Apple: We’re more innovative. Google: Hold my beer - Google IO 2021
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2022-05-05
·
1,710 words · ~8 min read
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- Google sucks at security, makes ugly software, and most importantly, innovates slower than Apple,
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is what you might've thought before today's Google IO.
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Have you seen what they're doing with Android 12? And don't even get me started on the range
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of third-party designs when Apple's idea of innovation
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includes updating the look of the iMac once every, I don't know, 11 years or so and making a purple iPhone.
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- Hey! - Okay, those were cheap shots.
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Apple is absolutely innovative, but just because they have
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a world-class team of developers and designers, doesn't mean that Google can't also have a world-class team of developers
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and designers, and it really shows. So let's dive deeper
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because there is more to the story than innovation alone.
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Check out Crucial at the link in the video description. (pop intro music plays)
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Rumors suggested we might get a glimpse at Google's new white chapel SOC, maybe
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see the Pixel Buds A-series. And of course, we expected news about Android 12
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and Wear OS, but the reality of it is with no IO event last year at all,
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Google had a clean slate. They could surprise us and it's safe to say
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that they did and that they didn't. They didn't pull off an Apple, one more thing,
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product announcement. It is a developer keynote, so it's not like they had to, but what they did surprise us
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with, is just how much effort has gone into Android 12.
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I mean, look at this. It's superficially more than a little iOS-like,
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but it's got its own style, or more accurately, You've got your own style.
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Google's new material you UI is front and center, featuring responsive design that
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dynamically resizes to fit your content and user tweak-able elements
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from the color palette all the way down to line weights.
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And not only that, but it can do a lot of the work for you by automatically generating complimentary colors
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and even pulling a pallet out of your phone's wallpaper. Meaning, if you're a fan of matching themes,
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you are going to love Android 12. More of these onscreen elements are larger
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and more animated, which means that you're going to be treated to a lot more eye candy.
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They showed off the idea, for example, of the lock screen lighting up in different ways, depending on how
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you woke the phone and the new combo notification shade
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and quick settings area is far more alive than it's ever been.
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Importantly, if Google is to be believed, it's not going to come at a significant cost
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to responsiveness or battery life, where not only
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have animations transitioning between apps been shortened
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but they claim that they're getting a good 22% less CPU time
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with 15% less time on high performance course.
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Along with your interrupts, this all means that the CPU is freed up to do more while also doing
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much less in the background which should lead
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to better battery life. That's awesome, but not as innovative
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as the new privacy features. The privacy dashboard shows you a breakdown of how all apps,
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including Google Zone, have been using your Android devices
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sensors, and it quickly and easily lets you revoke access
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for apps that you don't trust. Like on iOS, there are now clear indicators
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in the system tray when apps use a sensor and there are new toggles for microphone
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and camera access that you can use to block access for all apps, including Google Zone.
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It's not as good as a pure hardware switch but having OS wide controls like that is a game changer
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and it's baked right into Android now. This is one area that Apple has been pushing really
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hard recently as a shining example of why their closed ecosystem is superior to Android.
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And Google has just pulled the rug right out from under them.
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Okay? Following Apple's lead here is not that innovative
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and we still don't have any control over app tracking in the same way that iOS provides.
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But hey, at least if you love Android, you can control the size
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of your water bottle from lttstore.com, they both cost the same.
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Moving on to camera, then. Google showed off a new machine learning algorithm that detects
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and enhances the auto white balance and exposure settings to make skin tones
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appear more natural. But this time, for everyone, not just whites
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like me. Until now, partly due to limited dynamic range
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in photos, de-saturated highlights haven't accurately portrayed how darker skin looks
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in real life, and shadows have often ended up crushed altogether. So, to solve this,
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Google's created an algorithm that promises to preserve these skin tones, while also preventing later parts
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of the image from being blown out. This is a real problem that affects real people,
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and it's really cool to see that real work is going into solving it.
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And what's more Google is planning to release it to the whole Android ecosystem rather
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than keeping it to themselves for their refresh pixel line, that should launch alongside the final version of Android 12,
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sometime in the fall. This is super innovative
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and the beta is available right now, if you're interested with One Plus
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and Xiaomi phones, among those called out as supported.
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Aside from Android itself, a lot of focus was spent on Google search and backend systems,
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which for a developers conference, makes sense to a degree
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but we were really hoping for some more info on the long rumored white chapel In-house SOC
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that we think might debut in the next pixel phones.
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They did still hint a deeper collaboration with Samsung, however, when they revealed long awaited updates
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to Wear OS, so get subscribed because we're definitely going to be taking an in-depth look
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at these when they come out. For now, let's take a moment, though,
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to acknowledge an area where Apple has clearly led the pack
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and Google is playing catch up. This entire list of expected features in
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the new WEAR OS is stuff that I can already do on my Apple watch
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with the exception of Google's tiles feature. All day battery? Check.
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Fast app start up? Check. Turn by turn directions? Check.
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Offline music? Check. Payments without a phone? Check. Quick app navigation? Check. Health and fitness app, freaking check.
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I mean, don't get me wrong. Most of these things are what Wear OS has been sorely missing
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and are why the ecosystem clearly hasn't taken off the way Apple's watch OS has, but holy crap,
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has it ever taken them a long time to catch up.
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And I am really hoping we end up with something a little less cumbersome
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that I might be able to actually use. Because as most of you probably know,
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I don't even keep a SIM in my iPhone. I've just been wearing this Apple watch as a silent protest
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against how terrible Wear OS has been. There's some more me too bits in here as well.
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Like the ability to use your phones NFC and ultra wide band as a car key to lock, unlock
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and start your car. Super sweet. The ability to use your Android
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as an Android TV remote, complete with voice search and on-device keyboard support.
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Yes, for mine video shield. Love it. And the ability to use your phone
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to unlock your Chromebook, which can now receive your phone's notifications
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while you're using it Apple style. Finally, as before, Android auto is superior CarPlay,
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It really is guys. Don't don't at me.
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Back to the question of innovation though. Google's main message this year was that they're not
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only catching up to Apple in key areas but also surpassing them in others that really do matter.
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And to hear Apple tell it, that's an impossibility
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with Google's open model for Android. To say that they can't innovate as fast
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as Apple is honestly just kind of ludicrous. I mean, a perfect example of this
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is project Star Line, a real-time 3D representation
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of two people as if they're in the same room separated by a display. It's not ready for prime time.
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and it's possible that it'll morph into something else and
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or end up dead before it launches. Remember tango?
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But it is the kind of stuff that keeps Googling moving forward along
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with healthy competition from other innovators like Apple.
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If you're looking for something else to look at, view, watch, go check out
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our review of Google's Nest Hub. For an example of some of maybe Google's slightly
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less successful innovation. It's not that it's bad. It's just, I dunno,
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just watch the video, I guess.