I just saw MKBHD’s latest video, Why iPhone’s Features are Always “Late” and I was pretty amazed at how different his view is, compared to mine, when it comes to the newest features added to the Apple ecosystem.
There is a thing that has existed for a while already, open standards and protocols, basically, ways for devices to stay communicate with each other, so every device understands whats going on. The internet, HTTP, or USB are examples of these, and companies and programmers make sure a USB cable can communicate with a computer once plugged.
We all know about how Apple tends to add “new” features that already existed on Android and on separate programs, Marques recognized that , but then he proceeds to say
…It seems like everytime the iPhone gets new features, they’ve been somewhere in some Android phone before. So why? Its not like Apple is choosing to be later all the time There’s good reasons for it…
One of the arguments he brings up is the focus on the Ecosystem, which isn’t that eco-friendly to be honest. Of course Apple wants their software to work seamlessly with each other, since that way people will use it all even if they only like certain parts of it, so that’s why they take so long to come up with this stuff.
I don’t think so. Why would it be harder to come up with these features that can only be understood by so few devices using operative systems specifically made for them? Where is the difficulty? I am not trying to undermine the complexity of Apple’s software, I am just saying that things like Nearby Share work regardless of the device as long as it runs Android (with Google Services), and the feature is coming to Chromium browsers too!
Apple is not innovating, they are just reinventing the wheel; but limiting it to roll only under their own terms.
Later, the video talks about some features such as Focus mode, which enables different profiles that you set up across all your devices as long as they are Apple’s. And of course, the elephant in the room, “Universal Control”. Why is such a “universal” feature, limited to their ecosystem? Well, I don’t really care, in the end is their stuff and its up to them, but I have been wondering, why do tools like this one are baked into the OS? I think the answer is pretty simple, because they limited themselves.
Think about it, couldn’t a lot of the features here be decently implemented just by installing an app and a desktop client? I know it would probably be slower than something below userspace. But why do we actually need this to be so integrated, if such integration means that its going to be so difficult to port over to something that isn’t Apple?
For some reason, people is eager to get these features, to get an ecosystem where everything is available out of the box, and while I understand the appeal, I am not really into it, I would like my system to be light and fast, and of course, Apple manages to achieve a smooth feel thanks to how cherry-picked their hardware is.
Honestly this is probably being more of a rant rather than a proper argument, a workflow like Apple’s might be great for some people, I just don’t think they should appropriate everything they do as if it was unique.
I stopped halfway because I felt like doing some icons with Inkscape and I kinda lost my own train of thought in some places, my apologies.
This has been day 43 of #100DaystoOffload