There are only so many way you may better a smartphone , and these days the major maker ’ flagship handsets are pretty evenly matched . The difference of opinion lies in the software system . We iPhone user blaspheme by iOS , and why not ? It’sbetter than Android . ( Angry emails to the usual address . )
Mobile operating system , of course , are already trending towards similarity , much like the computer hardware they run on . Apple and Google frequently adopt each other ’s OS features , and that can only be a well matter for the client . Nobody wants app offloading or RCS support to be a chopine undivided . These are n’t secret plan consoles .
But there ’s a difference between the free marketplace of ideas and blatant caricature , and Apple ’s rivals have been sleep together to adopt , not one or two cosmopolitan concepts , but its entire way of doing things . once in a while the apery is so eldritch that one wouldalmostsuspect they ’re judge to trick customer into call back they ’re have got an iPhone when they ’re not . Of course , that ca n’t perhaps be the case . But you do wonder …
Control Center (right) and something that looks an awful lot like Control Center.
Last week , Samsungannouncedthe release of its One UI 7 nomadic OS in public genus Beta , and to say that it looks a circle like iOS 18 , from the organisation of onscreen elements to the overall purpose language , would be an understatement . The leaker Ice Universe loaded up equalize wallpapers on two handsets for a direct comparison andthe resultsare amaze .
The key here is to understand the difference of opinion between ideas and execution . As you could see above , iOS 18 and One UI 7 both have Now Playing music widgets on the curl CRT screen , for representative , and that ’s utterly reasonable ; whoever thought of it first , it ’s fair for the idea to be adopted by other companies in time . But for the widgets to be rendered in such a interchangeable elbow room , reach such a similar look , is where the caricature becomes hard to justify . It start to stray nigher and closer to the legal concept ofpassing off .
One UI 7 ’s equivalent of Control Center is jarringly conversant , too : a grid of semi - transparent grey circles and squircles with snowy sans serif text labels . And its camera user interface , which is n’t shown in Ice Universe ’s comparing but can be visualise in Samsung ’s prescribed declaration clause , has been passably much Xeroxed ( perhaps an inauspicious verb to use , give Apple ’s ownhistory of caricature ) from the same procedure in iOS . At least venture to be doing your own affair , guys .
Control Center (right) and something that looks an awful lot like Control Center.
at long last , perhaps , we might wonder whether this sort of affair count . finally the smartphone will become in full commoditized , if it has n’t been already , and product will compete on toll and the general appearance of quality rather than on unique and identifiable feature . Buying a smartphone will commence to feel a chip like buying a white potato , only with slightly higher stakes . It ’s also understandable that companies with a generic brand , like Samsung , will be happier to see that succeeding arrive than those like Apple with a firm and carefully cultivate aesthetic .
Even so , it does make me wonder if Samsung has thought this through properly . Yes , Apple has the most to turn a loss if all the mobile osmium become undistinguishable . But Samsung is still a premium brand , even if it is n’t just known for its originality , and it might be surprised by how piddling customers are willing to spend on a smartphone , and how rarely they ’ll be run to upgrade , if they realise that one French telephone is pretty much the same as another .
metalworks
Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast chromatography column , which includes all the Apple newsworthiness you missed last calendar week in a ready to hand bite - sized roundup . We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of chocolate or teatime , but it ’s coolheaded if you need to give it a read during dejeuner or dinner hours too .
Jason Snell explainswhy he’sdone with desktop Macs .
Apple wasmore funwhen it wassmall enough to ignore .
Shock report : The foldable market really needs Apple to make afolding iPhone .
TV or not , Apple is come tosave the smart nursing home .
Halyna Kubivpicks out four featuresthe iPhone should steal fromGoogle ’s Pixel 9 .
A long - time rumor about arare Macintosh blunderhas finallybeen show truthful .
This Kickstarterrevives theTouch Baras an OLED strip that can go anywhere .
audacious DIY project turns thenew Mac miniinto aretro Power Mac M4 Cube .
Podcast of the week
TheApple TV+ servicerecently had its fifth day of remembrance , so on the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast , we verbalise about Apple ’s foray into the entertainment stream industriousness . What has the experience been , what can we require in the future , and , of course , what are our best-loved shows .
you’re able to view every episode of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify , Soundcloud , thePodcasts app , orour own web site .
Reviews corner
The rumor mill
Wild Apple patenthints at an iPhone withmultiple customizable action button .
TheiPad Prois tapped to get theM5 chip before the Mac(again ) .
Will it ever arrive ? Apple’sHomePod with a screenreportedlydelayed again .
Software updates, bugs, and problems
iOS 18.2 : Thesegreat non - AI featuresare coming presently to your iPhone .
If you ’re usingWhatsApp on an erstwhile iPhone , you’llneed to upgrade soon .
