Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

Not trying to start a flame war. I am finally switching away from my trusty Nokia Lumia 920 because the browser wouldn't load m.uber.com and WhatsApp says app will be gone at the end of the year. I like the snappiness of Windows Phone and iPhone UI. Haven't checked Android phones recently but years ago the UI was laggy and no one except I seem to notice.

Also know that sideloading apps, blocking ads in apps etc. is much easier on Android so I am hard pressed to decide between the two.

You've pretty much covered the bases. The snappiness you describe is because iPhone is more strict with it's app quality. You've also nailed the main use cases for customisability.

The big question is, are you ready and willing to root and/or custom rom your phone? If not, the advantages you described on Android are not as substantial as you may hope. Yes, you can use Netguard, but the approach is janky (out of neccessity). It will not stop ads in all apps either. For example, on the youtube app, which does not use DNS based advertisement delivery. For youtube specifically, you can get NewPipe though, but it's not all that slick.

I can buy Android phones that do nothing to stop me from rooting them or unlocking the boot loader (OnePlus). I have to fight Apple for root access, and frequently I will lose.

You can do anything on an Android phone that requires root access. None of that is possible on iPhone unless it's been out for quite awhile.

Yes. In particular (for me) One UI by Samsung. Their new S10 phones are a fantastic upgrade, and the new software is a major part of that. Last versions of Touchwiz weren't too bad, but One UI lifts the experience to a new level.

Real Firefox and Real Chrome. The iOS versions is just a wrapper around the painfully bad mobile Safari.