Privacy and simplicity

iOS 14 Summary:

• Widgets and App Library

• New Siri and Call UI

• Picture in Picture

• App Clips

This week Apple previewed iOS 14 using the tag line “Looks brand new. Feels like home”. Many smartphone users have noticed that much of the key functionality coming to iPhone users in iOS 14 this Fall has been available on Android for years. Is Apple playing catch-up with Android or providing a meaningful take on legacy smartphone features? The answer lies largely in your own judgment.

Widgets & App Library

One of the most notable features in iOS 14 is the addition of widgets on the home screen. Even though Android users have been enjoying widgets since 2008, Apple is aiming to offer an elegant alternative in iOS 14. Tech analysts and Apple fanboys alike have commended Apple for offering best-in-class software that emphasizes quality over quantity. Apple often waits to perfect certain features before launching them.

This is the case with Apple’s app widgets. They offer a way to gather app information at a glance without directly interacting with the app itself. Android’s open-source nature has given it the head start in implementing interactive widgets, but in doing so sacrifices battery life, system performance, and privacy concerns that enable this deeper functionality. In iOS 14 widgets are built on Apple’s proprietary user interface API so functionality is limited when compared to their Android counterparts with Apple stating:

Widgets present read-only information and don’t support interactive elements such as scrolling elements or switches. WidgetKit omits interactive elements when rendering a widget’s content.

Widgets in iOS 14 present users with a stagnant snapshot of information from a corresponding app that has already been vetted against Apple’s strict privacy and power consumption standards as part of the Apple Developer Program. This allows Apple to maintain security and performance standards. While many Android users have to turn to third-party developers for widgets at the expense of stability and privacy, iPhone users will enjoy a more consistent user interface design for widgets, built with privacy and power efficiency in mind.

Another notable addition to iOS 14 is a feature called App Library which utilizes machine learning to proactively organize apps into categorized folders on a separate home screen page based on relevancy and usage frequency. The App Library in iOS 14 also features an option to view an alphabetized list of apps; this feature has been criticized by Android users for its striking similarity to the list view option available on Android smartphones.

Siri & Incoming Call UI

In recent years we have seen tech companies embrace less obtrusive user interface designs for notifications, calls, and virtual assistants. This year Apple has made Siri more compact by reducing it’s previously full-screen UI down to a small Siri icon that overlays itself on top of the onscreen content in tiny floating windows. Android was the first to introduce a subtle “light bar” design for its popular google assistant back in Fall 2019. Unlike Android’s Google Assistant, a key disadvantage of iOS 14’s Siri is the fact that invoking the new Siri UI will automatically freeze the background user interface meaning Siri’s sleek new design offers little benefit beyond a less obtrusive design.

It’s important to note that the latest Google Assistant interface is only available on a select number of Android smartphones from the last 1-2 years while the improved Siri interface in iOS 14 will support iPhone models dating back to 2015.

iOS 14 also introduces a more discrete incoming call interface which takes on the form of an interactive notification banner instead of consuming the entire display. Samsung’s One UI 2 software offers a similar option for incoming calls but it is only supported by the newest edition Android phones with support for some 2018 Galaxy models still pending. Though Apple may have borrowed from Android when it comes to this subtle UI design, it is clear that the extensive device support for the latest features is far more of an advantage for iOS users compared to Android.

Picture in Picture

iOS 14 also introduces long-awaited support for Picture in Picture (PiP) while Android users have been able to use this feature since the release of Android 8.0 Oreo in 2017. However, software adoption rates for Android pale in comparison to iOS with 81% of all iPhones running the latest version of iOS. By comparison, just 10% of Android devices are running Android 9 which was introduced two years ago. While Apple may be late to the game in offering PiP, the feature will be available to all iOS devices dating back to 2015.

App Clips & More

Back in 2017 Google introduced a beta for Android Instant Apps which allowed users to run smaller-sized versions of apps without having to fully install them to accomplish quick tasks. In May 2018 Google re-branded this feature as “Google Play Instant” and provided developers with a software API to implement the functionality from within their apps. Apple hopes to capture a slice of the lightweight app market by allowing iPhone users to access App Clips in iOS 14. App Clips will work by scanning special codes or interacting with NFC tags to run key features from apps via a 10 megabytes or less download. It remains unseen if Apple’s leading software adoption rates and device support can facilitate its capture of the lightweight app market.

Additionally, Apple is offering the ability to configure default email and browser apps. iPhone users will have the option to neglect iOS system apps in favor of App Store offerings such as Gmail and Chrome. It is nice to see Apple further prioritize user customization in the form of default app settings; a hallmark of the Android experience.

The iOS 14 announcement also included Apple’s new 11 language Translation app. Its gorgeous design is its biggest selling point while it remains clear that Google’s translation app will remain functionally competitive for the time being at over 100 languages.

Conclusion

Apple’s new iOS 14 software introduces features that are incredibly similar to Androids. But, it seems the fruit company will still be at an advantage as added privacy and features are well implemented. Apple’s care for taking the time to develop their OS shows. They care about being the best, not the first.

Brahm Shank:

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