7 new iOS 14 features Apple borrowed from Android to improve the iPhone

Apple made a series of announcements Monday at WWDC 2020, your annual global developer conference. The company unveiled the new iOS 14 and a redesigned iPhone home screen with new widgets, along with iPadOS 14, MacOS Big Surand TVOS updates and WatchOS.

While many of these iOS 14 features may feel like new Apple iPhone users, those familiar with Android devices might feel déjà vu. Here is a list of all the new Apple iOS 14 features that Android already had.

Translate

With iOS 14, Apple introduced a new translation app designed for use in real-time conversations. You can translate between 11 languages, including English, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, and Korean. Starting in March 2020, Google’s 14-year-old dedicated translation app could transcribe conversations in eight languages ​​in real time.

Widgets

With the new operating systems, the renewed iPhone ($ 699 at Apple) and iPad ($ 340 on eBay) The home screens will include widgets, which allow you to see information such as the weather on your home screen at a glance. Before the announcement on WWDC, iPhone users could only have apps on the iPhone home screen. But widgets, which contain more information and are more functional than app icons, have been a primary feature on Google’s Android since its inception in 2008.

Application clips

Apple App Clips allow users to preview “small parts” of apps quickly without downloading them. This can come in handy when you’re trying to pay to go or park, as App Clips supports Apple Pay and Sign in with Apple. Google introduced a similar feature, Instant applications, in 2016. Instant Apps provides apps with their own URLs so users don’t have to download a full app for a single transaction, like buying concert tickets, for example.

Application library

Another part of Apple’s redesigned home screen is an app library that organizes your apps into groups and lists. With the new home screen in iOS 14, users can also “hide” apps from their main home screen. This is similar to the Android app drawer, without the bundling features.

Cycling directions from Apple Maps

The updated Apple Maps app will provide greener ways to travel on iOS 14 and WatchOS 7. The dedicated Cycling option will help users find bike lanes taking into account the elevation, whether the route you take is busy or quiet, and if you find any stairs. Although Google Maps does not take stairs into account, since then there has been the option to select “cycling” 2010. When I tried it on my Pixel 3 ($ 474 on Amazon)The step-by-step instructions also provide a view of the elevation on a journey.

Picture in picture

Apple also announced a new picture-in-picture feature for iOS 14, which will allow users to watch a video while using other applications. The video will be reduced and you can float anywhere on the screen. It can also be slid and the video audio can still be played. While the audio doesn’t continue to play if the video slides, Android phones already have the ability to float videos over other applications.

Reduction mode

Another new feature announced Monday was a Reduction mode that helps users get ready for bed. The function, which works for iPhone and Apple Watch ($ 399 at Apple), allows you to set your desired bedtime and wakeup time, and puts your phone in Do Not Disturb mode. There are also options to add shortcuts for meditation or playing relaxing music. Google doesn’t have a dedicated app for this, but there is a way to configure a bedtime routine through the Google Home app.

For more information, take a look all announced at WWDC 2020.

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