As part of the changes in iOS 14, the iPhone home screen will look a bit more like Android devices & Big Smartwatch. iPhone users will soon be able to pin widgets or shortcuts of features available in an app to their home screen. It can now be stacked or customized on the basis of work, event or travel. Widgets have long been a part of Android devices as well as Windows phones.
Beyond that, Apple’s new App Library automatically organizes apps on your home screen so you don’t have to navigate a few pages, similar to Android’s app drawer.
Apple also seems to have gotten some inspiration from a rival product to appeal to a pain point for some iPhone users: videos (and FaceTime calls) that take over the entire screen while performing another function. Now, users can switch to multitasking and other apps while watching a video with a Picture in Picture feature. Samsung Galaxy phones have been able to do this for years.
Android isn’t the only place Apple has inspired. New updates for group chats such as talking directly to people have become popular features of WhatsApp and Slack messaging app Slack. Apple also lets you pin conversations to the top of your inbox. Pinning individual messages is a common function in Slack.
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