If you’re an Android user, you know the deal. Every year, Apple takes the stage to announce a bunch of “new” features it’s been using for years. It might be annoying if it weren’t so predictable, but it gives Android users a sense of pride knowing they’re always ahead of the curve compared to their iPhone friends.
Apple’s iOS 27 update is no exception to this, and I spent a solid 2 hours of my life watching Apple’s WWDC 2026 on June 8 to see what updates you can now celebrate with your friends.
There are many times each year when one of Apple’s ads blows my mind, but it’s never for the reason you’d expect. Rather, I am constantly impressed by the features of iPhone users. No I have, and it reminds me that I regularly take my favorite Android features for granted. Here are all the iOS 27 features that are already on Android.
Animations and transparency.
Last year, Apple released iOS 26 with a new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic that was quickly criticized. Liquid Glass evolved substantially from its announcement to its eventual release a few months later, but iOS 27 finally adds a proper transparency slider to allow users to customize their preferred look.
Many Android OEMs were quick to update their Android 16 launches in the fall with a similar transparent glossy glass aesthetic, but all offered a way to disable this effect completely, and OEMs like Honor even offer a transparency slider (pictured above).
Apple also talked about improved, smoother animations across the OS, something that Android OEMs specifically promoted years agoand have doubled even more in the last two years.
Main functions that were not so “main”
Apple gushed about how its phones can now seamlessly transfer data between Wi-Fi and cellular data connections, as if it were an amazing development. I’ll have to see exactly what’s different here to fully understand Apple’s angle, but Android users have had what appears to be an identical feature for years. It reminds me a little of when iPhone users couldn’t make phone calls and browse the web at the same time.
Likewise, Apple Messages is apparently now getting a “still sending” indicator when your messages haven’t reached the other end. How was this not a basic feature before, especially considering the number of additional features that platform has over other messaging platforms? Very rare.
AirPods now also support custom EQs for users who care about that sort of thing, and I’m 100% sure I’ve been doing this on my Android phones since 2009. This Motorola Razr Fold I’m using now, for example, has Dolby Atmos built in and offers advanced EQ options plus automatic smart settings with virtual surround sound options.
Apple’s password manager can now automatically identify compromised passwords and help you change them. Meanwhile, Google Assistant was able to do this four years agoand Google Password Manager has identified compromised passwords for users for more than half a decade.
Apple’s Photos app now supports automatic sharing and group albums, two features that Google Photos the application has had for a long time.
Apple is also overhauling its suite of parental controls with plenty of features already in the Google Family Link app on Android, albeit with a better user interface than Google’s app. But I’ve been using the Bark app for my son’s Android phones for a while because it offers far better parental controls than integrated solutions from Google or Apple. Apple doesn’t allow these services to access usage data on iPhones, and that severely hampers the usefulness of such apps.
Siri, but do it Gemini
Well, it’s 2026, so were you expecting anything different than a company spending 40 minutes on new AI announcements? Even Apple is not immune to this and announced an updated Siri AI assistant with all the great features that Android users have been enjoying for the last year or two via Google. GeminiGalaxy AI, OnePlus AI, Motorola AI, Honor AI or any other favorite Android carrier you’ve been using.
Apple spent a lot of time criticizing other companies for violating its privacy with AI tools, but simply saying “the iPhone is more private” may not necessarily be true. After all, Apple is launching its new Siri AI features in the US only at first, with availability in other regions (like the more privacy-focused EU and UK) “at some point in the future” once Apple has ironed out regulatory restrictions.
As we heard last fall, Gemini is the brain behind the new Siri AI and as such all the new Siri features that Apple announced are now available on most Android phones. That all starts with Siri’s new adjustable voice that finally doesn’t sound like it was created in the AOL days, something Google debuted with its ancient Google Assistant about a decade ago. Interestingly, Siri AI is only available in English to start, while Gemini currently supports 70 languages.
There’s also now a dedicated Siri app that keeps all your searches and other relevant data in one place so you can access them later. It’s crazy to me that Siri is At the moment get a dedicated app, but hey, that’s an iPhone for you. Google Assistant and Gemini have always had dedicated apps, but I like the way Apple gathers information in one place, similar to the way Apple gathers information in one place. Pixel Screenshots, Nothing Essential Spaceand other Android phones do.
There’s even a new Siri camera mode that looks identical to Google Lenswhich has been built into Android phones since 2017. Siri AI is also coming to the Apple Watch and will likely offer similar functionality to the existing Gemini app on Wear OS watches.
Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence is Apple’s umbrella term for AI features that are separate from the Siri AI assistant. Basically, if you’re using an AI feature that doesn’t ask Siri for anything, it’s Apple Intelligence. Apple’s initial launch of Apple Intelligence last year was downright terrible, but the company went back to the drawing board for this year’s rollout.
Apple Intelligence will now be able to pull relevant information into certain apps on your phone, such as entering your airline reservation into the phone app when you call that airline. This identical The scenario was shown with Google magic sign on the Pixel 10 series last fall, and Now push on the Galaxy S26 series also offers identical functionality, thanks to Android’s personal intelligence.
Apple Intelligence can also populate context-sensitive buttons when you search your screen. Phones from the end of 2024 like the Honor Magic 7 Pro I experimented with similar features and the Android 16 update for Honor phones improved that even further. google own Circle to search It also has similar functionality, including the ability to request context-sensitive commands from Gemini based on what’s circulating.
Apple Photos now has a bunch of new AI-powered editing tools, all (except one) of which have been available on Google Photos for years. Now you can also use Siri to write emails, generate ideas from photos, scans or messages, edit calendar entries using natural language, and do many other similar activities that seemed extremely Sounds familiar to me as an Android phone reviewer. Apple also added Google’s excellent AI generation warning to photos.
Apple is working to fix its terrible keyboard by improving voice dictation with Siri AI. Integrated Google Assistant with Gboard back in 2020and original equipment manufacturers such as Nothing and Google We’ve also recently started rolling out natural language dictation, which is a generation ahead of what Apple showed off today. It’s possible that autocorrect ultimately doesn’t suck on iPhones either, but we’ll have to wait and see the public verdict on that.
Apple’s Home app is getting a polish from Apple Intelligence that looks identical to the Google Home app update that It was announced last fall.. That includes asking Siri for contextual information in recorded videos, aggregating and analyzing smart home data to provide better notifications, and more.
More to come
So yes, Android users have been enjoying a lot of features that Apple users still won’t have access to until iOS 27 is released in a few months. Even then, if history has proven anything, not all of these features will be available when iOS 27 goes public.
We also expect Apple to reserve some unannounced features for the upcoming iPhone 18, such as the rumored anti-theft protection that Android also already have. If you want the latest and greatest features, it’s pretty clear that Android is still the best platform you can own.
