Thoughts on iOS 15 Features and some WWDC reactions!
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24, 7. - hey what's up mkbhd here and yesterday was apple's wwdc their worldwide developer conference event, their big software event every year, where they go over a bunch of new features for all their os's. We got new ios 15 stuff. We got new ipad os 15 stuff and we got mac os monterey and a bunch of other stuff.

Now i do plan on making a separate video going over some stuff in more detail, especially, i want to talk about ipad os 15 because i think they made some interesting changes, some of which did what i wanted, but also some of it didn't so make sure You subscribe to see that when it does come out, but i couldn't help but notice yesterday, watching all these new features get unveiled for the iphone for ios 15 that a lot of them were familiar because we've seen them before in android. Now this isn't new at all like this. This literally happens. Basically every single developer event like every wwdc.

We see features in the iphone that we've already seen in android and every google i o. We also see some stuff that we've seen in previous iphones. It's fine. I actually literally just made a video my last one about why companies should copy the good stuff from each other, but there is a trend that mainly apple's features come later and also, arguably, typically better, like you probably all remember how widgets literally widgets and an app Drawer and picture-in-picture were all famously late to ios 14 last year after being in android for a while.

Well, there was a bunch of new ios 15 features now that were just announced, many of which are really cool, also many of which have been in android for a while just slightly different. So i think ios's new live text feature is like the perfect example of this. Okay, so live text takes any image in your gallery or, in the camera, recognizes any text inside of it and then just lets you long press to copy and paste that real life text anywhere else you want. It feels kind of like magic.

If you can just lift handwritten text or printed text and labels etc, and take them put them anywhere else in any other app, if you took a picture of a business with a sign out front, you can long press the text on that sign and look them Up or call their phone number and it'll even do some more complex image. Recognition where, if you take a picture of a pet or something it'll, recognize that it's a dog you can long press the dog and it'll. Tell you what breed of dog it is. So that's pretty cool! Now i don't know if you've ever used, google lens on an android phone, but it's basically the exact same thing as all the stuff we've just described and it's been around for a while.

You can point google lens at literally anything with text in it, give it a second and it'll. Let you copy and paste that real life text again into whatever you want on your phone, translate it in google search, etc. That's built into the viewfinder of a lot of phones and inside phones like the pixel that use google photos as the default photos app. You can hit the lens button at any point to find and copy and paste any text or look up similar images with object.
Recognition - and it isn't always perfect, but it is impressively accurate. Sometimes it does way more than just pets too now on most android phones. It isn't quite as as seamless feeling as apples where, if i'm just looking at a photo in the gallery - and i see a phone number on a sign just long pressing - that phone number and being able to call right away is a slight step faster than having To go through hitting the google lens button, copying and pasting, but i feel like you can almost guarantee that that will now be lifted into google's next version. Facetime got a bunch of neat little features like spatial audio and blurred background portrait mode and different microphone modes.

So you can choose standard or isolating voices or wide spectrum mode, depending on background noise, but probably the biggest addition is called share, play which lets you watch things and share things like your screen. Inside of facetime now, you've been able to screen share inside of google meet zoom teams, whatever else you use for forever, but facetime now being able to do this, it's a little more well integrated than the others, because here you're now listening to apple music. With this nice ui and it's all synced up or you can watch tv shows or movies, with synced playback controls. So if somebody pauses it pauses for everyone, if somebody fast forwards to show you something it fast forwards for both of you, so everyone can see the same thing at the same time.

It's super easy to stay in sync and, of course, developer conference. Gold shareplay will have a new api, so any developer that makes a media app will be able to plug into this and make it work in facetime. So i think you already have uh hbo espn disney and i imagine things like netflix spotify in the future youtube. Hopefully, but the point is all this: stuff is better than the typical like screen sharing.

While you play a video where you're getting like 5 to 10 fps - and it depends on your internet connections - it's just not quite as good as it being built in the way it is here, oh also, by the way small detail, you can now share facetime links To anyone, just anyone who can click a link, which means you can join a facetime call from the web on an android phone or a windows desktop. I guess now we can officially say we have facetime on android. Never thought i'd say that, but you can say it now: apple also added on-device voice recognition, so it works offline and much faster, which feels like a huge step up for siri, which you guessed. It is catching up to what google assistant and google voice recognition has been doing on pixels since 2019, that i've been absolutely loving.

