I thought my Galaxy had it all — until this iPhone feature proved me wrong

I never recommended an iPhone to those who previously used Android and can’t compromise on customizability. I’m also one of those users, but I also have a strong desire to try different gadgets when there is no budget constraint.

To feed my curiosity about what and how Apple does its mobile operating system, I switched from the Samsung Galaxy S21 to the iPhone 16e a few months ago.

Part of the reason I liked iOS is that I already knew what I would miss, so I kept my expectations low. However, I was more surprised than impressed after using it.

I wasn’t surprised because iOS exceeded my expectations, but because of my early opinion, or perhaps the lack of it, about a feature on my Galaxy handset. I never cared about it until I switched to the iPhone.

iOS does on-device search better than One UI or any other Android skin

It isn’t easy to spot it for first-time iOS users

You get a large Google search widget on the home screen of most Android phones when you first boot it up. It lets you perform a quick web search without opening a browser.

Some Android phones, including the Galaxy lineup, take it a notch higher and allow users to search for content that’s locally stored on their devices, besides showing web search results.

My Galaxy phone also has the feature, but I wanted to use it only after using its superior equivalent on iOS. I didn’t spot the search feature on the iOS home screen immediately after switching to the iPhone 16e.

It’s hidden under a gesture (swipe down from the middle of the home screen) I wasn’t aware of, but it didn’t take too long to find the dedicated tiny search bar on the home screen.

It can easily go unnoticed due to its size, but its position is well thought out. The search appears just above the bar at the bottom of your iPhone. This means it’s easy for your thumb to reach out.

I liked its simplicity so much that I failed to notice until later that my Galaxy S21 had deprived me of this convenience all these years. I tried to replicate the behavior on my S21 but to no avail.

The only way to search for items stored locally on your Galaxy is by going to the App screen (swipe up on the home screen). This is one more step than simply tapping the search bar on the iOS home screen.

I didn’t complain because One UI made me subconsciously think that it was the most convenient way to do a local search. Switching to iOS made me change my opinion about it.

Samsung tried to make the search feature better

But it hasn’t matched iOS’ equivalent yet

You’ll notice many similarities between One UI and iOS because Samsung takes a lot of inspiration from Apple.

However, the South Korean tech giant hasn’t always been successful in mimicking iOS features. The company either failed or received a mixed response from users, particularly when it tried to do it in a different way.

On-device search has long been available in One UI, but it’s gone through some significant changes over the years to make it more accessible.

Before the arrival of One UI 6, you could use the Finder feature from the Quick Settings menu. You needed to swipe down from the top of your Galaxy phone twice to access the Finder feature.

However, Samsung removed it in One UI 6, and that meant you could access it only by using the search bar on the App screen.

The search bar on the App screen wasn’t convenient, either, especially for one-handed use. Only the position was to blame.

The search bar appeared at the top of the App screen before One UI 7, but that isn’t the place where your thumb naturally rests. To fix this, Samsung brought it down to the bottom in One UI 7, and it does make things a lot easier.

However, One UI still lacks the ability to perform on-device search from the home screen, nor does it have a gesture to launch Finder from the home screen.

I still love Samsung’s Android, but with controlled enthusiasm

I’m still using the iPhone 16e, but not as my primary phone, because its flaws are too troubling for me to ignore.

However, I neither blame Apple nor praise Google for their current state of mobile operating systems, as each is meant to serve different people.

After using the iPhone for months and discovering some of its limitations and unique ways of handling things, I’ve become a strong advocate for using both Android and iOS together.

I realized it especially after discovering how a tiny on-device search feature on the home screen can make a difference. For mature platforms like Android and iOS, it’s the little things that matter.

While Apple is a winner for getting on-device search right in iOS, the operating system fails miserably in getting many of the basic things right. It may partly be due to how Android shaped my mindset about mobile usage.

I believe Android deserves credit for shaping that instinct, and Apple for nailing the feature so well that it disrupts one of the habits Android built in me. Maybe I should now call it a bad habit.