5 Android features I miss every time I switch to an iPhone

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.

Proper multitasking

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.

Desktop mode

iPhones don’t just lack multitasking features; they also don’t offer a desktop mode, such as Samsung DeX on Galaxy phones. DeX lets you turn your Galaxy phone into a pocket PC, and it’s handy when you’re performing a task on your phone (like moving files or editing photos) but find its screen too small to work on and don’t have your laptop handy.

I’ve been in situations when I’ve found Samsung DeX pretty useful. For example, once, during a spontaneous stay at a friend’s place, it helped me edit an Excel sheet and reply to a bunch of emails. Similarly, it allowed me to connect my phone to a TV in my hotel room and edit a bunch of photos and videos during a weekend getaway.

What I really like about Samsung DeX is that it’s easy to use. All you need is an external display, an HDMI cable, and an external keyboard and mouse. You can even connect to an external display in wireless mode, though the experience may not be as seamless if you have a spotty Wi-Fi connection. DeX supports plenty of features, such as a taskbar, multi-window, multi-workspace, resizable windows, and drag-and-drop. For this reason, I find Samsung’s DeX more capable than Pixel’s Desktop Mode, one you can actually use to get things done.

Sideloading and alternative app stores

Apple doesn’t allow sideloading apps on iPhones in non-EU regions. As such, you’re totally dependent on Apple’s App Store to find apps for your iPhone. While Apple claims this approach helps limit malware, it has some major downsides. The most notable ones include the App Store’s high commissions and strict guidelines, which niche developers find too unwelcoming, leaving them with no other option but to explore alternatives like PWA (Progressive Web Apps) to get their apps in front of potential users.

On the other hand, Android developers enjoy complete freedom; they can choose to distribute their apps through various channels. This is great, and thanks to it, I can download apps on my Android phone from various sources, such as alternative app stores like F-Droid or code repositories like GitHub. These stores are usually more privacy-focused, so you won’t find hidden tracking codes in the app’s source code. They also host apps that don’t hide basic features behind subscriptions or in-app purchases.

You may even be more surprised to learn that these platforms offer some really useful apps that are missing from the Play Store. FFShare is one such app. It’s essentially a frontend for FFmpeg that lets you compress large files and remove their metadata. What’s also nice is that the app is free and doesn’t show ads in the UI. Some other non-Play Store apps I’ve installed on my phone include Seal, NewPipe, AdAway, Breezy Weather, and Obtainium.

A fully-accessible file system

Apple has made the iOS file system more accessible over the years. And as of the time of writing, it supports many useful operations, including connecting to an FTP server and moving files between the iPhone and an external storage device. However, iOS is still a sandboxed environment, meaning each app lives and runs in its own isolated environment and can’t access the contents of other apps. As a result, it doesn’t offer as much control over the file system as Android does and therefore struggles with, or doesn’t support, many operations.

I don’t face these issues on Android, and that makes various file-based operations possible or easier. For example, I can connect my Android phone to a computer and easily move my files between them. Similarly, I can install a storage analyzer app on my Android phone to better understand what’s taking up space.

Keeping files synced between my phone and computer is another use case where Android excels. Since Android doesn’t restrict background app usage as aggressively, I can use apps like Syncthing to keep my files synced across devices. Android also makes it easier to use third-party apps for bulk file operations. This means I can grant an app access to a folder on my phone’s local storage, and it would do its job.

Reverse wireless charging

Last but not least, I miss the lack of support for reverse wireless charging on iPhones. While you can wirelessly charge an iPhone using a power bank or another phone that supports reverse wireless charging, you can’t charge another device, like phones or earbuds, with an iPhone.

This isn’t a huge dealbreaker for most people, and it isn’t something you’d use every day. However, it’s a nice-to-have feature when, say, you’re out and about, and your wireless earbuds’ battery is about to die. It has happened to me numerous times in the past, and back then, the reverse wireless charging feature on my Galaxy S23 Ultra helped me top up the battery just enough to get through a few calls. Apart from earbuds, I’ve also used the feature to keep my second phone alive at times.

Despite these omissions, iOS is still solid

It’s natural to miss certain features from your current phone when switching phones, especially with iPhones and Android phones, since you’re essentially moving between ecosystems, not just devices. And one might miss certain features of an iPhone when switching to an Android phone, too, but those aren’t significant enough to cripple the experience.

In contrast, the lack of the above-mentioned features when switching from an iPhone to Android makes the transition feel like a downgrade — at least for the first few weeks, until the good bits about the iPhone begin to impress you.