Just as expected, Apple took the wraps off the newest version of iOStoday at WWDC, and it looks a lot likeiOS 7, at least on the surface. The improvements in iOS 8 are a bit more low-level than the fundamental UI redesign we saw last year, but it’s a big release nonetheless. Once again, Cupertino is chasing Android, and it definitely catches up in some areas. As Apple likes to say, this is the best version of iOS yet. Still, can it do anything to slow Android’s explosive growth?
Actionable Notifications
Apple has been trying to fix iOS notifications for a very long time and only recently got to a place where it was comparable to Android. For all its early issues, Android has always had great notifications. Beginning with Android 4.1, Google added the ability for developers to add actionable buttons to notifications. Now Apple is doing the same thing, but it goes a bit further.
Android uses expandable lines in the notification shade to keep notifications with buttons and text from taking up too much space. Apple’s buttons in iOS 8 seem to be expanded all the time, but they include quick-reply capability. For example, if you get a message while in another app, the banner that drops down includes a reply button that lets you type a response from the drop-down without leaving your current app. This is, of course, something that can be accomplished with various third-party tools on Android, but Apple’s native functionality is a step beyond Android here.
One remaining pain point with iOS 8 notifications is the continued apparent lack of a single button to clear all active items. As before, you need to empty out one section of notifications at a time. With Android, there’s a simple clear all icon on all devices.
Spotlight Search
With iOS 8 (and the updated OSX) Apple is finally putting that universal search patent to use after suing everyone over it a few years back. Pulling down the search bar in iOS 8 will now offer instant search across a number of different services. It will find apps installed on the device, messages you’ve received, and songs in your library. However, it also reaches out and lists content on iTunes, movie showtimes, maps, and more.
Android’s search UI varies a bit depending on the device, even as of Android 4.4. This is partially because of who was and wasn’t targeted by Apple’s patent suits a few years back, but Google’s default search app has unified things a bit. Basically, you get results from the web and your personal content (local and cloud) when you start typing. To get more, you can flip between various categories like apps, images, books, and other online content.
Android can do all the same things iOS Spotlight Search does — it’s just organized differently. However, any convenience lead Apple might claim in typed searches I feel is more than compensated for on the Android side by Google Now. Google’s predictive search stuff is getting scary good at times. It pulls content from your data like plane tickets, shipping confirmations, and appointments to show you what you need before you’ve even typed anything. Spotlight still can’t touch this.
Continuity Mode
Apple’s new Continuity framework seeks to make your iOS and OS X devices feel interconnected — like a single continuous client. With iOS 8, you can work on a document or look at a web page on one device, then pick up another one and easily pick up where you left off. Android does some of this, but it’s not presented as cleanly or consistently. It is, however, more universal.
Google’s services are much more focused on the web, so you can easily pick up browser tabs, documents, and other content across devices. You have to know where to go, but it does work. The upshot is that Google’s synchronization features work on all devices, even those running iOS. Apple’s Continuity platform is restricted to its devices running the newest version of the desktop and mobile software.
Apple also added the ability for messaging and calls to operate in a more interconnected way on its devices. If you get a call on your iPhone, your Mac or iPad can be used to see who’s calling and even act as a speakerphone to take the call. Regular SMS messages are also relayed through the new Continuity system so you can see them on other iDevices.
QuickType and big input changes
Apple’s keyboard used to be the best touchscreen typing experience, but in recent years the likes of SwiftKey, Swype, and others have given Android users something to cheer about. Apple is upgrading its own keyboard with iOS 8, which is nice, but the big change comes with the opening up of iOS input to third parties — finally.
The default iOS 8 keyboard will have a feature called QuickType, which is simply Apple’s way of saying it has added word prediction to the typing experience. Yes, Android’s default keyboard has had this for years. Unlike some other keyboards, the iOS solution will allegedly be smart enough to choose words based on who you’re talking to. So, it might suggest a more mature set of words when you’re sending an email to your boss than when you’re making plans with friends for happy hour. No sighting of swipe input on the stock iOS keyboard, but maybe you won’t need it.
