3 min read
Following WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled iOS 26 with three headline grabbing features: Live Translate, Hold Assist, and Call Screening. These additions excited many iPhone users but also drew instant shade from Pixel-Google group.
In a cheeky animated ad, two smartphones resembling the Pixel 9 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro talk to each other. The iPhone proudly announces its new abilities. The Pixel coolly responds that it’s been doing all this “four, five, or even seven years ago.” The ad takes a direct shot at Apple’s tendency to “innovate late,” echoing earlier jabs from Samsung and Microsoft over the iPhone’s new Liquid Glass design.
The campaign adds humor but also reignites a longstanding debate: why does Apple often introduce features years after Android devices have already normalized them?
iOS 26-Pixel Features Spotlight Android’s Earlier Moves
Tech analysts were quick to point out that all three features being celebrated by Apple are longstanding Pixel innovations. Live Translate, which allows real time translations in messages and on screen content, launched on the Pixel 6 in 2021.
Hold Assist mirrors Google’s 2020 “Hold for Me” feature, which waits on hold during calls and alerts users when a human joins the line. Call Screening traces back even further to 2018 with the Pixel 3, when Google introduced a tool to intercept unknown calls and let users decide whether to answer.
What makes this ad more than just a meme is how it subtly reminds users that Android, especially Google’s Pixel lineup, has often been the sandbox for practical tools that later show up on iPhones.
Critics admit Apple usually polishes features more before rolling them out, but the source ideas are clearly not new. The debate has shifted from who does it first to who does it best.
Pixel Features Rivalry Blurs Innovation Boundaries
This tech tit for tat also highlights a larger trend. All major smartphone platforms are converging. Google, Apple, Samsung and even smaller players increasingly mirror each other’s offerings. Android 16 is bringing Live Activities to mirror iOS’s lock screen widgets, just as Apple borrows from Google’s playbook.
Although the user experiences differ, Apple wraps features with Siri and Apple Intelligence. On the other hand Pixel uses Gemini AI, but the core ideas are increasingly shared. The result is a marketplace where branding and timing now matter as much as function.
Looking ahead, the Pixel 10 is expected to introduce new on device AI tools, raising the stakes once again. Apple may answer back in iOS 27, but for now, Google’s jab lands hard.
Execution Matters More Than First Moves
Despite the laughs, this debate reveals a deeper truth: modern consumers want dependable, convenient tools that solve real-world problems. Users are more concerned with performance than pedigree, whether it involves screening spam calls, receiving live translations while traveling, or allowing AI to wait on hold.
Apple and Google are cognizant of this. Which is the reason why both organizations are furthering their efforts to develop artificial intelligence, system-level integration, and more intelligent mobile experiences.
As mobile ecosystems continue to develop, each new feature, regardless of whether it is recycled, will be subject to increasing scrutiny regarding its functionality in the real world.
