At its annual IO convention Wednesday, Google unveiled a slew of latest merchandise, options, and services and products that can roll out over the next months. We were given a peek at a brand new Pixel pill, watch, and contact, a brand new price range Pixel 6a, the primary Android 13 public beta, and thrilling seek, AI, and app updates.
However right here at Macworld, we couldn’t lend a hand however understand how acquainted most of the bulletins sounded. There have been various options unveiled at IO which can be reputedly ripped directly from Apple’s playbook. Listed below are 5 options coming to Google and Android units that Apple customers had been playing for years:
Google Pockets
One of the vital greatest app bulletins at IO used to be the conversion of Google Pay to Google Wallet. Granted, Google Wallet used to be a factor ahead of Apple Card, however this newest iteration takes various cues from the iPhone app. The brand new Google Pockets, launching quickly, is your one-stop position on your virtual lifestyles, storing virtual IDs, boarding passes, live performance tickets, vaccination playing cards, loyalty playing cards, automotive keys, and naturally, bank cards. Talking from revel in, Android customers will like it.
Higher pill apps and multitasking
To place it mildly, Google’s tablets aren’t precisely in the similar league because the iPad. With Android 13, Google is taking a look to switch that through stealing a bit from Apple’s superior pill revel in. A number of the new features coming to Android tablets is straightforward multitasking that allows you to use apps facet through facet and new interfaces “to take complete benefit of the additional area together with YouTube Song, Google Maps, Messages and extra.” We’re now not certain if that’s gonna put a lot of a dent in Apple’s pill dominance, however howdy, higher overdue than by no means.
Reproduction and paste from telephones to drugs
Apple customers have lengthy had the facility to duplicate one thing on their iPhone and paste it on their Mac due to the ability of Handoff and iCloud, and now Google is bringing the similar factor to telephones and drugs in Android 13. In keeping with Google, “you’ll quickly be capable to reproduction a URL or image out of your telephone, and paste it for your pill.” The gadget (observed under) turns out slightly clunkier than Apple’s totally seamless Universal Copy and Paste, however howdy, it’s a get started.
Pixel Buds Professional
Google unveiled and teased a number of {hardware} bulletins right through its IO keynote, together with the brand new budget Pixel 6a, however probably the most intriguing used to be the Pixel Buds Pro. Whilst nobody would confuse the Pixel Buds A-Collection wi-fi earbuds with AirPods, the Pixel Buds Professional have an excessively identical characteristic set to AirPods Professional. You get noise-canceling, transparency mode, spatial audio, and ‘to find my’ monitoring, and an in-ear design that turns out awfully very similar to the rumors of the AirPods Pro 2. Name them opponents in the event you will have to, however we’ll simply name ’em copycats.
Virtual Crown
Google stopped a bit in need of liberating its first-ever wearable at Google IO, however it did in spite of everything ascertain the lifestyles of the Pixel Watch. Like different Android Put on OS watches, it has a round design with a moderately sizable bezel and a brand new “tactile” crown that seems to be Google’s model of the Virtual Crown at the Apple Watch. We don’t know if it’ll be as easy as Apple’s or have a integrated ECG sensor, however the idea that and the glance is nearly an identical.