If that’s just not good enough for you, Apple will be letting third-party developers become the default keyboard on iOS 8 as part of the extension framework (more on that later). You can imagine the folks behind SwiftKey, Swype, and other Android-centric keyboards cheered their heads off at that one. When the user sets a third-party keyboard as the default, it is cut off from accessing the network, which is asmart security measure. The user can grant network access as needed, though.
The customizability of Android’s default app scheme has long been a big selling point, and it’s very encouraging to see Apple adopt that model, even just a little bit.
Metal for gaming
OpenGL has been the standard for 3D gaming on mobile devices — both Android and iOS — for years now. The way Apple tells it, though, OpenGL is getting too heavy for its own good and the overhead is hurting the games. That’s why Cupertino is releasing Metal to developers.
Metal is a new graphics API that will allow games to render with much higher efficiency than they ever could with OpenGL. The demos did look very impressive with realistic physics and more triangles than you can shake a polygon at, though the scenes still looked a little sterile. It’s possible lighting effects with Metal weren’t ready to go in time for the keynote.
There’s nothing like Metal on Android — developers there will continue using OpenGL unless Google comes up with some alternative. iOS has been ahead in the gaming sphere for its entire history, so this isn’t so much about catching up to Android as it is widening the gap. Metal might also make it that much more annoying for developers to port games to Android in the first place. Maybe that’s part of Apple’s dastardly plan?
It’s also interesting to note that, with Mantle, DirectX 12, and GameWorks, nearly every major vendor is now working on a “low-overhead” 3D graphics implementation. It would be nice if they could all agree on one standard…
App Extensions
While it was explained in the “developer” section of the iOS 8 reveal,Apple’s new Extension framework might result in the biggest user-facing improvements to the iDevice ecosystem once developers are turned loose. The third-party keyboard support mentioned above is just one way Apple is going to use app extensions to make iOS 8 more Androidy.
At its most basic level, iOS 8 Extensions are about allowing apps to mingle without leaving their private sandboxes. Android apps have always been able to interact freely, but Googlehas been reigning some of that in over the years. Apple is trying to find a way to get data and features from one app into the other without introducing security holes, and the result is Extensions.
Developers will be able to pipe bits of their UI and features into other apps using this system, which could allow for a huge number of truly interesting implementations. Some of the features Apple demos include inserting more sharing options into AirDrop, custom photo editing, and building widgets for Notification Center. All awesome features that we saw in Android some time ago (i.e. the open sharing menu and rich third-party notifications). Android 4.4 also strengthened the cross-app file picker, which is something iOS 8 is doing now with custom document handler.
Depending on how much functionality developers get with extensions, this could go a long way toward making iOS more customizable and dynamic.
All the small things
The iOS 8 announcement also came with the usual array of smaller feature additions, some with direct Android analogs and some without. Case in point, photo editing has been enhanced with easier controls. It’s not quite as simple as Google’s Auto-Awesome pictures, but you get more control. iOS 8 essentially lets you choose from a slider how you want the image to look, and it twiddles the individual knobs for you.
All those photos can also be dropped into the newly improved iCloud Drive. You get 5GB for free, then it’s $1 per month for 20GB and $4 for 200GB, with additional tiers from there up to 1TB. Android users have the tightly integrated Google Drive service, which is an even better deal starting at $2 per month for 100GB.
All that stuff you’re saving in iCloud can also be plugged into the new Family Sharing system. Up to six people/devices can access each other’s purchased content and see a shared photo stream. Parents can also use this to grant authorization to buy and download content remotely. This is decidedly unlike anything on Android, unless you include the Kinde Fire HDX tablets, which pretty much no one does.
iOS 8 messaging is getting smarter too with improved group chat features like muting and easier ways to send voice and picture messages. This is more of a swipe at WhatsApp than Android, though.
Is Android threatened?
The new iOS looks much the same on the surface, but the under-the-hood improvements are impressive. Better search, enhanced notifications, and Continuity will help to bring iOS 8 closer to Android while extras like fastergaming with Metal widen Apple’s lead.
Android has a huge market share, and that’s not changing anytime soon. Apple has succeeded in making its platform more appealing, but it’s still iOS. To really steal committed Android users away, we’ll have to wait and see if Extensions can unleash developers to build advanced features for those who want them. That might be Apple’s greatest weapon going forward. Android is due for a big shakeup, though, and Google I/O is just weeks away.