They also improved their photo memories, feature which strongly resembles google photos memory feature and they added a lot of really cool street level. Features to apple maps that continue to make big strides actually towards catching up to and matching google maps there's way more street view level information and there's an ar view and a few select cities get these really detailed maps where 3d models of landmarks are dropped in There so yeah. Clearly you can see the trend. A lot of these new features, new features that will show up on the iphone have already been in google's versions for a while ever it seems like every time the iphone gets new features they've been somewhere in some android phone before so why? The question is why it's not like apple's just choosing to be later, all the time, there's good reasons for it and turns out.
Of course, google is incredible software company and that's why they've been so innovative there for a long time, but also apple's teams have a distinct focus on this ecosystem thing that we've talked about. So i've made an entire video about the ecosystem, i'll link it below the like button. If you want to watch it, but it's a huge focus for apple, not just to make good new stuff but to make everything plug into each other seamlessly, because of course it makes the products better, but it also makes it harder to leave the ecosystem. They think about this constantly people might like their iphones but really love their airpods.

So it's harder to leave the iphone because of how well they work with the airpods and how much they love them, or maybe it's air tags or imessage or airdrop with the mac. There's tons of these, but it's not just devices, it's also the increasing number of services they make too. It's apple news. It's apple tv, it's imessage, it's facetime.

So, while google's teams can be ridiculously innovative because the teams are a little more siloed and they get to work sort of without the constraints of having to talk to each other all the time, they will often churn out amazing, incredible new features that just don't talk To anything else, meanwhile, apple's teams, even if they have the exact same idea at the exact same time as google's teams. They will often have this constraint of having to work with the rest of the ecosystem and plug into as many different things as possible, which often multiplies the amount of time needed to make the thing work. But the end result is typically something that's got some functionality or some plugs that the other versions don't so with notifications, for example, we've i mean android notifications have just been better than ios's since the beginning of time. Just facts but ios 15 did get some new notification stuff and one of the newest features.

I really liked is called focus modes and this is sick. So as someone who likes customization, it kind of feels like multiple profiles on your iphone, or at least as close as they've ever gotten to it. So you can set your phone to do not disturb mode or sleeping mode or personal or work mode, and when your focus mode is set to work. For example, you only get notifications from your work apps and your work contacts and when it's set to personal, it grays out all of your work, apps and work contacts and has a separate set of things you can do and you can even set a new home Screen for your non-work focus mode now there have been some android phones with like a work profile mode and that's not super new, but the cherry on top now is when you set that focus mode on your iphone.
All of your other icloud devices also now will switch to that same work, focus mode and have that same restriction, so you set it on your iphone at some time can be triggered by a time of day or location or whatever. Then your ipad, your mac, your watch, everything is now also locked to that same set of restrictions, and your imessage status will also now show, as in work, focus mode to everyone that usually connects with you over imessage. So that's a lot of extra work to make all of that work, but now hey everything's, working together as you'd expect it to. You saw how they tied imessage into apple news, where, if someone sends you an article and messages it'll appear in the for you section of the apple news app like.

I don't see, google, adding seamless integration between google messages and google news, i mean. Maybe they will eventually, but those apps and those teams that make them don't really seem to work together at all that continuity feature, you saw of dragging your cursor from your mac to your ipad back and forth, seamlessly and literally dragging and dropping files between them. That is one of the coolest slickest ecosystem flex features. I think i've ever seen, and i don't know how many years we would have to wait to see google doing that with a chrome, os laptop and an android tablet, but i wouldn't hold my breath.

That's just one of the things that apple does so well that they take extra time for, but that ends up being really great. Uh dieter from the verge did a really great video. Recently, you should watch on how apple's sort of been laying the groundwork for stuff. Like that over the years, but the bottom line is it's what we've come to expect so yeah we wait for it.

So that's just a fun theme i figured i would highlight also if you've been hanging out in the official mkbhd discord. You already know this, but we've been chatting over all the new stuff that apple's announced at wwdc if you haven't already joined over there, i'll leave a link below and also i'm gon na host a discord stage channel event in our discord. Uh today this afternoon. I'll put a time below and i'll have some youtube friends in there and we'll talk about some of these wwdc announcements, but also the themes of like which features we saw in android and since places we've seen before versus what's new in ios 15 and on the Ipad it'll be fun, we should hang out.
We should chat over there, but also for those of you in the youtube comments section. Let me know this: do you have a preference between super innovative new bleeding edge features versus a little bit later, but a little bit more well polished or plugged in features? Let me know what you think of that: okay, either way, that's been it thanks for watching catch, you guys, the next one peace you.

