After a new bunch of features and software announced at the latest Apple event, I rant a little bit about their ecosystem and features the build for themselves
I just saw MKBHDās latest video, Why iPhoneās Features are Always
āLateā 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 ānewā features that already existed on
Android and on separate programs, Marques recognized that , but then he proceeds
to say
ā¦It seems like everytime the iPhone gets new features, theyāve been somewhere
in some Android phone before.
So why? Its not like Apple is choosing to be later all the time Thereās
good reasons for itā¦
One of the arguments he brings up is the focus on the Ecosystem, which
isnāt 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 thatās why they take so long to come up
with this stuff.
I donāt 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 Appleās 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 Appleās. And of course, the elephant in the room, āUniversal
Controlā. Why is such a āuniversalā feature, limited to their ecosystem? Well,
I donāt 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, couldnāt 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 isnāt 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 Appleās might be great for some people, I just donāt
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.
