Survey says Android users won’t jump ship to iPhone just for smarter AI

It’s fairly common for people to prefer and stick to a single operating system, despite its niggles, just so they can continue using specific features. But with an era where generational OS updates are so strongly centered around AI improvements, could we see a similar pattern? Unless you’re a supporter of the modern Luddite movement, you’ve probably already picked a favorite among the available AI chatbots. But is that enough for you to stick to — or switch — a certain phone or a platform?

That’s what we asked our readers in a recent poll we conducted while comparing the finally AI-fied Siri to Gemini. Even though Siri borrows its framework from Gemini, the results from both chatbots are starkly different. As my colleague Dhruv Bhutani found, Siri, even in beta, exceeds expectations for surfacing personal results from apps such as Messages and Mail, while also serving better for planning the day by pulling information from different third-party apps, including Gmail.

For many users, especially those unfazed by Gemini, this may be a compelling enough reason to switch from Android to iOS. However, as we learned from the poll, Android Authority readers may resist that temptation.

AI is just not compelling enough — yet

Based on our survey results, a large percentage of respondents believe AI needs to do more before it will compel them to switch.

Almost 60% of the respondents said they wouldn’t switch from Android to iOS (or vice versa) just to be able to cherish better AI features, simply because it’s not worth the hassle. Meanwhile, another 14% said they’re too deeply invested in an OS to leave it without a promising differentiator.

About 27% of people said they would be willing to make the plunge. And for a bigger chunk of them, privacy is a major puller. Nearly 18% of the respondents say they would consider switching if privacy and data handling are involved. Since its beginning, Apple has spoken of its Private Cloud Compute, an encrypted vault for AI processing on the cloud, as being central to handling users’ personal data. Reader Jason commented on the original post, saying, “Apple’s focus on privacy and local processing is a major differentiator for me.”

There was some debate in the comments about whether Gemini and Siri (also based on Gemini) are actually different. GlitterGuru says, “As long as Google holds the keys, Gemini will always be better and have more features, with Apple getting last year’s features.” Meanwhile, Lamar says, “iPhone users are getting a custom Gemini combined with Siri and the Gemini app. That’s more than enough up to date AI.”