Be First or Be Better: A Software Saga

https://www.biztechcs.com/blog/be-first-or-be-better-a-software-saga/

For years now, the one thing that you’d probably hear in Silicon Valley, or about it, is, “Move fast, break things.”

Sometimes it’s a motto, sometimes a joke, and sometimes a dangling threat when one is unable to move fast. 

This week and a little of the last week, the excitement on the internet, and I mostly mean Twitter, has been the new mobile OS updates: Android 11 (technically R: Red Velvet Cake on the inside) and iOS 14. 

Android 11 dropped on the day that Apple sent out invites for the September event. Which was definitely a move!

Apple’s invite had an easter egg in AR and Android 11’s statue that Google puts up on campus is an AR statue this year. 

Okay, so AR is definitely happening. Oh and that LIDAR sensor on the iPad Pro, which is rumored to be on the iPhone 12, at least on one version. 

I covered the main things that came out in Android 11 in the last blog so I will build on that with the new things in iOS 14. 

Widgets! 

I know Android users will laugh at this, but I am sorry if even Google made a better iOS widget than the Android widget. Smart Stack in widgets is cool! 

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One of the 3 main things that Android 11 boasts of is the privacy controls. Guess what? iOS 13 got those first. So iOS may be late with widgets, but it just might be better. 

I will join you in laughing at the emoji search feature in iOS 14. Can’t believe it took them these many years. Android wins this one. 

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Android 11 has a super useful power button feature. It’s your keys and wallet on the outside of the phone, easily accessible and available when you’re out and about without having to open the phone and getting lost in looking for the right app. After all, the light switch should be visible in the dark when you enter the house. iOS doesn’t have this.

Siri was first. And the concept was fantastic. Steve Jobs, one of the most popular speakers of innovation, was alive when iPhones got it. Google Assistant was late. But the first app I downloaded on my iPhone was the Assistant app. Siri is abysmal, to say the least. I sometimes wonder if Jobs would’ve been around, would Siri have been this bad? We’ll never know. 

Oh, and App Clips are App Slices. Both an iteration on Android’s Instant Apps.

But iOS has always had better apps. 

The one place where however Apple has won big time is the watch. It has saved lives! And I can’t say stress it enough that Google needs to get somewhere. Hopefully, the Fitbit acquisition will help with that. 

Who does it first and who does it better will bring us better features. So, while they compete, we win.