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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- iOS 27 unveiled some new tricks, but Android has many.
- Apple’s AI injections will feel familiar to Android users.
- There are some new features I’d like Android to steal.
I’ve been an Android devotee for more than 15 years. In fact, you might even call me a fanboy as I’m quick to point out the numerous reasons why it’s the superior phone OS. Every year when Apple releases a new version of iOS, I’m the one saying, “Android did it first.”
Now, fresh off the announcement of iOS 27, it looks like my “What took you so long?” claims are true. Many of the flashy new iPhone tricks exist in some form in Android, and in some cases, users have had them for years. Still, I’m willing to put my fandom aside at times and admit some things are cool.
Also: The two biggest iOS 27 features at WWDC for me had nothing to do with Siri AI
Here’s a look at four iOS 27 features that Android already has, and two I’d like Android to steal.
What’s familiar to Android fans?
1. Siri AI
Perhaps the biggest upgrade in iOS 27 is Siri AI (which only newer devices can access, by the way). Apple touted the new Siri as a “profoundly more capable and conversational assistant” with “personal context understanding, broad world knowledge, and onscreen awareness.” Apple said the AI can even pull context from emails and messages to take action across apps.
This capability feels like familiar territory for Android users. Google’s AI, Gemini, has been around for several years and is now ubiquitous across Google products, including Android Auto. Gemini can handle conversations well, run actions across multiple apps, check your messages and email for context, talk about what’s on screen, and more. In short, everything Apple is advertising.
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Over time, I think Siri AI will ultimately have a deeper ecosystem integration, given that Google doesn’t control everything in the Android world, as Apple does with iOS. However, for now, Apple is just catching up to where Google has been for years.
2. Generative photo editing
Apple users are getting an AI photo-editing upgrade via Spatial Reframe, Cleanup, and Expand. The latter two features use AI to remove unwanted objects and people and enlarge the borders of a photo. The first feature lets you shift the angle or perspective of a photo.
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Android can handle a host of AI-powered photo edits, such as removing objects with Magic Eraser, expanding photo edges with Generative Expand, repositioning subjects within a frame, changing the crop, and generating missing backgrounds. While these capabilities started as Pixel exclusives, they became available to all Android users in 2024. The one win here for Apple is that Android doesn’t have a direct comparison to Spatial Reframe. I even tried asking Gemini to move the perspective a few feet, and it replied that it couldn’t.
3. Apple Intelligence in Messages and Wallet
“Everyday interactions in Apple Wallet become more seamless and intelligent,” Apple explained, thanks to the integration of Apple Intelligence. By simply pointing your phone at a receipt, you can split a bill by choosing your items on a receipt and paying with Apple Cash.
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Google Photos and Google Wallet have Google Lens integration that can do the same thing, and while paying might not be directly integrated, it is easy to handle that task through a third-party app.
4. More nuanced volume controls
One of the biggest examples of “Android had it first” I’ve ever seen, Apple is now letting users control ringtone, alarm, and alert volumes independently. Apple’s controls are aimed a little more at “intelligent” control, such as telling Siri to “turn down music during calls,” equalizing volume across apps, and letting AI decide what the volume should be. But this feature is the first time you can set different volume levels for alarms and media on an iPhone.
Just as a raw feature, this capability is something Android has had for a very long time.
What I’d love Android to steal
However, Apple isn’t just creating features in iOS 27 that feel familiar to Android users. As mentioned earlier, there are a few things I’d love Android to steal.
1. Call Context
This feature, as Apple explained, proactively finds relevant information when you call a business. For example, if you call an airline, your phone will automatically show your reservation code from your confirmation email.
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Android has Call Screening, Hold For Me, real-time transcription of calls, after-call summaries, and context-aware suggestions based on information in other Google apps, but all of those are more like pre- and post-call benefits. Call Context works during a call to give you helpful information. I’d love to see Android take its call-related features a step further and introduce something similar.
2. Automatic password changing
If there’s one area where I have digital fatigue, it’s passwords. I’m tired of trying to satisfy the ever-harder requirements for every new service, I hate changing passwords when my data is breached, and I’m over logging in to apps and services multiple times. Despite the dangers, I trust my Google account for most logins.
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New in iOS 27 is a feature that can log in to a service if your password is compromised and automatically change it for you. Now, the feature only works on supported platforms, but it’s a big win where it does.
