I bought my first mobile phone during grad school in the 1990s.
I don’t have time to research examples, so I just asked ChatGPT to do my research for me. This is what it kicked out:
Notifications Drawer: Android was the first to introduce a pull-down notifications drawer, a feature that Apple later integrated into iOS with its Notification Center.
Third-party Keyboards: Android has supported third-party keyboards for much longer than iOS, allowing users more customization options for their typing experience. Apple introduced this capability with iOS 8 in 2014.
Widgets on Home Screen: Android has allowed widgets on the home screen right from its early versions, offering users the ability to access app functionalities directly from the home screen. Apple introduced widgets to the iPhone’s home screen with iOS 14 in 2020.
Customizable Control Center: Android’s quick settings in the notifications drawer have been customizable for years, allowing users to easily toggle settings like WiFi, Bluetooth, and more. Apple later added similar customization options to the Control Center in iOS.
Multi-Window Support/Split Screen: Android introduced multi-window support allowing users to run two apps side by side on the same screen. This feature was later introduced by Apple as Split View on iPads and has since made its way to iPhones in a limited capacity.
Dark Mode: Android apps and custom ROMs have supported dark themes for years. Google officially introduced a system-wide dark mode with Android 10. Apple released its system-wide Dark Mode with iOS 13 in 2019.
Wireless Charging: While not a software feature, it’s worth noting that Android devices offered wireless charging well before Apple introduced it with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017.
Turn-by-Turn Navigation: Google Maps on Android offered free turn-by-turn navigation before Apple Maps introduced the feature on iOS.
Live Wallpapers: Android introduced live wallpapers that could interact with touch and display dynamic content in the background. Apple later introduced a similar concept with Live Photos as wallpapers.
App Drawer: The concept of an app drawer, where all apps are housed, has been a staple of Android since its inception. While not directly mirrored, Apple introduced the App Library in iOS 14 as a way to organize apps more efficiently, moving closer to Android’s app drawer concept.
Voice Assistants: While Siri was the first mainstream voice assistant on smartphones, Google’s integration of Google Now (and later, the Google Assistant) into Android provided more in-depth control and functionality. Apple has continuously updated Siri since then to match the capabilities of Google Assistant.
I’m not saying Apple steals ideas from others as any kind of slam. I have used iPhones for a long, long time, as does everyone in my family. I’ve got an Apple TV and MacBook Pro (put me back $4k because I upgraded a lot of things), and every member of my family has some kind of MacBook. I’m not a hater. Just observant.
The entire “smartphone” as we have it today began with Apple (one might argue with Blackberry and similar devices - but that is quite different - and Apple was one-up on that with the Newton a decade before).
The screen layout, and the icon concept as implemented - began with Apple. The technology was driven by - including the pro-level camera effort - all driven by Apple.
In any consumer industry, competitors adopt what the market wants. What was listed by that AI effort - all relatively superficial features - that rely on the underlying concept which again, isn’t an Android-original thought.