Who are we kidding? Everyone copies Apple

If you’re looking for thoughtful discussion about the latest tech news, it might be wise to avoid Twitter, aka X, aka Elon Musk’s Idiot Circus. The algorithm rewards engagement, which in turn encourages controversy, misinformation, and thoughtless taking. So when Google tweeted a promotion for the upcoming Android 17 update last week, it was inevitable that the most visible comments contained more rage than reason.

Which doesn’t mean they’re necessarily wrong.

A significant number of Android fans were outraged by the hint, offered in an accompanying promotional video, that Google is about to pivot to a new but at the same time familiar aesthetic. “Please don’t tell me Android is going to have a Liquid Glass look,” pleaded by far the most polite of this group. “Stay original, Android,” said another, summarizing the majority opinion. And it’s probably fair to say that the new shimmery, luminous, translucent appearance introduced by The Bot had more than a touch of WWDC 2025.

Android Ecosystem President Sameer Samat quickly denied that Google was copying Apple and insisted that Liquid Glass on Android “is not happening! You’re all wild.” Maybe that’s true. The shiny, somewhat glassy appearance has only been seen in one (non-UI) video, and it’s easy to draw the wrong conclusions when you don’t have all the facts yet. Especially if you’re on Twitter.

But it is also true that copying can be both nebulous and easy to deny. A person’s judgment of the visual similarity of one user interface to another, for example, is completely subjective. Google could in due course announce its new Fluid Crystal design language and insist that it is not the same as Liquid Glass because the toggles are different or there is a slightly different transparency effect on the home screen. It’s not a pyramid scheme, true believers will insist, it’s an inverted funnel system.

In any case, you’ll have to forgive us for raising an eyebrow and wondering if Google’s designers took inspiration from Apple Park, because this sort of thing happens permanently.

It was only a few months ago that Apple launched the MacBook Neo to immediate success, and what do you know, a group of PC builders suddenly decided to go in a new direction. The iPhone Ultra won’t even launch for another four months, and Huawei and Samsung are already moving toward the weird wide form factor it’s supposed to use.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Watch Ultra are surprisingly shameless ripoffs of the AirPods and Apple Watch Ultra, respectively, and while the company denies that the Galaxy S25 Edge is based on early iPhone Air leaks, the similarities are striking. And as for Honor’s Power 2, which even comes in a color nearly identical to Cosmic Orange… well, the word is probably “egregious.” At this point, Apple must feel like it can’t release an internal memo without someone from a rival company making one with a worse interface.

Some would say that imitation goes both ways and that Apple has done its fair share of plagiarism over the years. These fees aren’t entirely unfair, although Apple’s borrowings typically take the form of smaller software features rather than full interfaces. In hardware, the company prefers to view competing projects not as examples but as flawed prototypes from which it can learn and significantly improve. This is a practice that dates back to the fundamental but not yet commercially viable GUI ideas learned from Xerox in the late 1970s and then perfected for use on the Mac. (By the way, Apple paid for this visit with lucrative stock options. There’s a good way to copy someone else’s ideas.) Neither the iPod nor the Vision Pro were technically the first of their kind, but each took their respective product concept and took it to the next level.

No, Apple is definitely copied more than it copies. And in a way, that’s a good thing for the tech market. Apple has become so powerful that it can serve as a useful lightning rod for other companies: it drops the optical drive, it removes the headphone jack, it takes the charger out of the box, it faces all the criticism, and then everyone else can do the same thing three months later with a fraction of the negative publicity. Where Apple leads, the industry follows… in everything except, unfortunately, when it comes to privacy and data collection.

So no, I’m not very inclined to give Google the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Glassdroid. Maybe Android 17 will look like iOS 26, and maybe not, but Apple’s designers have been copied so many times in the past that despair and irritation are natural responses to a weirdly ignorant or deliberately provocative promotional video. In fact, I think I’m going to complain about the situation on Twitter.

Foundry

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in one handy summary. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it pairs really well with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you also want to read it during lunch or dinner hours.

Trending: Featured News

THE iPad desperately needs its MacBook Neo moment.

Google denies copying Liquid Glass, but no one buys it.

Filipe Esposito can’t wait for iOS 27 to fix his iPhone. The update is also set for review Siriadding 7 highly requested features.

Roman Loyola is happy to see that the iMac he always dreamed of is finally within reach.

Tim Cook leaves John Ternus with a Imbroglio AIreports the Macalope.

Remember those Siri Ads promote features that were never delivered? Thanks to them, if you bought an iPhone last year, you could receive a check for $95.

Podcast of the week

In the latest episode of the Macworld podcast, we discuss everything new with the iMac. What are the latest rumors, when can we expect to see an update and what would we like to see Apple do with its iconic all-in-one. We also discuss the current Mac mini shortage.

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

Reviews corner

The rumor mill

YouTuber gets to work with “so strange” iPhone Ultra.

One analyst thinks that MacBook Neo could face rising prices. But Mahmoud Itani thinks the $599 Neo is here to stay.

Apple could turn to longtime enemies to create chips in the United States.

Will Apple release anything new in may? Here’s what we expect.

Video of the week