
Apple's iOS 26 vs Google's Android 16 vs Samsung's One UI 7: Mega visual comparison
The iOS 26 lock screen is characterized with a large clock face, which was technically part of previous Android updates, so nothing new here. The Liquid Glass and the parallax lock screen wallpaper effect are new, however. One UI 7 and Android 16 also boast a ton of personalization options, including different clock faces, styles, and colors.
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
Apple has introduced a new "Clean" appearance for iOS 26 's stock icons, which makes them look like they're made of glass. Could be helpful to reach a distraction-free, minimilastic look for your home screen! At the same time, both One UI 7 and Android 16 feature icon tinting, but you could technically achieve the same clean look with a custom Android launcher and one of the thousands icon packs available in the Play Store. Still not a native solution though!
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
One of the more striking displays of the Liquid Glass style. We suppose Apple will be fine-tuning the appearance of the toggles here, as the legibility isn't great at all. Android 16 and One UI 7 suffer from no such quirks: the quick toggles inherit the system color palette that you select, and usually look great.
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
Some small changes in iOS 26 , with the density being decreased and the order of menu items changed a bit. The search bar has also been moved to the bottom. The Android and One UI 7 versions are mostly similar to one another and to their predecessors as well.
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
Apple backtracked on its majorly redesigned Photos app in iOS 18 and delivered a more familiar layout with iOS 26 . You get quick shortcuts to both all your photos and your Collections (a.k.a. folders), and that's honestly a great change. Samsung's Gallery app looks super smart itself, while Android 16 's stock Google Photos app should be familiar to most users.
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26 features a redesigned camera app, which is quite different from what most iOS users have grown accustomed with. If anything, it now looks closer to One UI and Android 16 's layouts
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
Siri hasn't been touched in iOS 26 : it has looked different since iOS 18 and can still tap into ChatGPT, but underneath it all is the same mostly incompetent smart assistant that's usually only good for setting alarms and timers. Gemini, which is available on both Android 16 and One UI 7 , is a much more capable AI chatbot/smart assistant, capable of LLM-powered reasoning as well as deep integration with the Android subsystem.
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
iOS 26
One UI 7
Android 16
Safari scored new looks and is now arguably super-clean, with a very minimalistic look. However, many essential features are tucked away inside menus, so it's not the most intuitive layout here. Samsung Internet and Google Chrome, which are the default browsers on One UI 7 and Android 16 look closer to standard browsers, but also fail to excite in terms of appearance.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Phone Arena
3 hours ago
- Phone Arena
Apple doesn't mind that its new processors won't be as powerful as Qualcomm's new AP
The A19 and A19 Pro application processors (APs) will be focusing on efficiency this year instead of performance. As a result, when compared to Apple's 2025 APs, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy will probably be able to outperform the chips earmarked for the iPhone 17 series. On China's Weibo social media platform, tipster Fixed Focus Digital says that Apple is focusing on making the iPhone 17 series the best when it comes to battery life and doesn't mind giving away the top of the performance leaderboard to the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy. Apple's goal for the A19 Pro AP, which will be produced using TSMC's third-generation 3nm process node (N3P), is to score single-core and multi-core scores on Geekbench of 4000+ and 10000+ respectively. As a measure of comparison, the A18 Pro, which powers the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, had Geekbench scores of 3539 (single-core) and 8772 (multi-core). While MediaTek's Dimensity 9500 (produced on TSMC's third-generation 3nm node) and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 both will be looking to blow away the A19 and A19 Pro with their performance numbers, Apple's application processors should deliver improved battery life for the iPhone 17 series. The A19 and A19 Pro APs will focus on efficiency instead of performance. | Image credit-Wccftech Where the focus on efficiency over power for the A19 and A19 Pro APs will come in handy will be with the iPhone 17 Air. Thanks to its thin build, the device is expected to come to market with a puny battery with a capacity of 2800 mAh. The A19 and A19 Pro can handle more work than the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 over the same time period. That's because the new Apple APs have higher Instructions Per Cycle (IPC) scores than the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. This means that Apple's chipset will have more efficient CPU cores. A higher IPC means that the CPU can do more work per clock tick. Even if the A19 has a lower clock speed than the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, if it handles more instructions per cycle, it can do more work in a shorter period of time. Here's a shocker. Should Samsung Foundry get its yield on 2nm production up to 60% or higher, the 2nm Exynos 2600 AP could end up powering the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 + in most markets. That could make those two models the first smartphones to be powered by a 2nm chipset. Recently, the iPhone has been the first to the marketplace with a 7nm AP (iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, A12 Bionic, September 2018), a 5nm AP (iPhone 12 series, A14 Bionic, October and November 2020), and a 3nm AP (iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, A17 Pro, September 2024). Unless Samsung is unable to obtain enough 2nm chips for the Galaxy A26 and Galaxy A26+, the iPhone will not be the first smartphone to feature a cutting-edge 2nm chip. That honor appears to be heading to the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 +. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase This offer is not available in your area.


GSM Arena
4 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Weekly poll results: iOS 26 is a mixed bag, new features liked better than the new look Comments
Weekly poll results: iOS 26 is a mixed bag, new features liked better than the new look Comments


GSM Arena
4 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Weekly poll results: iOS 26 is a mixed bag, new features liked better than the new look
Apple has divided opinions with its new iOS 26 – it introduced new features, but is also a part of a wider effort to unify the user experience across all Apple products. As we noted in last week's poll, the new OS version is only available as a developer beta – an open beta should be out in a few weeks, the stable release will likely coincide with the arrival of the iPhone 17 series. What does the poll show? Around half of voters have found something to like in the iOS 26 update. That said, that was mostly due to the new features introduced in this version. As for Liquid Glass, the new unifying design language, that has its fans too, but they are in the minority. Positive impressions include better-quality glass visuals than Vista ever delivered and extended customization options. Negative opinions see this as just a skin at best rather than an actual major change to the UI. The computational requirements (more battery drain and more heat) of the new UI are also drawing ire. And, of course, legibility remains a concern – the good news on that front is that the Accessibility settings offer a toggle to reduce the transparency of the UI. The effects of the 'Reduce Transparency' toggle (image source) There is also a large group of voters who is not happy with either the new features or the new look – but part of that group just has a general anti-Apple sentiment. Not everyone, though, some long-time Apple users see this as a bad direction for UI. The 'wait and see' group isn't as big but Apple still has time to tweak details between now and Q4 when iOS 26 will be made available to the public at large. Subsequent versions will continue iterating on the design too.