The development of operating systems never stops. We are attentive to the next betas of iOS 16 and to the rumors that may be coming to us about iOS 17, but the competition is not sitting idle and is preparing its next great version: Android 14.
That’s very good news, because it means we’re going to have competition that will keep Apple awake. The more news there is in that Android 14 better, although I have reasons to believe that at the moment in iOS we have some key advantages.
The “it just works” effect makes sense if we look at how it is achieved
The ace up the sleeve of iOS (and other Apple operating systems) it has always been integration. The union of its hardware and its software at a level that Android cannot have unless it joins forces with the manufacturer at a very close level (something like that we can recognize at a certain level with the Pixels)
And it is precisely that integration that enables features such as shortcuts, which automates tasks ranging from the most basic iOS functions to specific details of home automation. It’s not that it’s impossible to do something like this on Android, but it would cost much more to achieve and would involve a collaboration between dozens of manufacturers.
Tools like Handoff or the universal clipboard have a function that is unique in iOS, while in Android it is limited even in the best conditions.
Yes, there are services like IFTTT, but they don’t reach everywhere. You can automate online services and certain aspects of your phone, but you can’t play with deep system tools.
Other functions that reflect this difference: HandOff, to continue what you were doing on one device with another. Or the universal clipboard that copies and pastes any content between devices completely transparently. These are things that I doubt that we can see in Android if it is not through special tools, or in a limited way.
It’s not that I want to throw mud at Android, far from it. It is a system that (like iOS) has its advantages and disadvantages. And each one chooses the system that best suits them. And in terms of integration, iOS is capable of achieving some features that Android may cost more.