IOS 26…considering Android

[Dianneeraser]

Not trying to be contrarian, just genuinely curious. People were flamed for criticizing IOS 26 because it was only in “developer beta”. Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time. I personally don’t find the IOS 26 design that great.

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

 

[HouseLannister]

Yes, but it wasn't just because of Liquid Glass. iOS 18 was also a failure on the AI front. Now we are one year later and all we get is a cosmetic skin and almost no new features. (And the skin isn't even that good.) Apple doesn't want to overpromise again, so now they are announcing next to nothing. The issue is that what they did announce is... blah? Springboard/Spotlight/App Library feel so neglected. I want something like Samsung Good Lock for iPhone. Give me custom launchers, themes, icons, etc. Let me tweak the app grid, the animation speed... all of it. There is real opportunity to improve the OS, but we just get... glass.

I always have an Android and an iPhone, but haven't had a SIM in my Android since the Pixel 5a. I am now rocking a Pixel 10 Pro with my eSIM and don't plan on going back. I downgraded my iPhone 16 Pro Max to 18.6.2 and will keep it there until at least 26.4 when there are actually features to test and not just Vista glass. I still want to give More Personal Siri a chance, but Gemini is just too good to not switch.

 

[russell_314]

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

Absolutely not. The main reason is Google. They have enough of my data.

Second reason is 99.99% of the time my phone does what I want it to do. I don’t use Siri or that would be like 20%

I have a friend who always buys the latest Samsung flagship phone. She’s a walking advertisement for Samsung and will give unsolicited advice on buying one. I try not to laugh when she’s getting frustrated trying to get her phone to do what she wants it to do.

 

[fatTribble]

I’ll judge iOS 26 when I install it on release day.
I’ve never considered going to google.

 

[chabig]

Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time.

Why do you say that? I'm running the public beta and it seems fine to me. I haven't found anything that doesn't work.

 

[Dianneeraser]

Why do you say that? I'm running the public beta and it seems fine to me. I haven't found anything that doesn't wor

I was following the Beta forum release posts and there still seems to be some glaring issues with the design. Or maybe I should say areas that need lots of refinement yet.

 

[chabig]

Thanks for that. Whether the design has "glaring issues" or not is subjective. Everything that I'm doing with it works, and I'll take the design as a work in progress. Apple might certainly continue tweaking it.

 

[SmOgER]

Not trying to be contrarian, just genuinely curious. People were flamed for criticizing IOS 26 because it was only in “developer beta”. Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time. I personally don’t find the IOS 26 design that great.

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

No. For now. But it does look like a slow downfall and role reversal with Android becoming more and more polished in a sense and Apple on a run of mistakes. I just doubt this will continue long enough to offset the compatibility and support advantage of iOS not having to support 1 trillion unique devices.

 

[aperfectcircle]

I would never switch, no matter what Apple does I despise Google/Alphabet as a company. They’re an advertising company at heart. On top of that I genuinely find Google design to be ugly - whether that’s Android, Google apps in either platform, or Google websites. It’s just plain ugly and I can’t stand using their apps/sites.

 

[Beepster]

I despise Google, and I don’t rank Apple far behind in their greed. Saying that, I run a 16 Max Pro and an S25 Ultra. The iPhone is maybe a bit more shiny and appealing around the edges, and works very well for a limited range of uses. The s25 still looks great, however whenever I hop back to it I’m amazed by how easier and efficient it is to use for everything. Stuff like systemwide back gesture, multi windows, proper keyboards, a file system, side loading and no constraints on what apps I want to run, unlike Apple who think they’re your mammy, even simple stuff like being able to display data speeds in the notification bar, it genuinely feels like freedom. Don’t like Google, then just disable their crap.

 

[klasma]

The iOS 26 visual redesign is a major reason why the iPhone is moving closer to being a toss-up with Android phones for me. Without the redesign, I would have given the iPhone Air a try, but given the state of affairs I'll be waiting a while to see how things develop, and will likely stick with the iPhone mini and iOS 18 until next year. If Apple's trajectory keeps deteriorating, switching to an Android phone is a real possibility. I already use an Android tablet for certain use cases.

 

[CyberDavis]

Not trying to be contrarian, just genuinely curious. People were flamed for criticizing IOS 26 because it was only in “developer beta”. Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time. I personally don’t find the IOS 26 design that great.

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

No, I’ll judge it when I see the launch and then install it.
I find it hard to imagine an OS update would make me want to ditch an entire ecosystem.
But I guess some may feel differently.

 

[maflynn]

Not trying to be contrarian, just genuinely curious. People were flamed for criticizing IOS 26 because it was only in “developer beta”. Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time. I personally don’t find the IOS 26 design that great.

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

iOS and the iphone has more upsides then negatives. I'm absolutely not considering changing platforms.

 

[jz0309]

Not trying to be contrarian, just genuinely curious. People were flamed for criticizing IOS 26 because it was only in “developer beta”. Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time. I personally don’t find the IOS 26 design that great.

