Five new features Android 11 borrows from the iPhone

Android 11’s first public beta has arrived today, and it brings a bunch of big new features to Google’s operating system — including a few that should look pretty familiar to iOS users who have had similar functionality for some time.

It’s the eternal cycle of software platforms: Apple’s good ideas will almost always end up on Android at some point, even as the next version of iOS will, no doubt, crib some ideas from Android.

OS-level smart home control

One of the most noticeable new changes in Android 11 is the availability of smart home controls on an OS-level at any time through Google’s new long-press power button menu. Much like on iOS (which added HomeKit device control to Apple’s Control Center menu in iOS 10), you’ll be able to...

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