WWDC 2020: Apple borrows heavily from Android features for its iOS 14

After a slew of Android smartphone reveals and announcements in the past few months, Apple is finally ready to showcase what it has in store for the tech industry in 2020. Unlike its rival Samsung, which was able to hold its Unpacked presentation with attendees in February, it is hosting the event completely online. This is a first for the Cupertino, California-based tech company. Perhaps one of its highly anticipated topics would be iOS 14, which it finally did. However, many quickly pointed out that the upcoming software updates make it seem like Android.

While it might be a welcome change for users who have petitioned the developers to add more functionalities similar to Google's operating system, others are not as pleased. Apple has been lauded for the innovations it has brought to the table for smartphones in the past. Now, many are criticising it for falling behind its competitors. CNN notes that it borrowed some functions from other tech outfits such as Facebook, Slack, and Android.

iOS 14 completely tweaks how iPhone interact with the home screen. Finally, widgets can be pinned along with shortcuts to certain features of an app. Longtime Windows and Android users should be familiar with what this offers. Additionally, there appears to be an app drawer called App Library which can be accessed after swiping all the way to the end of the right side of the screen. This automatically groups everything accordingly.

To make it even easier to find a specific app, Apple likewise added an alphabetical list with a search bar on top. As for the widgets, it is not as comprehensive as that on Android, but it gets the job done. Nevertheless, the Smart Stacks feature might be more innovative in a sense that it allows iPhone owners to add multiple widgets (must be the same size) into just one section of the home screen. To switch, all it takes is a swipe up or down to select the appropriate one.

Another improvement comes in the form of the Picture in Picture function. This enhances the multitasking aspect of the device wherein videos or video calls no longer occupy the entire screen. Reports also indicated that this has been available on Android. iOS 14 does look a lot like Android now, but there are nuances that Apple was able to introduce that are in a way better.