It's not stealing when Apple does it, because it wasn't stealing when Google did it either

First of all, I know that Apple has a dodgy past with claiming a feature is new, original, and unique to iOS when it already exists on another platform, but I didn't see it this time with the WWDC keynote. Remember, there is a difference between saying this is a "new feature" and saying this is "a unique feature to iOS". Of course what was shown off are new features, because iOS users haven't had them before, and those are the people Apple is speaking to in these announcements. And, obviously the features will be "innovative" for users, because again iOS users haven't had these features before.

In the past, maybe I've been a bit too philosophical and abstract, saying that nothing has been stolen because everything is built on ideas that came before it. I thought that was a fairly straightforward argument, but every time the argument pops up again, it seems that the ones calling out Apple for stealing don't have a memory that extends beyond Apple's direct competition. The trouble is that none of the features Apple is being accused of "stealing" were original ideas on Android or Windows Phone either. When Apple first added folders to iOS, we heard calls of "stealing from Android", but when Android added folders, did we also hear the calls of "stealing from Apple" or "stealing from that filing cabinet by my desk"?

Let's run down the list: 

These different features keep popping up in various mobile systems, not because one company is determined to copy another, but because we're starting to reach a consensus on what basic features should exist in all mobile operating systems. The original Windows back in 1985 wasn't copying Apple's OS released the year before, it just so happened that people understood the idea of folders (you know, from having them on their physical desks for years and years), and a window was the best way to represent that on a screen. 

Notification trays are the best way to organize a rush of data and keep it from being too intrusive, but still have quick access to it at all times. The best way to switch between apps is to see screenshots of each app, so you can find things easier. And, you can put pictures of the Windows Phone 8 calendar and calculator apps next to the iOS 7 versions, or even the Android versions, but that doesn't prove anything. If you really think any of these things are copying, just answer one question: how else would you propose a company design these solutions, especially the digital objects that have had standardized layouts in the analog world for generations? 

If we go beyond the features to the design aspect of things, the arguments don't get any better. The overall trend in design right now is in a type of modern minimalism, which unfortunately is going to lead to a certain amount of overlap. Users don't want to see different design just for the sake of being different. They want something that makes sense, something that is familiar, but maybe has a fresh idea or two to make certain actions easier. There's a reason why Windows has used the same basic UI for such a long time, and why so many have rebelled against the massive shift that happened with the Windows 8 UI. The same thing happened in the Linux community with the shift from GNOME 2 (a very Windows-like UI) to GNOME 3 (more minimalist, and more like MacOS really, just with more customization options and keyboard shortcuts.) 

Sure, Apple has added a number of features that look a lot like what we've seen on other mobile operating systems. But, we have to be careful about tossing around the term "stealing", because 1) that implies that these features never existed before they appeared on the other mobile operating systems, which is almost never the case; and, 2) it also implies that Apple has claimed it is the first to offer these options, which is also not true. Remember, Apple directly referred to Android Beam/S Beam in its keynote when talking about AirDrop. 

If you want to call it stealing, then you have to extend your memory and call out Google, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Palm, Canonical, and every other software maker for stealing as well, because everything we're seeing in mobile operating systems has come before both in desktop systems and in some form in the real world that exists outside of your computer.