Another WWDC, another round of "revolutionary" features that feel awfully familiar to Android users...
If you watched Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote and felt a strange sense of déjà vu washing over you, you weren't alone. After I watched Jason Howell's latest video covering the announcements, I thought that perfectly captures that feeling of watching Tim Cook present "groundbreaking" features that Android users have been casually using for the better part of a decade. So I figured, let's use Jason's video as jumping off point and go through the list...
Personally, ss someone who's been deep in the Android ecosystem since the Nexus days, I couldn't help but chuckle throughout Apple's presentation. Don't get me wrong – I appreciate good implementation regardless of who gets there first. But let's be real about the timeline here, shall we?
Apple's shiny new call screening feature automatically answers unknown numbers, transcribes responses in real-time, and even detects hold music. Revolutionary? Sure, if you've been trapped in iOS land.
Android Reality Check: Google introduced Call Screen with the Pixel 3 back in 2018. That's right – while iPhone users were still manually declining spam calls, Pixel owners were letting AI handle the dirty work. Hold for Me? That dropped in 2020. We've literally been living in the future for seven years while Apple was... what, perfecting the notch?
iOS 26 now routes suspected spam messages to a dedicated folder. Clean, simple, effective – and about as innovative as sliced bread at this point.
Android Reality Check: Google Messages has been filtering spam since 2018. But here's where it gets spicy – earlier this year, Google started rolling out real-time scam detection during actual phone conversations. Apple's playing checkers while Google's been playing 4D chess with spam protection.
Apple's live translation across Messages, FaceTime, and calls is genuinely impressive. The AirPods integration? Chef's kiss. But let's talk history.
Android Reality Check: The Pixel 6 introduced Live Translate in 2021 with offline support for 20+ languages. But wait, there's more – Google actually debuted this capability with the original Pixel Buds way back in 2017. That's eight years of iteration versus Apple's fresh-out-the-box implementation.
Apple now lets you circle objects in screenshots to search across apps. Finally, iPhone users can identify that jacket in their Instagram feed!
Android Reality Check: Circle to Search launched in January 2024. Same functionality, same cross-app support, but with one key difference – it doesn't clutter your photo library with screenshots. Sometimes being first means you've had time to work out the kinks.
Custom emoji mashups through AI? Fun, dynamic, creative – and somehow familiar.
Android Reality Check: Emoji Kitchen has been serving up emoji combinations since 2020. Sure, Google's approach uses pre-designed combos rather than on-device AI, but with over 100,000 combinations available, most of us aren't exactly feeling limited. Plus, Pixel Studio added AI-driven sticker generation in 2024 that matches Apple's customization game.
Here's where things get philosophically interesting. Apple's Liquid Glass design language wants to make "purely digital feel natural and alive." Sound familiar? It should.
Google's Material Design has been pursuing tactile, real-world-inspired interfaces since 2014. And with Material 3 Expressive launching alongside Android 16 later this year, both platforms are essentially chasing the same vision: interfaces that feel human.
The irony? Apple's revolutionary new design philosophy shares DNA with something Google's been iterating on for over a decade.
Look, I'm not here to purely dunk on Apple (okay, maybe a little). When they implement features, they usually do it with a level of polish that's admirable. But let's drop the pretense that these are groundbreaking innovations when Android users have been beta testing them for years.
The real winners? All of us. This back-and-forth pushes both platforms forward. Android gets pressure to polish, Apple gets pressure to innovate faster. We all get better phones.
So next time an iPhone user shows you their "amazing new feature," just smile, nod, and remember – you've probably been using it since before their last phone upgrade. And that's okay. We'll keep enjoying the cutting edge while they enjoy the refined edge. Different strokes for different folks.
What's your favorite "new" iOS feature that you've been using for years? Drop a comment below and let's compare notes on this parallel universe we're living in.
