Lock Support

It feels bizarre that iOS markets itself as the most secure operating system, but still lacks a feature as basic as app lock. Sure, Google Pixels are no different but thanks to Android’s open nature, almost all OEMs have implemented built-in app lock in their UIs that work with both passcodes and fingerprint sensors.

It is rumored that Android 15 will bring app-locking functionality to Pixels, alongside a slew of other privacy features like improved screen recording privacy and Private Space. All in all, the ability to hide apps combined with locking them to prevent others from accessing their data are features that will make me stick to my Android device.

5. More Default Apps Control

I was genuinely surprised when Apple brought the ability to change default apps in iOS 14. However, the list of default apps is still not as comprehensive as Android. From Messaging apps to dialers, launchers, digital assistants, browsers, wallets, and Caller ID and spam apps, you can set apps as default without any issues.

Not just that but you can also go as far as adding links to apps which when clicked will automatically open the app. The flexibility still remains unparalleled and is one of the reasons why I won’t be switching to iOS anytime soon.

These Android Features Keep Me From Switching to iOS

I haven’t mentioned things like setting custom ringtones, adjusting quick settings tiles, adding quick settings actions provided by apps, etc., which are really important to me. Besides that, Material You, and custom UIs such as Color OS could be eye-candy and can never get boring.

Those were all my favorite features that I use on Android that stop me from switching to iOS. Do note that there are some iOS features that also aren’t available in Android. Let us know your favorite Android or iOS features in the comments below.