Cook sure took some time out of today’s DC keynote to pick on Android users the fragmentation that plagues the platform. He then followed up the jabs by introducing a slew of new features to the forthcoming iOS 8 that sounded really familiar—because many of them seem to have been lifted from Android.
Apple’s keynote was mostly focused on satiating its loyal users’ requests give newly-converted Android users an incentive to come back to the Church of Apple. Cupertino cribbed some notable features from the -born mobile operating system wrapped ’em up in iOS 8 code, but here are some of the more obvious ones.
“Hey, Siri”
Does the phrase, “OK, ” sound familiar to you? It’s been a major part of Now since lly Bean, a major feature in Motorola’s latest hardware, particularly the Moto X some of the latest flagship devices, including the -manufactured Nexus 5 the Samsung Galaxy S5. ed, the ability to do so from the Home screen wasn’t available until Android 4.4 KitKat.
Shouting out “Hey, Siri” is certainly an easier way to summon Apple’s personal assistant than holding down the home button. To its credit, it works even with the screen off, which is currently a feature limited only to Motorola’s current smartphone lineup. (Though there’s no telling if the screen-off capability will come to all iones, or only the latest models.)
Actionable Notifications
at if you could reply to an email notification without ever having to launch the app? Or ke that Facebook post right from the notification drawer? If you’re an Android user, you’ve been able to do this since Android 4.1.
iOS 8 will also have this feature when it rolls out in September. It lets users respond to messages, reminders, calendar invitations without ever leaving the Notifications shade—the same Notifications shade that was cribbed from an earlier version of Android.
App store features for developers
Android has always been a community-oriented OS its become more so since the arrival of +. Developers can create a community page on the social network invite Android users to try out their beta app leave feedback, with the app distributed through, updated by, the ay Store.
It appears Apple wants to appeal to this subset of users, too. Cupertino must have figured that if it’s got closed ecosystem, the least it could do is let users chime in once in a while, so iOS 8 users will be able to take advantage of Test Flight. It’s a service that lets developers give users access to a beta version of an app so they can deal with logging bugs in exchange for having access to it before anyone else.
Additionally, Apple now allows videos to be embedded in app store app pages, which will help its users better “window shop” through the iTunes App Store rather than stare at static screenshots. The ay store has had that feature for awhile.
l the things in iCloud
’re all acutely aware of ’s obsession with the cloud, but Apple’s got it, too. iCloud started out as a relatively limited service but it’s since blossomed into its own capable storage platform. Cupertino announced even more functionality for it today; it’s called iCloud Drive it has its own folder on OS X even ndows, which both Dropbox Drive have been able to do from the start. It backs up your photos, lets you store any document of any file type. Sound familiar?
iOS 8 really takes its cues from Android, however, by adding in a Finder-like file browser in iOS that lets users peruse through files folders. iCloud Drive storage only works with compatible apps, so it is limited in some capacity. At least ndows can finally access those files.
A better—way better—keyboard
One of Android’s more enviable abilities has always been the ability to swap out your built-in keyboard for one made by a third-party developer. Apple took a “swype” at the -born operating system by not only integrating predictive type on the native iOS 8 keyboard—a feature that’s been a part of Android since its early days—but by allowing its users to choose third-party keyboards via “extensions.” ione users will soon be able to choose apps like SwiftKey Swype as their primary virtual keyboard.