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

I'm running the public beta on my iPad and have no issues. imho all the complaints about readability are overblown.
Granted that I use my iPad indoors only whereas I use iPhone outdoors quite a bit, so final judgement to come on that.
But, everything I do, every app that I run on my iPad - no issues, so don't foresee stability issues for my iPhone.

No way I'd switch to Android cause of the OS ...

 

[Project Alice]

Not trying to be contrarian, just genuinely curious. People were flamed for criticizing IOS 26 because it was only in “developer beta”. Now that it is in Public Beta, it still doesn’t seem ready for prime time. I personally don’t find the IOS 26 design that great.

My question is: will iOS 26 cause you to consider switching to Android?

I've been using it on my iPad and my 2nd gen SE since DB1. No breaking issues. I put it on my DD on DB5. Now on DB8 and it's pretty solid.

No, I am not thinking about switching back to Android. The last good Android phone was the HTC One change my mind.

 

[lindros2]

Bye

 

[Ctrlos]

Whilst it was partially the reason, I knee-jerk sold my 16 Pro because of my initial reactions to iOS26 and bought an Android.

Once the honeymoon period was over I remembered why I dislike Android so much, from the lack of app parity to the unreliability of things like Google Pay.

I’ve since switched back and found 26 to be quite pleasant on the eyes. There are few legibility issues, the way the buttons morph into boxes is just lovely and the lock screen customisation options are light years ahead of Android. Yes, that’s right: iOS has leapfrogged Android in that regard!

 

[martint235]

Android is fantastic. I’ve just been there with the Samsung S24U and then the OnePlus 13. Gemini in particular is just awesome when it’s allowed to integrate with the system. “Gemini, check my calendar and send meeting invites for a 1 hour slot on Monday to x, y and a”. If I had only one device or possibly two then I’d be on android but I have 4 (5 if you count the watch) and the ecosystem of apple wins me over.

 

[Luis Ortega]

I have a friend who always buys the latest Samsung flagship phone. She’s a walking advertisement for Samsung and will give unsolicited advice on buying one. I try not to laugh when she’s getting frustrated trying to get her phone to do what she wants it to do.

lol…she’s just not doing it right.

 

[cjsuk]

I think you probably need to do some self-reflection if you think a UI redesign is worth burning your entire platform investment for. The proponents of either want you to be with them because it's self-validation. The marketers for either want to create partisan feelings in you so they can sell you another lie.

Don't play the game. It's just not worth it.

(I use both on and off for ref - they're both absolutely awful)

 

[TechnoMonk]

Enjoy your new Android device. I will keep using my iPhone 13 PM with iOS 26.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Whilst it was partially the reason, I knee-jerk sold my 16 Pro because of my initial reactions to iOS26 and bought an Android.

Once the honeymoon period was over I remembered why I dislike Android so much, from the lack of app parity to the unreliability of things like Google Pay.

I’ve since switched back and found 26 to be quite pleasant on the eyes. There are few legibility issues, the way the buttons morph into boxes is just lovely and the lock screen customisation options are light years ahead of Android. Yes, that’s right: iOS has leapfrogged Android in that regard!

That’s the way to do. OP try Android for yourself.

 

[SmOgER]

The iOS 26 visual redesign is a major reason why the iPhone is moving closer to being a toss-up with Android phones for me. Without the redesign, I would have given the iPhone Air a try, but given the state of affairs I'll be waiting a while to see how things develop, and will likely stick with the iPhone mini and iOS 18 until next year. If Apple's trajectory keeps deteriorating, switching to an Android phone is a real possibility. I already use an Android tablet for certain use cases.

Honestly I wouldn’t be extremely surprised if 17Air turns out to have some major design flaw being the first gen device for a company that has so much controversy around them now. Which is sad but also perhaps a reasonable consideration. Political landscape (tariffs and supply) only compounds on top of everything

 

[klasma]

Honestly I wouldn’t be extremely surprised if 17Air turns out to have some major design flaw being the first gen device for a company that has so much controversy around them now. Which is sad but also perhaps a reasonable consideration. Political landscape (tariffs and supply) only compounds on top of everything

The M4 iPad Pro which I have is as thin as the iPhone Air (actually even a bit thinner), and the similar Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge also seems to be fine, so I'm reasonably confident the Air will be as well. Battery won't be great obviously, but I'm used to that from the iPhone mini, and it is rarely an issue. The biggest unknown currently is if it will really be as lightweight as rumored (otherwise I have little interest), and if so, whether I'll get used to the size.

 

[FeliApple]

I’ll probably never buy Android, and I won’t be updating to iOS 26 either, so it’s a non-issue for me, really. When I eventually upgrade I guess I’ll get used to it like I’ve always done. For the foreseeable future, both my iPhone 16 Plus and my 11th-gen iPad will run iOS and iPadOS 18, respectively.