By MKBHD

18 thoughts on “Why iphone’s features are always “late””
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Wllc_kl _ says:

    Well i think along with pther factors, android isn't just one company. No matter how big Apple is , compared to all companies that make android and the users that have androids there isn't even a comparison. Also lets face it, google has a huge userbase apple can only dream of. So stuff like require any type of ai implementation of course Google will be better. So it kinda makes sense that appla takes a bit more time and that becomes even longer when they want to make it "apple" polished with look, ecosystem thing.
    I don't know though. Personally i dont really care. Im an android user right but i dont understand why people get mad at Apple whne they do something that already been done. Like i mean like all phones are an evolution of the first iPhone. iPhone has 2 cameras, all phones has multiple cameras now. I just don't understand why people get angry at that. I also dont understand why people are angry to people who get iPhones. Like why ? I mean if they want to pay for them . At first i was like, its because of the price. People want iPhones but they are expensive. But lets face it. All major companies have phones at those prices. And yet they don't get put under the microscope that much. Like apple maoes expensive products, and thats not going to change so why complain about it? Hmm.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Juliet Devenn says:

    Being a disabled person, what I love the most about the Apple devices, that they actually talk to each other. You can perform the most essential tasks with any of their devices, like texting or calling, often without using your hands. If Windows + Android could come together with own solutions like iMessage, Airdrop or the ability to leave your phone at home, when having a watch, I’d leave the Apple ecosystem in a heartbeat for that. My hands are barely free, as I’m walking on crutches, I can’t walk fast but I have no worries about missing a call, because I can take it from any device that’s beside me. I don’t need to search for my iPad to find that one picture I want to send to a friend, it’s there in the Cloud. I can’t count how many times I dropped my phone, tangled up in earphones even, because I tried to call someone and falling down, because I needed to put my crutches aside to get my phone, and stumbled. With my AirPods, which connect without me doing anything and using Siri, that small accidents are thing of the past. That’s why it’s Apple for me.

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Sean Lichtenstein says:

    I held off on buying an iPhone until the iPhone 4, despite being one of the very first people to own an iPod in my area AND being one of the only people that would talk about the rumored iPhone in like, 2004/2005. (Really, really wish my parents had listen to me on buying Apple stock, btw). After they recieved things like copy/paste, multitasking, it was off to the races for me. Apple's integration for most things just really makes it worth the wait on a lot of things for me, others not so much, but I tolerate them because I've noticed that provided I don't really think about it, it doesn't bother me nearly as much as if I'm say, watching videos about iPhone vs Android. The multiple timers thing comes to mind. I recently started cooking as a hobby, and I REALLY noticed not being able to set multiple timers. But I have to believe there is a reason for it, as I know on Android there have been times where multiple timers confuse the hell out of me. The way I got around it was just setting reminders- asking Siri to do this really makes it easier to me. iPhone and iPad, at this moment, and for the past 10 years or so, has had a feature set I'm happy with, and I don't mind waiting around until they get whatever it is right, becaue they always seem to impress.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars IJM809 says:

    I'd rather enjoy the benefits and convenience of cutting edge and innovative technology NOW than wait 5+ years without innovation and advancement for now old technology to be finally implemented in a better (but not even significantly better) way. That approach just ensures that Apple is always at least a step behind. There was a time (a very long time ago) when Apple was consistently leading the race in in innovation and it made made much more sense to pay that high @$$ "Apple tax"; now Apple is just consistently super late in the implementation of features that other brands have long ago implemented. And all Apple can brag about is how they did it a little better…

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Alias Anybody says:

    It's quite easy:

    Google: Let's throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.
    Apple: Let's see what stuck on Google's wall.

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Lucy Fe says:

    Picture to text is kinda like magic? Wut? My note4 did that many, many years a go. Lol a little bit later??? these features have pretty much 8 years. People actually have been paying MORE for phones that didnt do anything?

