They need to do something urgently.

[Ultra AleM]

I have always used an iPhone, sometimes Android as well. I believe Apple has serious issues that it needs to fix urgently because they compromise the user experience. I will try to be clear and structured.

First, there is no convenient way to always go back. Sometimes there is the gesture from the left edge of the screen, but in many cases there isn’t, and it is not always reliable. Using the phone with one hand, without the ability to consistently go back easily from a specific part of the screen as you can on Android, ruins the user experience and significantly slows you down.

The second issue they urgently need to fix is the typing and voice dictation experience. It should be a core pillar of the system with top priority for engineers, yet it is neglected. The keyboard does not work properly when typing fast, it makes mistakes very easily, and voice dictation is poor compared to competitors. It gets many things wrong, especially proper names that are not in the default dictionary and punctuation. By comparison, ChatGPT’s dictation works perfectly even in more complex cases.

on Android I also have many features that are missing on iPhone. For example, on Android I can write in one language and send the message in another, anywhere in the system. So not only does the iPhone keyboard perform poorly at basic tasks, but it also lacks any extra features that could improve your life.

Finally, they need to improve multitasking and background usage, because many apps stop as soon as you put them in the background unless you keep them in the foreground like an idiot.

If they fix these three problems, in my opinion they would achieve something great.

 

[HouseLannister]

Something needs to be done urgently ≠ make iOS more like Android

Such a sensationalist thread title. I use Android daily and like it a lot for some things, but that doesn't mean Apple is wrong. It's just different. I don't want iOS to be another fork of Android. They were built on very different design philosophies and I like them both for their differences.

1. "Back" has been debated to death. The back gesture on iOS works differently than Android because it will only take you back within your current app, with each app being sandboxed. Back will never switch between apps or take you back to your home screen on iOS. It's just the design philosophy differences on the two OSes. Accept it. I like the Android way better as I get frustrated when Files punts to Preview or my RSS app punts to Safari and my back button is now locked within the app I was switched into. But at this point the design philosophy is locked in and not going to change.

2. Typing was fixed in 26.4. If you are still experiencing problems, turn off character preview in the keyboard settings. Dictation works fine for me, but I grew up in Chicago and have a fairly General American/Broadcast English accent. My North Carolina friend with a regional accent complains constantly. Your mileage may vary.

3. Background usage is something limited to preserve battery life and maximize performance. This is another thing where Android and iOS are just designed differently. iOS 26 added a background tasks api, but developers need to adopt it to see any differences.

It really sounds like you just want an Android phone, as most of these issues are just design differences. Nothing will be done "urgently" because Apple sees no sense of urgency on these asks of yours.

There are other things Android has that Apple should adopt first like notification history and clipboard history, but at some point you just have to admit that the two OSes are different for a reason and you don’t want iOS to just become another Android phone.

 

[Ultra AleM]

Something needs to be done urgently ≠ make iOS more like Android

Such a sensationalist thread title. I use Android daily and like it a lot for some things, but that doesn't mean Apple is wrong. It's just different. I don't want iOS to be another fork of Android. They were built on very different design philosophies and I like them both for their differences.

1. "Back" has been debated to death. The back gesture on iOS works differently than Android because it will only take you back within your current app, with each app being sandboxed. Back will never switch between apps or take you back to your home screen on iOS. It's just the design philosophy differences on the two OSes. Accept it. I like the Android way better as I get frustrated when Files punts to Preview or my RSS app punts to Safari and my back button is now locked within the app I was switched into. But at this point the design philosophy is locked in and not going to change.

2. Typing was fixed in 26.4. If you are still experiencing problems, turn off character preview in the keyboard settings. Dictation works fine for me, but I grew up in Chicago and have a fairly General American/Broadcast English accent. My North Carolina friend with a regional accent complains constantly. Your mileage may vary.

3. Background usage is something limited to preserve battery life and maximize performance. This is another thing where Android and iOS are just designed differently. iOS 26 added a background tasks api, but developers need to adopt it to see any differences.

It really sounds like you just want an Android phone, as most of these issues are just design differences. Nothing will be done "urgently" because Apple sees no sense of urgency on these asks of yours.

There are other things Android has that Apple should adopt first like notification history and clipboard history, but at some point you just have to admit that the two OSes are different for a reason and you don’t want iOS to just become another Android phone.

I am not talking about going back from an app to the home screen, but within the app itself. Many apps do not implement the swipe from the left edge, which would still be less convenient than a right-edge gesture anyway, but whatever, and Apple does nothing to prevent this. Even in Apple’s own apps, sometimes the swipe is not available. This is a serious issue on large screens, because you have to use two hands instead of just one.

