Apple's upcoming operating system iOS 5, which is expected to be released this fall and is going to power iPhone 5, iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3 GS, has copied certain features from the Android platform.

Ever since Google took over Android in 2005, the Android platform has grown in quality year after year and it has turned out to be the best selling platform worldwide in 2011.

iPhone and iPad gave Apple the reputation of reinventing the smartphone and tablet market. However, the fast-growing popularity of the Android devices has forced Apple to borrow certain features for iOS 5 to match up with its competitor.

Here is the list of some important iOS 5 features, which are existent in Android-based devices.

Notification Center: This feature aggregates several app alert and you can access the entire store at one place by swiping your finger from top to bottom. Android users are familiar with the Notifications appearing at the top bar showing time, Bluetooth, network conditions, battery state, network conditions, GPS and other icons. The notification for a missed call, tweet and Facebook message appears at the top of the screen.

Cloud Sync: Google has adopted Cloud computing for over ten years. The data in Google Apps is stored in the cloud instead of on employee computers. This enables multiple users to access the data stored in the cloud without using the same operating system, software and browser. With iCloud coming to iOS 5, iPhone users can store data such as music files and download to iPads, iPhones, iPods and personal computers running Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X.

Newsstand: Google's centralized digital newsstand has attracted a lot of media companies to invest on the platform. iOS 5 comes with a new feature, Newsstand, where the users can subscribe to magazines and newspapers and download updates in the background. Background updates and sync have been there in Android for a long time now. The good thing about Android story is that the APIs for this are public.

Reminder: iOS 5 comes with Reminders, a location based organization app which offers improved to-do lists that are compatible with Outlook, iCal and iCloud. On Android, reminder is not needed as apps like Astrid or Taskos can handle this sort of functionality by themselves. The Reminders in iOS 5 are supported by geolocation feature .Location aware apps are available in Android devices for free.

Wireless Sync: Users of iOS devices can now wirelessly sync their devices to their Mac or PC over a shared WiFi connection. Android users have been syncing movies, music, bookmarks and contacts wirelessly between the phone/tablet and a PC/Mac for a long time using third party apps.

Twitter Integration: Apple is integrating Twitter to all its iOS based devices and to many of its own apps, including Camera, Photos, Safari and Maps. In Android 2.0, Google added the ability for app developers to hook their apps into the Android sharing and contacts system.

Widgets: In Android devices, widgets have proved very useful if you have to take a quick snapshot of information without having to open the apps on weather, news, stocks and similar services. The iOS 5 Notification bar will carry updated information in stocks and weather bars.

Source: ibtimes