Apple announced at WWDC24 the new features that will be included in the upcoming iOS 18 upgrade.
While we are undoubtedly excited for iOS 18 to roll out this autumn, it’s worth noting that a lot of the new features are already available on the best Android phones and have been for quite some time.
Read on to see which of the upcoming iOS 18 features are already available on Android smartphones.
RCS messaging
This is a particularly overdue feature set to land in iOS 18, as it will make communicating between iPhones and Androids much easier. Currently, Apple’s iMessage only allows you to message Androids via SMS or MMS but with RCS you will soon be able to send all types of messages plus other features over Wi-Fi instead.
Android smartphones have supported RCS messaging since 2017 and now the messaging system is available on almost all handsets.
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Schedule texts on iMessage
Devoted Android users may be shocked to learn that iMessage has not previously offered users the option to schedule a message to arrive at a later time, as Google Messages has featured this since 2021.
Apple announced that iPhone users will have almost total free reign when it comes to arranging apps and widgets on their home screen. Apple explains you will soon be able to “place your apps and widgets right where you want them […] to give each page of your Home Screen a unique layout that’s most helpful for you.”
Android handsets however have offered home screen customisation since its inception back in 2008, which means it’s taken Apple nearly 20 years to catch up.
Not only can you put apps wherever you like on your iPhone Home Screen, but you also can soon change the colour of icons and widgets to match with your wallpaper and adjust the size of each icon too. Although there are third party apps which already allow you to change each icon’s design, this is the first time it will be integrated into iOS.Again, this is a feature that is already available on most Android smartphones.
Lock and hide apps
iOS 18 will soon allow you to lock behind an extra layer of security and will require either Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to access. According to Apple “information from the app won’t appear in other places across the system, including search and notifications, so others don’t inadvertently see sensitive information.”
Apple also says iOS 18 will allow you to hide an app by moving it to a locked hidden apps folder too.
Although Android doesn’t currently offer a native way to lock and hide apps, numerous brands have an app lock feature in their custom skins, including Samsung and OnePlus.
Control Centre customisation
iOS 18 will boast a huge update to its Control Centre thanks to Apple’s redesign. Not only will the Control Centre feature new groups of controls that are more accessible from the Home Screen, but you will also be able to add more controls.
Finally, you will also be able to adjust the size of controls in the centre too.
While some Android skins do offer users more controls to choose from, overall Android offers a huge list of options to add to the dropdown menu. Having said that, you aren’t currently able to customise the size or style of the control options like you will in iOS 18.
Customisable shortcuts on the lock screen
iPhone users have long suffered the restriction of having just the torch and camera shortcuts on the lock screen. Thankfully, Apple has addressed this and will allow iOS 18 users to swap out the controls at the bottom of the Lock Screen for something else.
All Androids have offered this as standard for a while, although the amount of choice for lock screen shortcuts will depend on the skin you’re using. Even so, the base Android options do offer a good amount of useful shortcuts.
Mail will filter messages by priority
Apple will introduce on-device categorisation into its primary Mail app. Using machine learning, your messages will be automatically organised into different categories, from Primary which helps you focus on “what matters most, like time-sensitive messages and emails from friends, family, or colleagues” to Transactions for receipts and Promotions for marketing and sales.
Although Gmail users have seen this functionality for a while, this is still impressive for iOS 18 as this will work with emails from most servers.
Photo editing with AI
While iOS will introduce a ton of “Apple Intelligence” features, it’s worth mentioning that they will only be found on newer devices, such as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Even so, one of the most anticipated AI tools is “Clean Up” which will be found in the newly designed Photos app. AI identifies potentially unwanted background objects so you can remove them with just a tap.
Sound familiar? This feature is almost identical to Magic Editor or Generative Edit which is found respectively in Pixel and Galaxy handsets. At least it’s better late than never with iOS 18.
