Gesture support on iOS feels natural because it's implemented by the application (?).
On Android back gestures usually aren't 1:1 because they behave like a back button. Swipe and let go, then the back action is executed.
Firefox on desktop Linux has better gestures than Android, namely swiping to the right goes back and swiping to the left goes forward. Firefox on Android doesn't, because the OS treats swiping in either direction as a back-button action.
iOS does this too. It doesn’t mean I can’t override it. And that’s what many, many, many people do. Try using an app made in Unity on iOS or Android. It immediately feels janky.
iOS has many faults, but not being able to go back is not one of them.
* There is a dedicated control for going back to a previous view / state, that control is always positioned by the OS in a predefined location, and cannot be removed or disabled.
* The OS automatically does the right thing, that is, navigates to the previous view, unless the developer has jumped through hoops to override this behavior (e.g. to warn about unsaved data).
Android does this, and it's very helpful and natural.