At WWDC 2025, Apple revealed several new features that closely resemble existing Android capabilities, continuing a familiar pattern in the tech industry. This year’s Apple announcements notably emphasized design updates, while many functional additions felt reminiscent of long-available Android options.
Among the features now arriving on iOS 26 are:
- Call Screening and Hold Assist: Apple’s new call screening feature, which automatically answers suspected spam calls, mirrors functionality Android introduced with Android 12 and refined on Pixel devices. Similarly, Hold Assist alerts users when a human operator is ready during long hold times, a feature that first appeared on Google Pixel phones in 2020.
- In-App Translations: Apple unveiled live translation within the Phone app, enabling real-time spoken translations between callers. Samsung devices have offered similar capabilities, aiding short transactional conversations. Both Apple and Samsung also extend translations to messaging, with Samsung adding message style adjustments to fit different tones.
- Contextual Actions Based on Screenshots: Leveraging AI, iOS can now suggest actions like creating calendar events from screenshots showing dates or times. This builds on years of Google’s contextual tools such as Google Lens and the Circle to Search feature, which allows users to highlight parts of the screen for quick searches.
- Simplified Camera Interface: iOS 26 redesigns the camera app to prioritize photo and video modes with quick swiping to access other modes. This approach resembles the Pixel camera app’s persistent toggle between photo and video, placing core functions more prominently.
These updates highlight a continuing exchange of ideas between Apple and Android platforms, with new features often becoming mainstream after first appearing on the other side. As Apple adopts these capabilities, iPhone users gain access to tools that Android users have benefited from for years.