Apple's new AI vs. Google's: The Cupertino giant is catching up to Android, but there's one feature we envy

Watching this year’s WWDC from an Android user’s perspective was a bit like watching a movie whose ending you already know. Apple introduced one feature after another with the enthusiasm of a discoverer, while half the audience could only nod quietly — we already have this. It’s not a criticism. Rather, it’s a good opportunity to compare where both platforms truly stand today, if we look beyond the colorful animations and promises on stage.

Gemini beats under the hood

Let’s start with the most piquant detail. Apple itself admitted to “deep collaboration” with Google and that it built the new generation of its models on technologies behind the Gemini family. In other words: the heart of Apple’s artificial intelligence beats to a rhythm set by the competition. For a company that has built its identity on proprietary solutions and privacy for years, this is a remarkable admission. And also good news for us — if you want to guess where Siri is headed, just look at what Gemini can do today.

Siri AI is essentially Apple’s version of the Gemini app

The shift from the old Siri to the new one strikingly resembles what Google went through when transitioning from Assistant to a standalone Gemini app. Suddenly, we have understanding of personal context, in-app actions, screen content reading, image comprehension, and conversational continuity where you can build on previous answers. The main difference is the presentation. On Android, the answer slides up from the bottom; on Apple, it expands from the top out of the Dynamic Island, from where you can drag it down to fill the entire screen. A dedicated Siri app then archives past conversations in the form of cards that vaguely resemble Google Keep. Familiar? Very much so.

Apple also worked on the voice — adding sliders for tempo and expressiveness. Google, at I/O 2026, promised Gemini regional dialects, so both companies are moving in parallel here too. A more interesting battle is being waged in dictation. Apple promises significantly more accurate transcription, including punctuation and capitalization, whereas the upcoming Gboard Rambler goes a step further — you don’t have to monitor your phrasing, as it tries to understand your intent and crafts a meaningful message in your style.

Camera, Safari, and Passwords

The new Siri in Camera mode targets Google Lens and Gemini. Point it at a plate and get nutritional information, snap a photo of a bill and the app helps you split the expense via Apple Cash, focus on a program poster and Siri suggests adding events to your calendar. Functionally, there’s nothing you wouldn’t find on Android — but Apple packages it into a more guided scenario that holds the user’s hand.

The same tune plays with the browser. Safari now sorts tabs by topic, but Chrome was already testing this in 2024. The Notify Me feature, which monitors changes on a webpage, can be replaced by scheduled actions in Gemini. And the agent in the Passwords app, which automatically scans websites and replaces compromised login credentials? Google announced a similar feature for Chrome last year. Apple also adds “Describe an extension” — you describe what you want in words, and Safari tailors an extension for you. This is a step towards a generated interface and is one of the few things that feels fresh.

Magic Cue in Apple’s guise

The entire trio of Messages, Phone, and Calendar operates in the spirit of “context for you.” Messages will offer a note or reminder with a single tap based on conversation content — which Google Messages could do even before the advent of AI. The Phone app can pull a confirmation code from another app during a call with an airline; Google uses precisely this example for its Magic Cue feature on Pixels. And Home, which consolidates notifications and summarizes camera recordings, is essentially a response to Google Home with Gemini. Apple is catching up, and catching up cleverly — but it is catching up.

One thing Apple does better

Lest this sound like one-sided cheering — Apple has an ace that Android still has no answer for. The Shortcuts app can now create an automation from a sentence written in natural language. You state what you want to achieve, and the system assembles the procedure for you. Android simply doesn’t have a system-level equivalent, and here the roles have reversed. It’s piquant that Shortcuts have always been a domain Apple held as an advantage — and artificial intelligence has made it an even greater advantage.

The rest is then in line with the times. Image Playground generates photorealistic images (Apple did not disclose the model), Photos get smarter retouching and image generation, and the iCloud+ subscription model unlocks higher limits — exactly like Google One does. The point? Apple rarely comes up with something first. It bets on ultimately delivering it more cohesively and with less friction.

Does it bother you that Apple is catching up to Android, or do you not care who was first?

Source: 9to5Google