Debugger

Apple Ripped Off Android — and Made Its Features Much Better

‘The list of reasons to stay with Android has grown ever shorter’

Owen Williams
OneZero
Published in
4 min readJul 10, 2020

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Photo: Apple

When Apple unveiled iOS 14 at WWDC, its yearly developer conference, the company showed off some big features coming to the iPhone later this year — like widgets that allow users to bring content from inside their apps to the home screen, and picture-in-picture video. Android fans were quick to point out something obvious: Many of the features announced at WWDC have been available for years on their devices, and Apple is playing catch-up.

They aren’t wrong. Widgets have been a part of Android since its inception, allowing users to put weather, clocks, and whatever else they like on their home screens, rather than a sea of app icons. Similarly, picture-in-picture video debuted as a part of Android 8, released in 2017.

While it’s true that many of iOS’ features debut on Android in some form first, those same critics are missing a key point: Apple may be late to the game, but they’ll likely do a much better job of integrating these features into their products than the competition. I switched to Android a few years ago when Google released the Pixel because I was tired of waiting for some of these features, but after this year’s event, I find…

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OneZero
OneZero

Published in OneZero

OneZero is a former publication from Medium about the impact of technology on people and the future. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Owen Williams
Owen Williams

Written by Owen Williams

Fascinated by how code and design is shaping the world. I write about the why behind tech news. Design Manager in Tech. https://twitter.com/ow