I’m not sure whether you read the whole piece through, but it’s obvious that “Apple’s version” of the Always-On feature means there have been others before it (plus “the first” and “different” are put in quotes for a reason… because I totally agree with you on the company rarely being truly innovative).

I’ve written several stories on that very point in the past: when it comes to that common pool of ideas all tech companies seemingly borrow from, Apple takes way, way more than it contributes. Even Apple fanboys can’t deny that anymore.

But what the piece highlights stands true: in its effort to offer an Always-On feature that is not similar to what the Android world offered so far, Apple dropped the ball. Hence the obsession: I can’t believe that there was not a single person in Apple’s product development department that did not point out the obvious before release. It’s just that this company is so determined to stand apart from the others, that it’s willing to sacrifice practical value in the name of “originality”.

I do hope that they take this criticism to heart and, at the very least, offer more configuration options for the Always-On feature in the next iOS. It’s just software, it would not be all that hard to do after all.