If you’re an iOS user that has always been curious about what it feels like to have an Android phone, you can now experience some version of it on your iPhone. A new Samsung web app called iTest is a browser-based experience that lets you turn your iPhone into an Android device, specifically a Samsung Galaxy “flavor”. It might not be enough to convince people to come on over to the other side but it will at least let users see what the fuss is all about.
Back in 2015, Apple launched its first Android app, it was actually an app that helps users move to iOS from their Android device. They eventually added Apple Music, Beats, and Apple TV. But there are no Android apps for Apple devices, at least officially. iTest is actually a web app that you can install on your iPhone to give you a version of Android that you can play around with. You go to itest.nz and scan the code there or you can go to the site directly on your smartphone.
After that you are prompted to add the page to your homescreen and it then install iTest as a web app. You then get to a screen that mimics what a generic Galaxy smartphone, including a wide notch that isn’t present in Samsung devices anymore. There are also preloaded apps included but they will not work as on an actual Android smartphone even though they will open on the usual screens.
Eventually calls and messages will also be activated so iPhone users will see how it is like on an Android phone. There are also some fun things you can do in the settings app. Other than that, there’s nothing much you can do with it and the Android experience is of course incomplete without the customization options which you cannot do on an iPhone. It just seems like a fun experiment that Apple users might want to try.
Even as the website iTest has a New Zealand url, anyone can try it already. We don’t know if Samsung will tell us how many people will download or access the web app but it would be interesting to know if iPhone users will go for it.
