30 PCWorld JULY 2019
NEWS 10 FEATURES APPLE BORROWED FROM GOOGLE
systemwide dark mode with its One UI
redesign (go.pcworld.com/1uir) earlier this
year. When Apple says Dark Mode is
“thoughtfully designed to make every
element on the screen easier on your eyes
and is seamlessly integrated throughout the
system” just remember that Galaxy and Pixel
users had it first.
- DOWNLOAD MANAGER
This feature is so overdue Apple doesn’t even
have a fancy name for it. In iPadOS, you’ll be
able to “see your active and recent
downloads in Safari and access them easily
from the new Downloads folder in Files,”
thanks to the existence of a bona fide
downloads manager. Talk to any Android user
and they won’t be able to remember a time
when they couldn’t do that.
But while the new updates may indeed
be as dramatic and delightful for iPhones,
iPads, and Apple Watches as Apple says
they are, they’re not exactly new. At least
not for anyone other than Apple users
anyway. Most of the marquee features
Apple announced have already been done
before, and as the crowd whooped and
hollered at every obvious applause break,
Android and Fitbit fans were likely smirking
rather than clapping.
- DARK MODE
Yes, Apple delivered dark mode for the menu
bar and Dock with Yosemite and expanded it
to apps with macOS Mojave last year, but
Dark Mode on smartphones is old hat.
Google’s has had a dark theme on its phones
for years, and Samsung introduced a
Dark Mode may be pretty but it’s not new.