The beginning of June typically marks the launch of the next iteration of the platforms that power the iPhone and iPad lineup, and this year was no exception, with Apple debuting a radical new software direction for its existing and future devices.
Like Google and the Material 3 Expressive design on Android 16, which was unveiled just before Google I/O 2025 in May, Apple chose WWDC 2025 to debut a whole new design language, dubbed Liquid Glass. It’s built upon VisionOS, which powers the Apple Vision Pro, and it brings the same interface to Apple’s other devices, including the Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.
I’ve been using the beta on my iPad, iPhone, and Mac for several weeks, and while the new design is refreshing like Android 16, it also represents a significant shift in Apple’s approach to software. As a result, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are major leaps forward in both functionality and usability.
This includes Safari, which directly benefits from Apple’s new approach to context menus and the simplification of the platform. To me, this is where Google needs to take a page from Apple’s book.
Liquid Glass is more than just a new design
Instead of the segregated approach to apps and features like before, the new Liquid Glass design is focused on being as flexible as possible for the end user.
Alongside many new features, Apple also introduced a range of small, yet significant, quality-of-life improvements that make the platforms far easier to use. Instead of requiring multiple clicks, the new platforms and redesigned first-party apps are designed to require less.
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Apple did showcase some of these improvements during the keynote, including the new unified dialer, as well as the improved Files and all-new Preview apps. Each of these new features also highlights one of the best, yet underrecognized, quality-of-life improvements in the OS: context menus.
As part of its drive towards greater flexibility, Apple now includes more menus and shortcuts throughout the OS, and also provides direct access to the app’s settings page in the global settings menu. These little improvements are also clearly apparent in the new Safari, which has gained a significant advantage over Chrome for Android.
The new Safari offers true desktop browsing on mobile
If you’ve ever used an iPhone, you’ll probably know that Chrome for iPhone is different in design, features, and rendering engine from Chrome on Android. One other thing you may know is that Safari on iOS is also more advanced than Chrome on Android.
Despite also carrying one of the best Android phones, often including one of the best folding phones with a larger display, I usually turned to the iPhone or iPad for all my browsing. Until last year, Safari offered a key feature that Chrome didn’t — native page zoom that you could control like a desktop computer, which made it ideal for browsing on the go.
Chrome eventually added this feature, but now Safari has gained another key feature: desktop-level browsing history. In particular, the way it’s implemented. Instead of requiring the user to tap the back and forward keys like Chrome on Android, the new Safari offers an easily accessible list of your browsing history.
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It’s implemented in a near-identical interface to the one you’d find on a desktop browser, and it is a huge quality-of-life improvement that ensures I’ll probably still use an Apple device for browsing. It’s a shame, as I love folding phones, and I’m eagerly awaiting the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is set to launch very soon.
It’s worth noting that this is still a developer beta, and Apple has already switched from a central back and forward history menu to the individual keys pictured, so it may change further before the public beta next month and the release in the fall.
The expanded menus are my sleeper hit so far, but a fantastic all around update nonetheless pic.twitter.com/QevANX6xm7June 14, 2025
The new context menus also impact your browsing experience in small and significant ways, especially on the iPhone. For example, press and hold a phone number, and you can choose to call it from either of your active SIM cards, as well as from internet-based apps, such as FaceTime, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Google Voice.
In the past, you would have had to copy the number, open the corresponding app, and then place the call. The new approach requires fewer steps and provides a significantly improved experience.
Every Android phone can place a call directly from the browser, but few let you choose which SIM card to use for the call, and I don’t recall another phone maker that has integrated third-party apps like Apple. Regarding third-party apps, calls from these apps are also incorporated into the dialer app, just as they were in the early HTC Sense Android interface.
Google needs to take Chrome on foldables seriously
The biggest challenge for Google is that Chrome on Android is designed to work on every single device, which can make it more challenging to provide optimized experiences for newer form factors.
This approach has been successful for years, but it has meant that Chrome on Android is usually slower to roll out new browser features. While Chrome has gained key Safari features, such as on-page zoom, Apple continues to lead in overall browsing experience.
Google should consider Apple’s overall approach to iPadOS 26 as a warning, not just for the best Android tablets, but also for the best foldable phones. Apple is widely tipped to launch an iPhone Fold late next year or early the following year. It’s also quite likely that Apple will continue to optimize Safari and could introduce new iPhone Fold-specific features in Safari as well.
The original iPhone was billed as a breakthrough internet communicator, and the rumored bigger main screen on the iPhone Fold will make it ideal for web browsing. Safari already has a step up over Chrome, but Google needs to ensure that it optimizes Chrome so this gap doesn’t grow.
The iPhone and iPad are bigger competitors than ever
Overall, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 have been surprising because they feel more like Android than they ever have before. Apple makes it easier to do things; the UX team finally realized that fewer clicks are better, and the result is one of the most intuitive software platforms ever.
Yet, there are still many ways that Android 16 is an improvement over its Apple alternative. The iPad gains a whole new windowing engine (below) for radically improved multitasking, which is similar but distinct from the new windowing options in Android 16. However, this feature is still not available from the iPhone.
While iOS 26 is a major improvement for the iPhone, it’s also not as good as Android 16 for overall productivity, although it does now finally support background tasks for true multitasking. That said, the new platforms are visually and functionally radically improved over previous versions. As a result, they will make the iPhone and iPad bigger competitors than ever before to the best Android phones and tablets.