Google was recently lauded for its efforts to make Android a more privacy-driven platform. These changes are obviously a welcomed sight, and we've been wondering how Apple would respond. No longer just a flashy phrase you’ll see on an Apple keynote slide, privacy has since become a cudgel to beat Google with every time it's found doing something sketchy. Here are just some of the ways Apple’s new privacy features steal Android’s lunch and eat it, too.
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In yet more "Android did it first" news, Apple has announced that Siri for iPhones will support on-device speech recognition, like recent Google's Pixels have supported since the "next-gen" Assistant landed with the Pixel 4, though Apple is making its offline recognition the default setting in the name of user privacy. On top of that, though, Siri will support offline commands for basic functions, too — you know, like Google's had since before the Assistant even existed.
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Apple's WWDC 2021 keynote is nearly two hours long, because Apple has a lot in common with Zack Snyder. Nestled in the presentation on HomeKit was an interesting nugget of information: Siri will be available on third-party devices later this year.
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Apple's signature headphone series isn't getting any new hardware announced today, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing to talk about. With the advent of iOS 15 and iPad OS 15, AirPods are getting handy new features that more fully integrate them with Apple's ecosystem, and new onboard features that make them work better all on their own.
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Last week, the Connectivity Standards Alliance — formerly known as the Zigbee Alliance — announced that its Matter protocol would finally arrive later this year to bring your smart home gear closer together. With Google I/O in full swing, the company delivered some more information on how its partnership with the CSA will improve your smart plugs, security cameras, and more.
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Whenever people discuss digital voice assistants, the conversation usually ends with the Google Assistant triumphing over Apple's Siri. I haven't owned an iOS device since I sold my childhood iPod Touch, but earlier this summer, I took the plunge and bought an iPhone 11 to see what I'd been missing — and to check out Siri's smarts for myself. It's much better than I expected, and in fact, there is at least one area where Siri makes the Google Assistant look like an off-key cover band: music.
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This story was originally published and last updated .
Unless you've been forcibly avoiding the news, you know iOS 14 is now a thing. But if you don't use an iPhone (or maybe even if you do), you might not have bothered checking out what was new in Apple's latest mobile operating system. But as fail to be basically every year we watch the WWDC keynote, no one on the Android Police was surprised to have one recurring thought: "hey, that feature looks familiar." Apple apparently felt very inspired by Android in the last year, and iOS 14 has a whole bunch of "world-first" innovations to show you that—very coincidentally!—also
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Back in 2017, researchers in China reported on a clever way to access a digital assistant, like Google Assistant or Siri, by using inaudible ultrasonic sound waves. Now a new team at Washington University in St. Louis have been working on similar technology, and their version is even more capable (and scary) than the original.
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Modern "smart" home standards have more than a few dumb things about them, like the fact that certain hardware often locks you into a specific ecosystem of supported devices and software. If something works with Alexa, it doesn't always mean that it will work with the Assistant or Siri, and that's not even mentioning the whole obnoxiousness of "hubs." Thankfully, a new open standard is being developed by some of the biggest names in the smart home industry, with Amazon, Apple, and Google all backing a new open-source approach via the imaginatively titled "Project Connected Home over IP." It's a complicated-sounding name, but what really matters is the fact that future smart home products will be more inter-compatible and secure.
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YouTube Music is slowly spreading its tentacles and establishing itself as Play Music's successor. While the service still lacks many essential features for some users, it's good enough for others. Its most recent addition is Siri support on iOS — while Android integration with Assistant is still iffy.
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