Antonio Manaytay Tech 10.30.2022 20:Oct PM EDT

4 Ways Why Samsung One UI 5 Is A Copycat of Apple iOS 16

Samsung's One UI 5 software updates will make Galaxy S22 work more like the iPhone 14.

It could happen as Samsung has already rolled out One UI 5 software updates for its Galaxy devices with a swathe of features that have eerie similarities with Apple's iOS 16.

It can be said that Samsung Galaxy S22 comes out of the box. The flagship phone uses Google's Android operating system with One UI, a customized user interface. UI's previous versions were known as Samsung Experience and TouchWiz.

The plot thickens with the announcement that the S22 series will get the One UI 5 update, the first in the range of Samsung smartphones.

In fact, Samsung has already rolled out the new UI 5.0 for all Galaxy phones. And the Korean tech company has released the first batch of updates, which will eventually bring every Galaxy device closer to the iPhone in terms of specs and operations (via MySmartPrice).

Eerie Similarities: Four Ways

Smartly tweaking some features didn't do enough to deny that Samsung has copied some popular features from the iPhone, Inverse noted.

Here are several ways why Galaxy devices will work like iPhones with One UI 5:

1. Stacks. One UI 5's final version will ship with a number of changes to widgets, enabling users to stack them. The software updates will also make Galaxy devices capable of offering suggestions for a particular app people have used frequently.

These features bring to mind iOS 14, which Apple debuted in 2020. Samsung's smart suggestion is a tweak apart from iPhone's Siri.

2. Focus Modes. One UI 5 brings Modes that people can use to create a particular collection of settings, app limits, and notification filters. The users can toggle this collection of settings at any moment, or the user may opt for automatic mode. Any iPhone user can easily relate to this experience.

3. Lock Screen Customization. UI 5 allows users to have complete control in customizing the lock screen, clock style, and notification pop-ups on one screen. This is much like iOS 16, where customization works with just one long press on the screen.

4. Live Text. The software updates make it easy to copy and paste text from a photo. This feature is called "smart text extraction," which Google also implemented with Google Lens. Samsung's version, however, is a closer copy of Apple's Live Text in iOS 15.

Who 'Copied' Who?

An article in Phone Arena said on multiple occasions that one phone maker appears to be getting a hint or two from another company in making its software update. Then, the question arises: Is it wrong?

Stories of one phone maker copying some features of its rival are not uncommon in the industry. Still, accusations of thievery over intellectual property rights abound.

According to the report, there were allegedly three occasions of 'copying:'

1. Samsung's curved displays became popular, and many users found them cool. Suddenly, Android phone makers jumped in on the design. It became an overnight fad to have curved displays but it faded out later. Even Samsung has also outgrown its own design, with its flagship phones like Galaxy S22 and its sister, GalaxyS22 Ultra, moving away from it.

2. The Cupertino company earned the distinction of being one of the first companies to stop embedding a headphone jack in its handheld devices. At a time when Apple killed the headphone jack, many Android phones followed suit to the dismay of users.

Up to this day, Apple has retained the design in its newest iPad lineup. These Apple devices do not have a jack where a user can easily plug in wired gadgets. The disappearance of the 3.5 mm jack on its 10th gen iPads is not an accident, as per Gizbot.

3. In 2018, Xiaomi copied Apple's iPhone X design. Faced with backlash from almost all phone tech media outlets, the Chinese tech company led the shift of the company's approach when it came to phone hardware.

It is unlikely Apple will howl over Samsung's cherry-picking of iOS features. The heavier consideration leans on the user's enriched experience with Samsung's UI 5 software updates.