As for the keyboard, it is true that they have improved it, and I have noticed significant improvements, but they have gone from a 3 out of 10 to a 6 out of 10. We are still very far from Android’s 9 out of 10, with Google’s keyboard, which allows far fewer mistakes, even when typing very quickly, as younger users tend to do. Moreover, the problem remains that there are no additional features, such as automatic translation and many other things that simply do not exist on iPhone.

Finally, regarding background usage, we return to the previous point, and also to the fact that even Apple’s own apps do not implement this functionality. For example, on iMovie I am forced to keep the app open if I am exporting a video, I cannot do anything else in the meantime, even though the iPhone is now powerful enough to handle even macOS.

The other points you mentioned are also important, I had simply forgotten about them.

 

[HouseLannister]

Even in Apple’s own apps, sometimes the swipe is not available.

Fair. The functionality is there, but developers (even those within Apple) still have to choose to implement it. I do feel that Apple's internal apps lack some consistency at times. Some apps just are in separate development silos, doing their own thing, and have different leaders with different methodologies/focus. Here's one example of consistency that annoys me daily: the Reminders app and the Calendar app. Reminders puts the + for a new entry at the bottom, while Calendar puts it at the top. Hopefully Ternus being in charge of design will lead to more consistency in the future, but it will probably take a couple years for us to see meaningful results.

 

[StumpyBloke]

The only issue I can and will comment on from my perspective is number two.

Dictation is shocking. Embarrassingly bad. It has provably and demonstrably got worse over the last few years. Everybody I know who has an iPhone, and that is in the dozens, all say exactly the same thing about it. So many people on here and other sites say the same thing. The manager or managers in charge of it should have been sacked a long time ago.

 

[I7guy]

IMO, if the thread title read: “IOS 26 …things to be improved”, I would easily buy into it. However, there is nothing “urgent” regarding the UI that needs to be fixed.

 

[Absrnd]

The only urgency i read, is for you to buy an android phone.

 

[Ultra AleM]

The only urgency i read, is for you to buy an android phone.

I have it but I prefer iPhone overall. Cons and pros.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

2. Typing was fixed in 26.4.

Narrator: it wasn't.

In serious I know they said they did, but it really isn't much better. Even on 26.5.

 

[winxmac]

Apple should just allow iPhone 16 series and older models users to downgrade to iOS 18.x using full iPSW instead of trying to make iOS 26.x whatever they promised it to begin with. I don't think iOS 26.x or any future major release will get better or be close enough to the quality of iOS 18.x and older releases.

 

[grammatica]

The keyboard is so bad, especially Predictive Text. Apple made a point at a previous WWDC about fixing the "duck" and "****" error. It still exists. Dictation is also bad. It was worsened when Apple allowed simultaneous correction and typing. The most annoying thing is how Apple Intelligence can't correct spelling mistakes. I always have to copy my mistake and paste it into Google for the correct spelling.

 

[klasma]

I agree that Apple isn’t focusing enough on improving the core functions, and in some cases is making them worse, like actions requiring more taps, controls being inconsistent across apps, the keyboard being worse than ten years ago, and other choices that degrade user experience. For every occasional nice new feature there are many more annoyances and neglected features.

There is little chance this is going to change substantively in the foreseeable future. It’s a result of accumulated technical and design debt, and of how Apple is structuring and prioritizing feature development in their corporate culture, not something that is easily changed.

At this point I have no real hope anymore for major improvements in the software world from a usability perspective. It has become a matter of picking the least bad among middling and unfulfilling choices, for each use case one might have.

 

[I7guy]

[…]

There is little chance this is going to change substantively in the foreseeable future. It’s a result of accumulated technical and design debt,

accumulated technical debt is a result of past innovations. Can’t get away from it.

and of how Apple is structuring and prioritizing feature development in their corporate culture, not something that is easily changed.[…]

Not something they desire to change.

At this point I have no real hope anymore for major improvements in the software world from a usability perspective.

In another 10 years there will be change. But I don’t have issues with iOS 26. YMMV.

It has become a matter of picking the least bad among middling and unfulfilling choices, for each use case one might have.

That’s the low bar we humans set for ourselves. Always pick the least worst.

 

[ab2c4]

Typing is so bad now I honestly think I spend more time fixing words than I do typing new words. It ruins the entire phone experience with frustration. I don't remember it being this bad years ago on my 6s Plus or 11, but has gotten really bad these last 3-4 years.

Typing and the gesture navigation system are the main reasons I plan to go back to Android for my next phone, because I don't think Apple will ever fix the typing problems at this point and I don't think they will let us use an on screen navigation bar as an optional feature like Android has. Both of these are deal breakers for me.