GoKawiilPaul Jones / Android Authority
Android phones and iPhones have come a long way. They’ve borrowed many aspects from each other over the years, and they’re more similar now than they’ve ever been. Which one you prefer depends on your software preferences and use case.
As part of my job, I use both platforms every day, and my primary SIM goes into whichever is newer or running the latest software. For the longest time, my preferred Android phone was a Pixel, but lately I’ve been leaning toward Samsung’s flagship, thanks in part to the features bundled with One UI. The iPhone is either the latest model or the previous year’s offering.
Although I enjoy using both operating systems and appreciate each for what it offers, every time I switch to an iPhone, I miss a few features from my Android phone. Some of these directly impact my everyday workflow, while others are nice-to-haves that come in handy in a pinch.
What Android features do you miss when using an iPhone? 64 votes Multitasking modes 31 % A desktop mode 14 % Sideloading and alternative app stores 30 % A fully-accessible file system 23 % Reverse wireless charging 2 %
Proper multitasking
Joe Maring / Android Authority
The lack of multitasking support on iPhones is a huge letdown, and its absence breaks my workflow for the first few days of the transition. Sure, you can technically multitask on an iPhone, but it’s sequential, meaning you can only use one app on the screen at a time.
That isn’t the case on Android. Depending on the phone you use, you get multiple multitasking modes, such as split-screen view, pop-up view, and app bubbles, which let you use more than one app on your screen at once. Of these, I find split-screen multitasking particularly useful and use it all the time on my Galaxy S26 Ultra. It lets me take notes while researching a topic in another app, cross-check a document between two apps, and populate an Excel sheet with data from another app. The best part? I can save these app pairs to the Home screen or Edge Panel for later. Subsequently, I can tap the app pair to jump back anytime, and it opens the apps in split-screen view.
I also miss One UI’s pop-up view feature on the iPhone. It works similarly to Android 17’s App Bubbles feature, and I use it to create floating app icons for apps like WhatsApp, so I can open them over any app and quickly reply to messages without opening them in full-screen mode.
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