Apple‘s newest iPhone 13 series is very impressive, even if the phones aren’t all that different from last year’s iPhone 12 or even the iPhone 11.
Usually after we see a major leap in technology, it’s followed by gradual small improvements year on year, until another major leap is possible (or seen as worthwhile by companies).
So before Apple is ready to introduce its Apple AR Glasses, or a foldable iPhone, or whatever else the trillion dollar company sees as the future of mobile technology, it’s banking on safe, small upgrades over an already excellent iPhone formula.
That’s all well and good, and I love the iPhone 13‘s tried and tested flat-edge design, and how reliable its operating system, iOS, is. But as an Android power user, I can’t recommend the new iPhone to people like me, who want to get the most out of their phones. You have to be willing to make some significant sacrifices for the pretty iPhone 13 design and interface.
Below are the top three power user features I wish the iPhone 13 had, but still doesn’t, and may never get. Yet two of those are available even on budget Android phones.
Multitasking
Basically all modern Android phones support split screen multitasking
Recently I had forgotten my Twitter password, so I opened the Twitter app on my iPhone 13 and sent a request to change it. Twitter sends a code to my email, so I have no choice but to switch to the email app to copy it.
When I switched back to the Twitter app, it restarted, so now I had to send another password reset request, but this time use my PC to open my mail and read the code from there, while keeping the Twitter app open on my iPhone, so it won’t reset again.
Because yes, some apps do that, they refresh if you leave them on a sensitive page related to passwords or credit card information. And iOS’ lack of multitasking can make dealing with cases like that very frustrating.
On Android I could’ve easily split the screen between Twitter and my mail app (or open either in a popup window), so I would’ve never had to leave the Twitter app.
This is just one example. With Android’s split screen multitasking and windowed app support you can browse two (or more) apps and websites at once, or watch videos while browsing the web, which I often do.
Your best bet to get the latter on iOS is to pay for a YouTube Premium subscription, but Android users can just use split screen and it’s free. Is that fair to iOS users?
Split screen should be available on all modern phones, yet even the latest, cutting-edge 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max doesn’t have that. Why would Apple give it all this A15 Bionic power, yet not fully utilize it?
Does Apple assume that its users don’t need split screen multitasking? Well, it’s a smart company, so perhaps that’s true. Let’s try to figure it out. iPhone users, please cast your vote below:
Stylus support
Even the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has stylus support, despite the technical challenge of implementing it on a folding phone
Back in 2007, the late, great Steve Jobs said that nobody would want a stylus on their phone, as a stylus just complicates things, it needs to be stored somewhere and it’s easy to lose.
And indeed, a whole 14 years later, even the newest iPhone 13 “Pro” still does not support a stylus, and I believe it’s safe to bet that no iPhone ever will.
But is it true that people don’t want to have the option of a stylus on their phone, still, in 2021?
At first thought, it seems reasonable to assume that most people don’t need a stylus on their phone, and never will. However, the love we’ve seen for the Galaxy Note series and the fact that Samsung went above and beyond to include stylus support on its cutting-edge Galaxy Z Fold 3 actually suggests that there’s a respectable number of Android power users who dearly care for that feature.
If you’re a smartphone power user, surely you’d need to sign a document or sketch an idea on your phone at some point, perhaps even draw an illustration on it. Or maybe all the time. Plus, at least in the case of Samsung and its S Pen stylus – the Korean company gives you so many fantastic S Pen features you can take advantage of, to make your phone multitasking faster and more precise than it can possibly be without a stylus.
If this person sounds like you, you’ll likely never be able to stick with an iPhone, as stylus support and the features that come with it don’t seem like things Apple plans to focus on anytime soon.
Desktop mode
Samsung Dex in action on a Galaxy phone, which conveniently turns into a touchpad
While Apple clearly wants you to spend as much money as possible and buy an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook, and use those for their respective purposes, some Android phones are powerful and versatile enough to cover all three (to some degree) on their own.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3, for example, is a smartphone, a tablet, and if connected to an external display and a keyboard, it transforms into a full-blown Windows-like computer. Samsung calls it DeX, a feature that completely changes how Android looks and feels.
With Samsung Dex, you get a proper taskbar, apps open in windows and remain opened, and you get a mouse cursor for precise navigation and web browsing.
In addition, Huawei flagships, Xiaomi phones with MIUI+ and other Android options also have their version of desktop mode, so you can get more than a phone experience out of those. While the iPhone 13 remains just a phone. A great phone that covers all the basics, but not much beyond that.
How do you feel about desktop mode on a phone? Do you like the idea of one device serving as both your phone and your computer?
What do you think? Why isn’t Apple interested in catching up with Android when it comes to power user features?
