Apple markets almost every new iPhone feature like it just invented mobile computing. In reality, a huge chunk of what makes modern iPhones feel modern showed up on Android phones years — sometimes over a decade — earlier. Here are the biggest examples.
1. Widgets
Android shipped with home screen widgets in 2008, letting users resize and move live functional blocks right from the home screen (Tech in a Teacup / YouTube). Apple didn't add proper home screen widgets until iOS 14 in 2020 — a 12-year gap (TechNave).
2. Notification shade / pull-down notification bar
The swipe-down notification drawer, now core to how every phone works, was an Android feature from day one — introduced in 2008 (Tech in a Teacup / YouTube). BGR confirms the notification drawer concept "was introduced by Android first," organizing alerts per app long before iOS had an equivalent system (BGR).
3. Wireless charging
Android phones had normalized wireless charging roughly 5–6 years before Apple caught up. The iPhone didn't get wireless charging until the iPhone 8 in 2017, while several Android manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, LG) had it years earlier (Tech in a Teacup / YouTube; TechNave).
4. Always-on display
Apple didn't bring an always-on display to iPhones until the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022. Android phones — Nokia and later Samsung and Motorola devices — had shipped the feature years before that (Tech in a Teacup / YouTube).
5. High refresh-rate (120Hz) displays
Smooth 90Hz and 120Hz screens were common on Android flagships well before Apple made the jump. The iPhone only got 120Hz with the iPhone 13 Pro in September 2021, trailing Android by multiple product cycles (Tech in a Teacup / YouTube).
6. Fingerprint sensors
Touch ID launched with the iPhone 5s in 2013 and got heavy praise for its execution — but Android phones like the Motorola Atrix had capacitive fingerprint sensors as early as 2011, two years before Apple (TechNave).
7. Dual-camera rear setups
Apple introduced its first dual rear camera with the iPhone 7 Plus in 2016. Android had multiple dual-camera phones — including the LG G5 and HTC One M8 — on shelves since 2011, five years earlier (TechNave).
8. Fast charging
Apple didn't introduce fast charging (up to 15W) until the iPhone X series in 2017. Android OEMs had been shipping proprietary fast-charging standards years before that, with some already pushing well past 15W by the time Apple caught up (TechNave).
9. Face unlock
Face ID debuted on the iPhone X in 2017 and got treated as a landmark feature. But Android had face unlock baked in from Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" back in 2011 — six years earlier, even if the early version was far less secure than Apple's implementation (BGR).
10. Copy and paste
It sounds almost quaint now, but Android launched with copy-and-paste support in September 2008, while iPhone users were stuck without it until iOS added the feature in March 2009 (Blaster Technology / YouTube).
11. Reverse wireless charging and USB-C
Reverse wireless charging showed up on Android flagships (Huawei, Samsung) years before Apple added it to the iPhone 12 lineup in 2020 (TechNave). Similarly, Android phones standardized on USB-C long before regulatory pressure forced Apple to finally switch from Lightning with the iPhone 15 (Tech in a Teacup / YouTube).
The scorecard
| Feature | Android's head start | iPhone adoption |
|---|
| Feature | Android's head start | iPhone adoption |
|---|
| Widgets | 2008 | iOS 14 (2020) — 12-year gap (TechNave) |
| Notification shade | 2008 | Introduced gradually through iOS updates (BGR) |
| Wireless charging | ~2012 | iPhone 8 (2017) — 5-6 year gap (Tech in a Teacup) |
| Always-on display | Years prior (Nokia/Samsung) | iPhone 14 Pro (2022) (Tech in a Teacup) |
| 120Hz display | Multiple Android flagships (2020) | iPhone 13 Pro (2021) (Tech in a Teacup) |
| Fingerprint sensor | Motorola Atrix (2011) | Touch ID / iPhone 5s (2013) (TechNave) |
| Dual rear cameras | LG G5, HTC One M8 (2011) | iPhone 7 Plus (2016) (TechNave) |
| Face unlock | Android 4.0 (2011) | Face ID / iPhone X (2017) (BGR) |
| Copy and paste | Sept 2008 | March 2009 (Blaster Technology) |
Where the iPhone actually led
To be fair, it's not a one-way street. XDA Developers points out that the iPhone was first to use Corning's Gorilla Glass, the first to bring 64-bit processors to mobile with the A7 chip in the iPhone 5s (with Android's first 64-bit phone, the HTC Desire 510, arriving about a year later), and the first phone to ditch the physical SIM slot in the US with the iPhone 14 in 2022 (XDA Developers).
The takeaway
Apple's real strength has never been being first — it's refining a feature after Android proves the concept, then polishing the execution until most people forget who did it first. That's exactly why Touch ID, Face ID, and Apple's always-on display all became "iconic," despite Android beating Apple to each of them by years (BGR; TechNave).