The title of this article may seem absurd to some, but this is only at first glance. In fact, the actions of companies often influence its competitors and sometimes it is not just some slight influence. Often it literally turns everything upside down. In these moments, the phrase “what does not kill – makes us stronger” fits better than ever. However, such turns of fate are rare, but you can simply find help in the fact that your competitor introduced a new firmware for their smartphones. Let's try to understand how the new iOS 14 can help Android.
Sundar Pichai (Google) and Tim Cook (Apple)
At the last WWDC Apple she showed iOS 14, which borrowed a lot from its main competitor – Android. This very clearly shows how Apple is trying to achieve maximum parity between operating systems. First of all, this is done in order to give users new functions and attract their attention, but Google will receive no less benefit from the solution of the Cupertinos.
So far, statistics indicate that the transition of users from platform to platform is more directed towards iOS. When Apple said that it had widgets, the ability to use applications and other functions more flexibly, everyone started talking about the fact that Android also had this. Many people did not even know that this is possible, although it was added to the “green robot” a long time ago. With the introduction of new features in iOS, unification of features and unplanned ads Android, we can assume that users will more actively begin to move between platforms. Unit movement will increase in both directions. Even if the total number of users Android does not change, device sales will increase as people start going back and forth.
iOS 14 has everything and maybe even unnecessary things.
Of course, we will continue to find new features that Apple did not dwell on in detail. It's just that not everything was so serious as to waste precious time on this. But among these features there are others from the world Android, not just widgets and smart folders.
What Apple took from Android
One of the important updates borrowed from Android is the ability to install third-party applications as the default application. It used to be just unheard of for the operating system Apple. You could use a third-party browser, but it was a crutch and there was no nativeness in it. Now everything is changing and again, many have learned that it turns out that this was the case on Android. Especially among those users who have not used the OS from Google before.
Users Android are also familiar with the idea of home screen widgets and an app drawer that keeps the home screen from cluttering. These changes are long overdue for iOS, which hasn't changed that much in terms of design since 2007. Everything was always on the main screen and it was impossible to change something.
There is nothing wrong with borrowing apps, features, design, features, and just general attitude. For example, I have already given examples of what Android would be nice to borrow from the new iOS. When I say that this is not a bad thing, I do not mean mindless copying. I mean, the entire industry is based on copying. Someone invented the wheel and everyone uses it. Nobody is trying to make it pentagonal. You can experiment with materials, colors, make it solid or with spokes, but the wheel is the wheel. This is what I call “borrowing”.
Google has borrowed many features from Apple over the years, and smartphones have reached a level of platform maturity that makes such changes inevitable and even beneficial to us – users. In the course of the evolution of gadgets, the excess is cut off and only what should be in the future is taken. Based on this, we can conclude that unification is inevitable.
Operating system unification is good. We will always have a choice.
Which is easier – iOS or Android?
Android as a platform has both pros and cons in the background iOS. Many things in it are more complicated, but someone considers it an advantage, while others, on the contrary, shout that this is a disadvantage. Everyone decides for himself, and if you have something to say about this, as usual, do it in our Telegram chat.
But the more features Android are implemented in iOS, the more Apple informs its customer base about those features, preparing them for more functionality and making their operating system less simple (I don't want to say complicated).
For example, replacing built-in apps with third-party apps is not that difficult, but requires a slightly different mindset from users. Previously, they thought “why install something, if it’s so good”. Now the time has come “and what, it was possible?”
The same goes for the new app clips Apple, Siri's updated Assistant-style design, app folders, and all the other changes that made the gap from Android even smaller.
The fact that in the fall Apple will tell all its users about the new features is undoubtedly good, but Android also got great advertising. And at the same time, the company will show that the transition from one OS to another will be easier than ever. This is probably the best thing Apple could do for Google at this stage in the development of operating systems.