We have already seen these iOS features on Android
At this year’s WWDC, Apple took the veil off iOS 10, its newest mobile operating system. Scheduled to be launched to the general public this fall, this software already has a developer version out right now.
During the unveiling of this platform, a large number of Android enthusiasts too were glued to their screens. And it would suffice to say that they were a bit shocked to see features in iOS 10 that they have already been using on Google’s mobile OS.
The rivalry between the two companies is at its peak right now, and each of them does not want to stay behind. This is the reason why we’re seeing so much parity between the features of these two platforms lately.
A number of iOS 10’s attributes are blatantly similar to those on Android. Apple would have wanted these to have gone unnoticed, but they haven’t managed to miss our eye. Here’s a list of 7 features iOS 10 borrowed from Android.
Lockscreen notifications
These have been on Android since the launch Lollipop back in 2014. Lockscreen notifications show you your alerts without requiring you to unlock your devices. Apart from saving time, this allows you to interact with them in a confined space without opening the entire app.
There is a card-based design on offer not only for these notifications but also for other things inside the iOS 10 interface. This change is again reminiscent of the design approach used by Google for its software products.
Plus, there is support for quick replies from the lockscreen now. However, this where the uniqueness of iOS 10 sets in. 3D Touch has been exploited by Apple even more with this release.
3D Touching on a notification expands it and lets you do more than just replying to your messages. You can open up your Calendar notification and mark your preference for the event. And thanks to support for third-party apps, the possibilities are endless. For instance, 3D Touching on a lockscreen notification from Uber lets you have a peek at the live status of your upcoming ride.
An open and more versatile Siri
Siri is one of the most important components of iOS, but it faces stiff competition from the likes of Microsoft’s Cortana and Google’s Now. This year, Apple has focused on making its service more intelligent, and in the process, it has opened it up for developers.
What that effectively means is that Siri can now tap into other apps for making your lives easier. You can ask the assistant to send a WhatsApp message to your mom, book an Uber ride for you or reserve a table for two via OpenTable.
Google’s Android apps already do this, making it yet another feature that Apple has grabbed from it. And there’s more! One of Google Now’s most loved traits is its ability to look into your emails and create cards and event suggestions based on your conversations with people.
So, if you’ve been talking to someone about a Chinese restaurant, and decide upon a date and time to visit it, Google Now will present a card to instantly create an event for the same. And it will have all the necessary details pre-filled; so all you have to do is tap Yes or No. You guessed it right, iOS 10’s Siri has received a similar feature.
An expanded Maps experience
Apple has learned a lot from the infamous Apple Maps debacle from 3 years ago. With subsequent releases and finally iOS 9, this service improved a great deal and can actually be used by owners of iDevices for satisfying their navigating and mapping needs.
iOS 10 adds a number of new features to Apple Maps. It now shows traffic information during a navigation session, allowing you to plan your route based on how crowded the road ahead is. With the help of new quick controls inside the app, you can add stops on your route for filling up your fuel tank or grabbing a quick bite.
Android’s Google Maps has both these features. Another such similarity is that iOS 10’s Apple Maps enables third-party integration; so utilities like Uber and OpenTable can allow you to book rides or tables without leaving the app.
This still doesn’t bring Apple’s service on par with Google’s though. Traits like your entire day’s travel log, support for offline maps and a host of other features still give the search giant’s service an advantage over that of Apple’s.
Photos and their magical sorting
Last year, Google unveiled Photos, its awesome service which offers free unlimited storage of your photographs and videos. Along with that came a number of unique traits that enhanced its attributes furthermore. Right now, there is no better cloud photo storage alternative for the masses than Google Photos.
Even Apple has its own macOS and iOS app called Photos, and with iOS 10 it is getting a major revamp. This particular software is all set to receive a ton of great additions. There’s a facial recognition trait which can identify all the images of a particular person, and even an object and scene recognition tool to help you better search your media.
This means when if you want to search for a particular photograph from the thousands that are stored in your library, you can just type the name of a person who may be in them. You can even type words like ‘beach,’ ‘dog,’ or ‘waterfall’ to get images that have those particular things in them.
There’s more; Apple’s Photos can automatically create albums when you come back from your trips. And if you end up clicking too many photos and videos on a weekend perhaps, it may conjure up an album for showing that as well. Not just that, Photos is even capable of automatically generating a video highlight reel of all your outings.
These are played against background music tracks which can be chosen according to your liking. Incidentally, all these features are already available via the Google Photos app.
Shareable Apple Notes
Apple unveiled a new feature to its stock Notes app which enables you to share your notes with other people if you wish to. When you do this, they get the ability to edit them as well.
Google’s Keep app has this feature for a pretty long time, which makes it yet another trait that Apple seems to have borrowed from Android. While Keep has its collaboration attribute working on the basis of Google accounts, Notes will, of course, make use of iCloud accounts for the same.
Disabling Stock Apps
Saving space is a huge deal for those iPhone owners who buy 16GB versions of the handset. They have been demanding that Apple allow the removal of stock apps like Compass, Weather, Podcasts, Stocks and more for quite a long time, and Apple has finally paid heed to their request.
Just like on Android, you can remove pre-installed iOS 10 apps so that their data, as well as their icon, vanish from the home screen. Binary files of these apps will still remain in the software, but they consume a negligible amount of storage. All the stock apps will be available via the App Store if you wish to download them again later.
Raise to Wake
Apple’s main presentation at this year’s WWDC made a lot of hoopla about the Raise to Wake functionality which comes to iDevices via iOS 10. This software tweak uses the M9 co-processors inside Apple phones and tablets to determine that they are being picked up by their users.
This then triggers the display which gets turned on automatically; so they don’t have to press the power button for the same. Motorola was the first to introduce such a trait via its Moto X line back in 2013. Since then, many manufacturers have adopted a similar functionality.
Even Google has introduced its own version of the same to the core Android experience in the form of ‘Ambient Display.’ Samsung was the latest to jump this bandwagon with its Galaxy S7 range getting an ‘Always On’ display functionality which although not as similar to Apple’s ‘Raise to Wake,’ works in a similar fashion.
The usage of Super AMOLED screens by Android phones also allows them to constantly keep showcasing information like time, date and other stuff without consuming much battery life. There are rumors that Apple might adopt the same display technology for future iPhones, but we don’t have any confirmation on that right now.