user interface How come Android phone makers copied the iPhone camera UI?

[Ertio]

Look at this beautiful camera user interface:

 

screenshot credit: geektech.ie

 

On first glance, you might think "did someone leak the camera user interface of the S25?" - no.

Long-term smartphone users may be able to recognize this user interface.

 

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the camera user interface of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Yes, the S four from 2013.

 

Notice how you could access video recording without having to switch into a video mode. It was right there at your fingertips.

 

At the same time, Apple's flagship counterpart, the iPhone 5s, had this garbage user interface:

 

screenshot credit: ndtv

 

Compared to the majestic camera UI of the S4, this looks like a cheap toy. Most especially, you first have to switch modes if you want to record a video. In addition, the mode switcher is made of vertical text.

 

Look how much better the mode switcher of the S6 looked:

image credit: androidcentral

 

Eight modes on a single page with icons and horizontal text.

 

Unfortunately, in the late 2010s, all major phone vendors started copying Apple's inferior camera UI! Including Huawei, Xiaomi, and then Samsung.

 

screenshot credit: sammobile

 

Now we are back in 2012, where switching between photo and video modes is a thing, like it was on the Galaxy S3.

 

Why did all phone vendors drop their own camera user interfaces in favour of the Apple iOS camera user interface?