Has Android brought in more innovations than iOS?

There’s a popular misconception that Apple is largely responsible for the creation and ongoing evolution of the smartphone.

In reality, that’s not really the case.

BlackBerry devices supported email as far back as 1999, while early Millennial phones featured web browsing, cameras and media players.

However, each one had its own proprietary operating system. And none resembled today’s ubiquitous touchscreen interfaces until the first-generation iPhone debuted in 2007.

A year later, Android was launched by Google as a platform-agnostic operating system, for handset manufacturers to adopt in lieu of developing their own interfaces.

And in some respects, Android has been playing catch-up ever since.

Among other innovations, Apple pioneered the app store, pinch-and-zoom touchscreens, dual-colour flashes and voice-controlled virtual assistants.

(Regrettably, they also spearheaded the growth of pink handsets and the decline of the 3.5mm headphone jack.)

As such, Apple has clearly played a crucial role in smartphone development.

Yet throughout the late Noughties and 2010s, arch-rival Google introduced hundreds of Android innovations, too.

And while some weren’t successful, many proved so significant that Apple subsequently adapted them into its own ecosystem.

These are some of the Android innovations you might have assumed originated in Cupertino rather than Mountain View…

• Productivity shortcuts. From the outset, Android innovations included copy-and-paste functionality and interactive notifications, with Apple replicating both a year later.
• Typing assistance. Android debuted third-party keyboards and predictive typing six years before iOS, while it also introduced voice searches two years before its great rival.
• Night modes. Apple aficionados might be surprised to learn Android handsets had a blue light filter three years before iOS, and a dark theme two years earlier.
• Surprise-and-delight features. If you thought Apple was first to market with turn-by-turn navigation, home screen auto-rotation or mobile payments, think again.
• Media tools. Android handsets had live photos and moving wallpapers years before iOS, and were the first to offer video recording (including the first 4K and 1080p video cameras).
• Dual-app multi-tasking. Although Apple’s 2015 introduction of split-screen apps was hailed as revolutionary, Samsung’s Multi Window was doing it years earlier.

Hardware stores

Because numerous OEMs have adopted Android, specific manufacturers have frequently innovated new features or hardware to differentiate them from competitor brands.

That’s made shopping around for a new handset important among people who demand tomorrow’s technologies today.

Android handsets were the first to receive wide-angle lenses and optical zooms, contactless payment technology, fingerprint sensors and wireless charging.

You won’t get dual-SIM support in an iPhone. Nor will you get 5G, expandable micro-SD storage, VR headset compatibility or 4K screen quality.

It’s beyond dispute that Apple products are beautifully manufactured, and for many consumers, leaving the iOS ecosystem is too hard to contemplate.

However, early adopters should generally consider an Android handset if they want to enjoy the latest technologies before anyone else.