7 things your Android phone can do that people with iPhones only dream of
The debate between Android and iOS fans over which platform is better is one I never see coming to an end. Both sides of the argument have their share of talking points, ranging from security and encryption for iPhone users to customization and Google Assistant prowess on the Android side. And they're almost always valid arguments.
Right now, I want to highlight some of Android's strengths that iOS just doesn't have yet, from your being able to set default apps and use more than one app at a time to being able to completely customize the look of your phone.
Here are my favorite things Android users can do that people with iPhones can only dream of.
Use the apps you want, not the apps Google wants you to use
The option to set Gmail as the default email app on an iPhone is something iOS users have been asking Apple to add for years. Even though Apple added the option to delete its own apps from iOS, you still can't set a default app. It's tragic, really.
Finding the setting for default apps can take a little digging, but at least it's there.
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Android, on the other hand, lets you set Firefox or Opera as your default browser instead of Google Chrome, or set Google's Messages app as your text messaging app of choice to take advantage of RCS, Google's recently released chat feature that acts a lot like Apple's iMessage.
It isn't hard to see which apps have been labeled as default on your Android device: Open the Settings app and go to Apps & notifications > Default apps. To change the defaults, select the app category, such as Phone app or Browser app, and choose from the options.
Google Assistant is always ready for you.
Jason Cipriani/CNETGoogle Assistant for the win
iPhone users have Siri, but Android gives you Google Assistant. Google Assistant is a much more sophisticated tool than Apple's Siri for a slew of reasons, but the most important one is that it makes use of Google's impressive database.
Google Assistant can understand common requests for businesses and names, and it gets requests right more often than wrong. It also returns high-quality responses, drawing from Google Search, a tool that Siri doesn't have access to.
Google Assistant also tightly integrates with the phone's other functions, to tell you when it's time to leave for your next meeting and warn you that traffic will be heavy on the way home. If you have any Google Home or Nest Home smart speakers or other compatible devices, you can also use Assistant on your phone to control smart devices around your house like lights, outlets or your thermostat -- even from afar.
And it's built right into your Android device. "OK, Google" and "Hey, Google" are the two wake phrases. If you need help knowing what to ask, you can ask Google Assistant for a list of commands: "OK, Google, What can you do?" iPhone owners can also install the Google app to use Assistant, but it's not built in and it's not the default personal assistant.
Split Screen is easy to use on an Android phone, and increases the versatility of a phone.
Jason Cipriani/CNETUse two apps at once through split-screen mode
Even though iPadOS 13 supports using multiple apps at the same time, iOS 13 and the iPhone do not. Android users, however, have had split-screen apps since 2016 with the release of Android 7.0 Nougat.
Using two apps is helpful if you're trying to look up a contact's phone number to send to someone on Facebook Messenger, or if you need to reference information in a document when composing an email. It's unclear why Apple hasn't added this feature to the iPhone yet, but perhaps it has something to do with the size of windows on the iPhone's display as compared with the larger iPad ($325 at Walmart).
The easiest way to use split-screen mode is to open the multitasking view and tap on the app's icon at the top of its multitasking card -- it's the same icon you use to launch the app from your homescreen. Select Split screen from the list of options, then select the second app you want to have open at the same time. (These steps might vary depending on which Android phone you use. For example, Samsung phones have their own version of the interface.)
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