Say hello to Samsung’s suspiciously familiar new phone OS

There are only so many ways you can improve a smartphone, and these days the major manufacturers’ flagship handsets are pretty evenly matched. The difference lies in the software. We iPhone users swear by iOS, and why not? It’s better than Android. (Angry emails to the usual address.)

Mobile operating systems, of course, are already trending towards similarity, much like the hardware they run on. Apple and Google frequently adopt each other’s OS features, and that can only be a good thing for the customer. Nobody wants app offloading or RCS support to be a platform exclusive. These aren’t game consoles.

But there’s a difference between the free marketplace of ideas and blatant imitation, and Apple’s rivals have been known to adopt, not one or two general concepts, but its entire way of doing things. Occasionally the mimicry is so uncanny that one would almost suspect they’re trying to trick customers into thinking they’re holding an iPhone when they’re not. Of course, that can’t possibly be the case. But you do wonder…

Last week, Samsung announced the release of its One UI 7 mobile OS in public beta, and to say that it looks a lot like iOS 18, from the arrangement of onscreen elements to the overall design language, would be an understatement. The leaker Ice Universe loaded up matching wallpapers on two handsets for a direct comparison and the results are astonishing.

The key here is to understand the difference between ideas and execution. As you can see above, iOS 18 and One UI 7 both have Now Playing music widgets on the lock screen, for example, and that’s perfectly reasonable; whoever thought of it first, it’s fair for the idea to be adopted by other companies in time. But for the widgets to be rendered in such a similar way, achieving such a similar look, is where the imitation becomes hard to justify. It starts to stray closer and closer to the legal concept of passing off.

One UI 7’s equivalent of Control Center is jarringly familiar, too: a grid of semi-transparent grey circles and squircles with white sans serif text labels. And its camera interface, which isn’t shown in Ice Universe’s comparison but can be seen in Samsung’s official announcement article, has been pretty much Xeroxed (perhaps an unfortunate verb to use, given Apple’s own history of imitation) from the same function in iOS. At least pretend to be doing your own thing, guys.

Ultimately, perhaps, we might wonder whether this sort of thing matters. Eventually the smartphone will become fully commoditized, if it hasn’t been already, and products will compete on price and the general appearance of quality rather than on unique and identifiable characteristics. Buying a smartphone will start to feel a bit like buying a potato, only with slightly higher stakes. It’s also understandable that companies with a generic brand, like Samsung, will be happier to see that future arrive than those like Apple with a strong and carefully cultivated aesthetic.

Even so, it does make me wonder if Samsung has thought this through properly. Yes, Apple has the most to lose if all the mobile OSes become indistinguishable. But Samsung is still a premium brand, even if it isn’t exactly known for its originality, and it might be surprised by how little customers are willing to spend on a smartphone, and how rarely they’ll be inclined to upgrade, if they realise that one handset is pretty much the same as another.

Foundry

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

Trending: Top stories

Jason Snell explains why he’s done with desktop Macs.

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Shock report: The foldable market really needs Apple to make a folding iPhone.

TV or not, Apple is coming to save the smart home.

Halyna Kubiv picks out four features the iPhone should steal from Google’s Pixel 9.

A long-time rumor about a rare Macintosh blunder has finally been proven true.

This Kickstarter revives the Touch Bar as an OLED strip that can go anywhere.

Intrepid DIY project turns the new Mac mini into a retro Power Mac M4 Cube.

Podcast of the week

The Apple TV+ service recently had its fifth anniversary, so on the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we talk about Apple’s foray into the entertainment streaming industry. What has the experience been, what can we expect in the future, and, of course, what are our favorite shows.

You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.

Reviews corner

The rumor mill

Wild Apple patent hints at an iPhone with multiple customizable action buttons.

The iPad Pro is tapped to get the M5 chip before the Mac (again).

Will it ever arrive? Apple’s HomePod with a screen reportedly delayed again.

Software updates, bugs, and problems

iOS 18.2: These great non-AI features are coming soon to your iPhone.

If you’re using WhatsApp on an older iPhone, you’ll need to upgrade soon.

And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.