Last night was a big moment for Apple who were introducing their software products including the new operating systems across all their devices. iOS 18 took the main stage with millions of iPhone users waiting to see what new features they would be enjoying over the next year.
One thing that seemed to resonate with many people across the internet was how iOS 18 was finally bringing features that should have been available years ago. Something as simple as moving icons around the home screen is a feature that should have been available almost 17 years ago. It’s not just iOS where we get to see this slow progression of innovative features. It’s on iPadOS and macOS as well.
So it got me thinking, why does Apple always seem to take forever to develop features that Android users have been enjoying for years?
Quality over Quantity
One of the main explanations that you will find from either Apple executives answering this question or even its users is that the company chooses to focus more on doing something well rather than doing it fast. It seems to be a part of the company’s culture where they focus on a few features that can perform to their best no matter the version of device rather than having to be split on building too many features.
That is an argument that many people would scoff at but be understandable to the only people who can relate to; developers and Apple device users. One thing about a system like iOS that has stayed true over all these years is performance, something that Android devices still seem to struggle with especially when it comes to the lower-end devices. So you find yourself being forced to buy an expensive Android device if you want to enjoy reliable performance that will last long.
Of course, I know many people will bring up the argument that Apple has been found to make their older devices perform worse with every software upgrade, which is fair.
The Ecosystem
The second main explanation is that Apple tends to focus alot more on features that can be compatible across their own devices. The ‘Apple Ecosystem’ is a phrase used alot to describe the ‘sacred’ link between Apple’s devices that is meant to have all its native systems, features and apps work well across all of them. So, you will find that iMessage communicates almost instantly to your Mac if you are using your iPhone. And as someone in this ecosystem, I can say it is an exciting thing to be in where you can work with your iPhone, for instance, and go straight to your MacBook and continue that very task that gets transferred instantly.
So, the Apple team tends to focus more on making the few features and apps easily that talk to all your devices rather than many that would only work on one device without communicating with your other device.
Apple Only Works for Apple
The last explanation I would probably give is that Apple is very protective of its systems. While you have Android being used across hundreds of smartphone brands, Apple only has its own systems that don’t look like any other…and probably never will. So the brands that depend on Android or Windows tend to be more innovative to compete against each other while Apple doesn’t have that.
So there is no sense of urgency when it comes to introducing new catchy features for Apple when they can just introduce a new device and have that as the main selling point rather than what new stuff it has. This has been a bad thing for the company over the last few years, especially with the iPhone lineups where you’ll find many of them looking almost identical on both software and hardware.
As much as I like the ‘ecosystem’ and everything it brings, it was sad yesterday to see some of the most basic features that have been long overdue being introduced just now. So it would be nice to enjoy some of the stuff that Android users get done years in advance.
