Finally, iOS users will have a glimpse at what Android is about for a long time. I don’t mean it in a bad way, competition and parity is a good thing. The concept of Extensions on iOS is one of the reasons I’m still using Android, combine it with a bigger screen and you have something to offer to those open to the change.
The ability to install custom keyboards alone is a big one. There are not a lot of good keyboards, but there are a couple of interesting ones. SwiftKey, Swype and TouchPal are pretty similar with some subtle differences and I go back and forth between SwiftKey and TouchPal. HTC’s keyboard is good, but they have problems with Russian. Also, there are a couple of interesting choices, like Minuum Keyboard or Fleksy, each of them brings something new to the experience. And also Google Keyboard is a very simple and nice choice. Two of the best features are word prediction, which saves a lot of time and also gestures, when you type by swiping, personally I don’t do it all the time, but it’s very fast. And typing using iOS keyboard on my iPad after using Android phone is not a great experience at all. That’s one thing.
Another one is connecting to Apps, like editing photos using different Apps right in a Camera Roll. You can do that on Android by Sharing menu. I don’t open VSCOcam by tapping on the icon, I select the photo I want to edit in my Gallery app and then share it to the app, edit the photo and then Share it to Instagram from VSCOcam. It works great, so that would also bring great feature to the iOS. Third thing everyone is excited about is 1Password and its ability to fill out forms and passwords in Safari and other Apps. On the Android we have LastPass does just that. I don’t remember my passwords and after they’ve introduced that feature, I’ve started using LastPass even more. Before that, I would sometimes want to do something and then decide to do it later, on my PC, now I just do it on my phone more often, because of how easy it is.
Again, there is nothing wrong with that. I love that companies copy each other, but use different implementations. It is competition, which is always very good for the consumer. Android could’ve copied something from iOS, like smooth scrolling, for example. (Easier said than done, but as a user, I don’t care a lot about how hard it is, Apple somehow managed to do it and I would like similar or better experience on my Android phone).
There will also be widgets on iOS now. That was probably the most advertised features of Android, by users, but I don’t find myself using a lot of widgets. Everywhere you see mostly weather, stocks and sport scores, but it takes too much space and I don’t think you need to see weather every time you unlock your phone.
Yesterday I dind’t post anything, but I did write 500 words, so it’s 8 day streak.