Experts who know both - compare AI on iOS to Android

[Fallforward]

There is a lot of ranting about Apple not keeping big AI promises in the past and being behind the curve. Now that some folks have a peek at the AI future in iOS 27, how does it compare to what is already available on Android? Any experts here who know both?

I assume Mac is not relevant here given it's a totally different comparison to Microsoft.

 

[HouseLannister]

AI on Android is Gemini, and you can run it on iOS too. You can ask it all the same questions and compare the results yourself.

The main differences are Gemini will remember you and the conversations you had (the Siri app is just a history, but it does not learn from that history), offers Gemini Live conversation where you don't need to keep re-triggering the conversation with a hello phrase, and is generally more detailed (Siri will keep things more concise). Both do image editing and image generation, but I think Gemini's nano banana is still a ways ahead. (Apple is miles better than iOS 18 for images though. Just still behind.)

Right now, Siri is only accessing things in your Apple apps and Gemini can access Google apps as well as Instacart, OpenTable, Canva, and GitHub. Not a huge list of 3rd parties. (I am not on the expensive plan where I can test the agentic DoorDash stuff, etc.) Once Siri AI launches in September, there will probably be many more 3rd party apps supported on Apple's platform, which could give it a real advantage.

As far as personal intelligence goes: if you have all your data in Google's services, you will get better results there. If you have all your data in Apple's services, you will get better results there. I primarily use Gmail and Google Calendar, but sync them with Apple's first party apps, so my results are about the same from one platform to the other.

They reference the same sources and provide roughly the same answers, so Apple's claim that they used zero of Google's Assistant (which isn't what it is called anymore) is kind of marketing bull. Siri AI is definitely Gemini under-the-hood and it is kind of obvious when you play with both for awhile.

Apple was definitely behind and playing catch-up. They have mostly gotten there and have a real chance to pull ahead with 3rd party app support. However, this IS Apple. In two years, they will be behind again. Guaranteed. They are not an AI company and this is not their priority. Google will keep doing new things and will keep the best stuff for their own customers and not share everything with Apple. This might be the best it ever gets on iOS. Think of features like App Library that launched in iOS 14 and never got changed. Apple puts out (occasionally) good to great software, but then they move on to the next thing and often forget to continue iterating.

Already plenty of people doing a side-by-side. Here's a couple I found quickly. There will probably be many more come September.

https://medium.com/macoclock/new-siri-vs-gemini-the-ultimate-ai-assistant-duel-cac49945605a

I asked Apple's new Siri AI and Google Gemini the same 10 questions - here's how they responded | Stuff

How Google Gemini and Apple Siri responded to a standard set of questions - and what I thought of the responses

www.stuff.tv

 

[Fallforward]

AI on Android is Gemini, and you can run it on iOS too. You can ask it all the same questions and compare the results yourself.

Already plenty of people doing a side-by-side. Here's a couple I found quickly. There will probably be many more come September.

Thanks. Seems like my question was premature, but at least a few comparisons are out. However, your answer with links spurred me to ask Copilot to analyze and compare Siri/iOS to Gemini/Android and got a long answer addressing six factors from how they are implemented on the screen to performance.

So, I asked it to focus on performance defined as "the quality of answers" and got another long answer breaking performance into six aspects. Basically, it conlcuded Gemini is better except when personal data is a factor.

So, I asked, "but doesn't siri/iOS use Gemini for questions that go outside the iOS personal data border?" The long answer (Copilot tends to be verbose even when asked to be concise) basically was never happens. It said they use Gemini to help train their own Apple LLM which then runs on Google cloud hardware and said, "This is the single most misunderstood part of the Apple–Google deal."

Edit: asked copilot, "so, can you ask siri to answer using another LLM or must one just use the other LLM directly such as via an app or safari?" The answer was yes, you can explicitly ask Siri to use nonApple LLM like, “Siri, ask ChatGPT to explain....” or “Siri, use Gemini for this question...”

 

[Ctrlos]

In my own tests they largely have parity. Gemini is better at image generation but, and somewhat ironically has less access to personal context. When instructed it wouldn't even delve into Gmail whereas Siri has no problems here.

I think about it this way: Gemini is essentially an app bolted on to the side of Android designed to replace other apps. Siri is integrated vertically into iOS and designed to make the things it does more accessible as a result. Gemini is reliant on whizz-bang AI features (building apps etc) whereas Siri brings the Natural Language Interface to the masses.

 

[Le_Chiffre]

There is a lot of ranting about Apple not keeping big AI promises in the past and being behind the curve. Now that some folks have a peek at the AI future in iOS 27, how does it compare to what is already available on Android? Any experts here who know both?

I assume Mac is not relevant here given it's a totally different comparison to Microsoft.

If you value privacy, there is only one option. Apple and Siri.

 

[HouseLannister]

you can explicitly ask Siri to use nonApple LLM like, “Siri, ask ChatGPT to explain....” or “Siri, use Gemini for this question...”

That was a Gurman rumor that was never announced. There is still the old ChatGPT plugin, but no other plugin support. Just a “hallucination.”