Why iOS 14 Copied Features From Android?

[Updated 09-09-20 : iOS 14 Beta 2 is Now Available]

I consider myself a fanboy of iOS from the beginning itself. I still remember when Steve Jobs came on stage and introducing the original iPhone. iOS was like at least five years ahead of the competition. The impact of the announcement of the original iPhone overshadows the CES itself, every other product introduced on CES felt like they were made in the stone ages. The user interface of the iPhone was amicable and comfortable for the people to use as a daily driver. People were standing for days in front of the Apple Stores to get hands-on with the new Apple device. Fast-forwarding to the year 2020, Apple's only competitor in the smartphone market is Google's Android.

Both Apple and Google have been taking on each other these years to bring out more features to their users. They were successful in refining and integrating multiple features during their product launches. But WWDC 2020 was a different story for iOS. This year's Apple event was streaming-only because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The WWDC 2020 wasn't much of joy like it were in the previous years. The features that Apple introduced weren't new; most of them seem like they were borrowed from their main competitor, the Android. The android fans were trashing the iOS14 on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook. So I wondered why a company with deep pockets like Apple stopped innovation and took pages from its counterpart Android?? I decided to install the iOS14 developer preview on my spare iPhone and give it a try.

[Note: don't install the beta on your device unless you are a developer or have a spare machine to test it. The iOS beta may be very buggy and unstable for daily use, and there is a chance you may end up bricking your iPhone]

Using the beta for a couple of days had completely changed my mind. They weren't just completely ripped off features from Android, but in fact Apple made them much better. For example, take the new "Widgets." it has been an essential part of Android since its inception from the year 2008, but the lack of adding needed changes made it less used by the Android users. But the iOS14 widgets are a different story, they look very modern and use less home screen space. Widgets are more proactive. They update and even display useful pieces of information according to the user's usage habits. Throughout these years, Apple perfected iOS, and it become mature. Apple integrates only refined and necessary feature now without making it much easier for the user to learn. It seems like they were just copying the android feature but refining and implementing it correctly for making things better for its users.