Features
Michael Grothaus
10:28, 3 Jun 2014
Apple announced both iOS 8 and OSX Yosemite at WWDC 2014, but it's the crossover features which could spell trouble for Google
When we think of the Android versus iOS battle we typically imagine that the two mobile OSes will go back and forth trying to outdo each other by adding new features to their handset OSes. It’s this one-upmanship that has been the hallmark of the mobile OS wars for the last seven years now. But while Apple introduced the newest version of its flagship iOS at WWDC, it’s actually the features it introduced in its desktop OS--OS X Yosemite--that prove iOS has benefits Android can’t match.
OS X 10.10 Yosemite
Many expected yesterday’s WWDC keynote to feature iOS 8 as the show’s highlight. And indeed, iOS 8 was given a lot of attention. It’s finally getting third-party keyboard support, audio and video replies to messages, powerful photo syncing, iCloud Drive (a Dropbox competitor), and many other cool features like HealthKit and the new Health app.
But there’s no doubt about it: the star of WWDC was Apple’s desktop operating system, codenamed OS X “Yosemite” after the American national park.
Why? Well there’s a lot of things to love about Yosemite. First, it’s got an all new, flat design inspired by iOS 7, yet it still retains it’s unique desktop form and function. Then there’s all the great new features in Yosemite, like the much-improved Mail app, a major overhaul to Spotlight search, improved messaging, and a radically redesigned Safari web browser.
In years past when Apple would preview a new OS X, it was clear who they were gunning for: Microsoft and its Windows operating system. But this year Apple actually spotlighted Microsoft’s Bing in its OS X demo, which was the first sign that OS X Yosemite wasn’t a shot across the bow at Microsoft The next sign was when Apple unveiled a cross platform initiative between iOS and OS X to make the two more interoperable. It’s dubbed “Continuity” and, make no mistake about it, it’s clearly designed to show that iOS is now years ahead of Android.
What Is Continuity?
At its most basic level, Continuity allows your Mac and iOS device to immediately know they are near one another with zero configuration on your part. If both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, Continuity is in effect. So just what does this Continuity allow you to do? Four main things: make and receive calls from your Mac, send and receive plain old text messages on your Mac, handoff current tasks from your iPhone to your Mac, and create an instant hotspot between your Mac and iOS device.
The first two features are probably the biggest. Thanks to iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite when your iPhone is on the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac you can make and answer phone calls on your Mac even if those phone calls are to/from traditional landlines. Continuity allows your Mac to become an extension of your phone. It works by wirelessly transferring the call information over your Wi-Fi network from your iPhone to your Mac and vice versa.
With Continuity now if your iPhone is plugged in by your nightstand upstairs, but you’re at your iMac in your home office, and you mom calls from her home landline (eg: not a VOIP call), you don’t need to run to answer your phone. The call will be pushed from your iPhone to your Mac over your wireless network. A caller ID will appear on your Mac enabling you to answer or decline the call. Again, the reverse is true too: you can dial a number from any webpage or contact on your Mac and the number will be pushed to your iPhone in your house, which will dial it out, and then Continuity will push the entire conversation back from your iPhone to your Mac--all without you noticing this is happening. And just as you can now make and receive calls from your Mac, you can also now make and receive texts--non-iMessage texts (even from Android users!)--right on your Mac.
Continuity’s other two big features are called Handoff and Instant Hotspot. Handoff allows you to automatically pass whatever you are doing on one device to the next. For example, if you’re composing an email on your iPhone or creating an iWork document on it, you can simply switch to your Mac and pick up composing the email or editing the iWork document right where you left off. As for Instant Hotspot, it allows you to automatically tether your Mac to your iPhone so you can share your data connection--zero setup needed.
Why This Is Trouble For Android
With Continuity Apple has shown it gets that our devices aren’t islands unto themselves. In order to be truly useful they need to have a seamless, unified experience. This is becoming more true by the day as our smartphones and tablets become powerful productivity tools--just like our desktops and laptops are. But though our mobile devices can do more and more, they aren’t going to replace the humble laptop or desktop. After all, each device’s form lends itself to being the best tool for the job depending on what that job is (typing a paper will always be easier on a laptop with a physical keyboard, for example).
But just because one device will be better at a specific job than another doesn’t mean we’ll only be working on that job on the one device. More often than not, we’ll be working on that job on multiple devices and the easier it is to share that job or other tasks between devices, the more useful all those devices become to us.
And with Continuity, Apple just proved their devices are more useful than Android. Because the company owns both a mobile and a desktop OS, they can build features like Continuity into their ecosystem--making the interoperability between our devices seamless. Google can’t do that because--while it does have a very simplified desktop “Chrome OS” (which is essentially a web browser)--it has no control over the desktop OS 99.999999% of Android users use: Windows.
So without its own desktop operating system Android’s use-case scenario is going to get bumpier as the interconnectivity and seamless experience between our devices become more of a must-have feature for users. And it will become a must-have feature because that’s where the technological landscape is heading. Apple has once again positioned itself as the leader in this emerging trend--and even Microsoft has a great shot at catching up since it own Windows and can easily replicate Continuity-like features with Windows Phone and Windows.
But what does Google have? Just Android on the phone--an island unto itself. And in a future where interconnectivity between our devices is key the last thing you want to do is be surrounded by water.
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