5 Apple Features We've Seen Elsewhere
Many of the new features announced at Apple's WWDC and coming to iOS 9 and Mac OS X echo recent news from Google and Microsoft.
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Apple has the tech world talking with its announcements from Monday's keynote at the 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held this week in San Francisco.
The conference is traditionally geared towards a developer audience but also sets the stage for news that affects Apple's broad consumer base. Attendees gathered June 8 to learn about updates coming to OS X, iOS, and Apple Watch, and a new music streaming service borne of Apple's partnership with Beats Electronics.
This year's conference lacked a lot of the hype and high expectations of Apple's last major show, the March media event that served as a platform for showcasing the first edition of Apple Watch, updated MacBooks, and HBO partnership.
[iOS 9, Mac OS X El Capitan Dominate WWDC 2015]
In the weeks leading up to WWDC, the Apple rumor mill gave us a general idea of what we could expect to see and hear at this year's event. We knew iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 would get some major attention. Apple Watch developer tools and a music streaming service were also on our radar.
Apple wasn't expected to unveil any new hardware at WWDC, and most of its announcements pertained to software updates that will deliver new features and improved performance. While the promised upgrades will surely enhance Apple's products as they currently exist, it was hard to get too excited about much of the news from Monday's keynotes.
Why? Well, we've already heard about most of these new technologies from Apple competitors.
"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas," said Steve Jobs in 1996. The late CEO's thoughts were reflected in the new features presented at WWDC, many of which closely resembled products and services released from fellow tech companies like Google and Microsoft in recent weeks.
From the Proactive feature in iOS 9 to public transit navigation in the native Maps app, it seems like Apple is sprinting to catch up with companies that are thinking further ahead. Read on to see where else we caught the similarities. What are your thoughts on the "innovative" ideas from WWDC? Feel free to share in the comments.
Apple was proud to announce that iOS 9 will bring split-screen view to the iPad. Attendees seemed thrilled to learn that soon they will be able to navigate two apps side-by-side on their iPads.
It might be new to iOS, but this multitasking feature has long been available on the Microsoft Surface, specifically in the Windows 8.1 OS that has been widely despised -- likely by many of the same people who applauded Apple's update at WWDC. When Windows 10 launches later this summer, it'll get even easier to manipulate apps using a Surface device.
iOS 9 will also bring "Slide Over," a feature that displays a 70/30 view with a narrow side column for navigating messages, notes, and photos on the iPad. It's similar to the new notifications bar we've seen in Insider Preview builds for Windows 10.
Multitasking didn't get much praise when it was a Windows feature, but it'll likely see more widespread popularity as a feature in iOS 9.
The upcoming improvements to Siri will make Apple's digital assistant helpful to the point of creepy. Siri will soon be able to learn your behavior and adjust according to your habits and preferences. A new Proactive feature will, for example, scan your email accounts and address book to identify unknown numbers when they call. When you plug in your headphones for a workout, it'll automatically start pumping high-energy tunes. Don't feel like responding to a text? Siri will ask if you want a reminder of the message later in the day.
The capabilities in Proactive are similar to those in the "Now On Tap" feature recently announced as part of Google Now. The system is designed to let users prompt Google Now based on their app context following a tap. Now On Tap can, for example, answer questions based on past activity or what the user is doing with their phone at the time.
Apple is finally catching up to Google Maps by integrating public transit directions within the native app. You'll be able to use Maps to navigate bus, subway, train, and ferry routes. This update will only be available in 20 major cities at launch, but eventually expand to cover more ground across the globe. Google Maps still has the edge here, but users will surely welcome the Maps update in iOS 9.
The new Apple News platform probably sounded familiar to anyone who has heard of, or uses, Flipboard. The "personal magazine" app lets users choose topics they want to follow. It then sources articles from globally respected publishers and thought leaders. Users can collect stories, videos, and images to save for later reading and exploring.
This is basically the premise for Apple News. The news app will curate personalized news feeds based on selected topics or publications of interest. It will also suggest new areas for readers to browse. Apple has partnered with leading publishers, which will be able to optimize their articles for the app with animations, specially formatted title pages, and infographics.
It makes sense that Apple Music would have a similar layout to the Beats Music platform, given that the new music service is the result of a partnership between the two companies. However, that's not where the similarities end.
Apple Music, the so-called "revolutionary music service," will let you stream your favorite tunes for a set price of $9.99 per month, or $14.99 per month for a family plan that can include up to six people. It's a blatant competitor to Spotify, which offers a similar product for the same monthly price.
Another component of Apple Music is Beats 1 radio, which offers 24/7 music broadcasting. This is a dig at Pandora, which already offers personalized radio streams to 80 million users. The difference is, Apple's service is curated by live DJs who can play music for millions of listeners at the same time. So you could say it's just like traditional radio, but with Apple-approved experts behind the streaming.
In an interesting twist, Apple Music will be made available on Android. The idea of providing services for competing products is new for Cupertino, but it would admittedly be more intriguing if we hadn't been hearing about Microsoft's efforts to expand its services to iOS and Android for the last few months.
It makes sense that Apple Music would have a similar layout to the Beats Music platform, given that the new music service is the result of a partnership between the two companies. However, that's not where the similarities end.
Apple Music, the so-called "revolutionary music service," will let you stream your favorite tunes for a set price of $9.99 per month, or $14.99 per month for a family plan that can include up to six people. It's a blatant competitor to Spotify, which offers a similar product for the same monthly price.
Another component of Apple Music is Beats 1 radio, which offers 24/7 music broadcasting. This is a dig at Pandora, which already offers personalized radio streams to 80 million users. The difference is, Apple's service is curated by live DJs who can play music for millions of listeners at the same time. So you could say it's just like traditional radio, but with Apple-approved experts behind the streaming.
In an interesting twist, Apple Music will be made available on Android. The idea of providing services for competing products is new for Cupertino, but it would admittedly be more intriguing if we hadn't been hearing about Microsoft's efforts to expand its services to iOS and Android for the last few months.
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