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Akshit kubadia says:

    Mkbhd at the age he should start to speak
    His mom : say mama say mama
    Mkbhd : Apple IPhone Imac Apple
    Apple Apple
    The legend say that doctors stay away from mkbhd

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars The Gamer Nerd says:

    I think they also release features “late” because they want to make sure that people like the features and make it so it is as user friendly as possible

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Stilian Mirchev says:

    I like the apple eco system, however this approach has it's drawbacks. For instance just getting an Iphone is cool but then you cannot use 30% of it's features as they need you to have apple watch or a mac or comunicate with other Iphone users. I get that this is the cost of having a good polished seemless connectivity but getting into the whole eco system is really expensive if you are living outside of the USA due to import taxes.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Savij says:

    But…they're always late, Marques, and they try to be fashionably late…only to end up usually doing nothing better than what everyone else has been doing for years. Calm the apologies.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mpumelelo Tsotsha says:

    Both. Counterintuitively both of these sybsystems feed into a well oiled holistic system, where the not so polished features push the boundaries and forces the likes of Apple to adopt and improve the user experience aspect of these features.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars TechCrazy says:

    I have watched many Tech Reviews over the years and only two people stand out for me, MKBHD and Detroit Borg. They are very succinct, clear, and direct and add a lot of visuals to their presentations without being too opinionated or preachy. Others start off good, then they make themselves the center of attention with nothing but their face all over the screen, and the phone that they are supposedly reviewing is sitting face down in a corner in the screen. What are they thinking? Do they want to be the next Joe Rogan? Others resort to twisted faces, gimmicks like slamming the box on the table, etc. And all I can do is immediately give a thumbs down and move on to another video. I guess there should be a simple formula these other guys need to make a tech video. Before posting the video look at the screen time of your face vs the product. If your face is more than the product then you have failed! Keep up the great work MKBHD, have watched you for a long time now, and do not ever change the way you present or comment on the products!

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars OneMad says:

    Why invent while you can innovate and still make the most money out of it? Only thing I hate about apple's "way": Without LG (RIP), HTC (RIP), Sony (RIP soon?), Huawei (US RIP), Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, etc. iphones would be plain boring. People hating on all other brands should at least respect what they done for apple and their iphones and not hate on them.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Monika Pinson says:

    I take a lot of heat off people for my deep love of Apple products and one thing they love to throw at me is well we had X feature years ago. But honestly I will wait until Apple offers it. Because I know when Apple launches a new product its going to work. I won't have a ton of issues and very rarely will I have issues with things working seamlessly between all my devices. It just comes across that they take more care in what they put out there to improve the user experience. And given the Apple business model that most of their revenue is generated by hardware sales rather than software or data mining their customers they can afford to take their time and polish the finished product a bit more before launch.

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars I'm so northern californian. says:

    The thing is Apple has a stellar reputation. Sure you may not like them but I think we can all agree that objectively they haven't made a bad phone in the last 6 years. They don't want to risk their simplistic yet advanced ecosystem with useless but unique devices. I have a Samsung phone(2 actually), watch, buds, and TV. I can still admit Apple's ecosystem is leagues above any other company by a Longshot.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars anino207 says:

    It's because Apple is a consumer of technology. They're not actual innovators and if they do, they only do it mainly to get more money from their customers (yeah all business do but more than the others 😄).
    Think about it, what has Apple contributed to the world outside the inherent benefits of them being a competition to others?
    I sound like a hater because I am…just with Apple 😂

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars JeshSol says:

    Every time I see one of these apple software videos about the "ecosystem" it just seems so useless and things that most people are not gonna consistently use

  18. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Drake Richter says:

    Gotta disagree with the premise that it "takes time" to polish features and that's why they're late.

    Apple has the money and branding to develop at a rapid pace and the level of control to quality-assure with fewer variables to account for. They can make a seamless experience MUCH faster than they do, and there are many areas (especially hardware) wherein Apple lags or has lagged horribly, such as their wireless charging, screen size/quality, and waterproofing that have no reasonable explanation for the delay in coming to Apple devices.

    Well. One reasonable explanation: profit. It's cheaper to just not add features you don't need to add to sell their products. They leverage their captive audience to deliver experiences that are overall pleasant and work "fine" so long as you don't know what you are missing out on. And on Apple's end, it's much safer to let others innovate and just eventually lift what sticks and can be easily implemented.

    Just look at folding screens. Apple is nowhere in that highly innovative and interesting space, and won't be until and unless they prove to be a safe and profitable innovation, just like with large phone screens many years ago.

    I can hardly fault them for doing what helps their bottom line, but at the same time it doesn't sit well with me that they rake in so much profit with so little risk and yet get so much credit for no readily apparent reason. Some of Apple's curated experiences might feel more refined in some cases, but at the same time the overall experience of owning Apple hardware rather than others – which you lock yourself into if you want the benefit of that seamless experience – straight up locks you out of many other features and benefits you could have while still setting everything up to work nicely together with relative ease.

    Good on them for adding positively ancient Android features, though. Better late than never.

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