Recently, iPhone 14 Pro revealed at Apple’s Far Out event in Cupertino, California, is touted as the company’s most jam-packed iPhone in terms of features. With high-end features like redesigned notch area known as ‘Dynamic Island,’ always on display, new 48-megapixel wide-angle cameras are all hitting the smartphone market.
However, it is surprising that many of the iPhone 14 Pro features were first available in Android. But as Apple is a different brand, it always tries to do something different with all these features. So, let’s check out some of the features that you have found in Google-powered Android phones.
- Always-on Display
The Always-on display feature will include time and widgets so you do not need to worry about holding the phone up. Although this feature can be found on Android smartphones like Samsung’s Galaxy S7 in 2016. The first phone that had the Always-on-display feature was the Nokia 6303 in 2008.
Android smartphones such as Xiaomi and OnePlus already offer an always-on-display feature. But the magic trick that Apple applied to this feature is that it continues to show the lock screen wallpaper, a little dimmed than before but never totally shuts off the screen. The new refresh rate enabled by this feature is 1Hz and there are several ‘power-efficient technologies’ used to preserve battery life. Now, the always-on display feature will not eat up battery life, and the impact will be minimal.
- Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island, a redesigned “movable” notch at the top of the phone that will display information like the song you are listening to or when gadgets connect to your phone, is the outstanding feature of the all-new iPhone 14 Pro versions, which claim numerous improvements. Although pill-shaped display cuts on smartphones are nothing new, they have remained largely motionless, and Android-based rival companies did nothing to make the top of the screen more interactive with apps and notification displays.
Except for the LG V20, which included a secondary screen that displayed the time, date, and notifications at the top of the display. Although the LG V20’s secondary display was useful, it never felt like it belonged in the user interface. In essence, Dynamic Island is a software-based fix for a hardware issue. It’s like stating, “Your smartphone still has a notch,” except that the pill-shaped cutout now changes size as you use the device, appearing to be a natural component of the user interface. Undoubtedly a brilliant use of the notch.
- Crash Detection
The ability of Apple gadgets to save lives in dire circumstances was one of the main themes of Apple’s Far out event. Regardless of the target market or preferred screen size, all four of the new iPhone 14 models come equipped with automobile crash detection capability and built-in emergency satellite connectivity.
But few people are aware that a few years ago, Google was the first to release the automobile crash feature on a few Pixel devices. The iPhone also employs motion sensors to determine whether a user has been in a traffic accident, just like a Pixel smartphone. Car Crash detection is included in the “safety” app on every Pixel device since the Pixel 3, but Google hasn’t done much to promote it. On the other hand, Apple promoted the car collision function in order to position the iPhone as “vital.”
- Selfie Autofocus
The iPhone 14 Pro’s 48-megapixel camera is an upgrade, but the main difference is that the front-facing selfie camera now has autofocus for the first time. Although adding a front-facing focusing camera to the iPhone 14 is a positive development, Cupertino isn’t the first firm to do so.
It is a feature that Android smartphones have had for many years. Since many years ago, Samsung smartphones have featured selfie autofocus cameras. For instance, the most recent Galaxy S22 includes a selfie autofocus camera. The Pixel 3 XL received front-facing selfie autofocus from Google in 2018, but later phones no longer have this capability. OnePlus and Xiaomi’s popular smartphones are also without selfie autofocus cameras.
- Action Mode
The new Action mode on the iPhone 14 Pro, which also includes the standard iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, enables users to record fluid video that will automatically correct for shaking, movements, and vibrations without the use of a gimbal. Apple isn’t the first business to include this feature in smartphones, though. For shooting videos on its Galaxy smartphone, Samsung has long provided the Super Steady feature, and it keeps getting better.
Samsung’s technology employs optical and digital stabilization to maintain the smoothness of your footage even while you’re moving about or walking while you’re shooting. For its primary 48MP rear camera on the X50 Pro in 2020, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo integrated a mechanical gimbal mechanism. Recently, Asus unveiled the Zenfone 9 with a gimbal camera system that offers six-axis stabilization.