Isn't this a good thing? If Android has a good feature, I am happy if it comes to iOS, just as I am happy when good iOS features (e.g., ask for permission on first use, rather than on install) come to Android. I would be significantly less satisfied with an NIH mentality on either system.
I'm just pointing out that it's a huge change in Apple's product planning from what came before, and I think it should be noted.
(and by "before", I pretty much mean "under Jobs")
The company line is that they don't release features like this (or iOS notifications, or intra-app services, or even copy/paste) until the technology is mature and they feel ready. Thus far each of these features has worked perfectly at launch. I see no reason to doubt their explanation.
And I would say that for most people, this strategy has been very successful, even though e.g. jailbreakers might get a more advanced version of something that eventually gets integrated many months in advance. It's basically free R&D and proving out concepts for Apple.
I wonder sometimes if they actually know about other channels for jailbreaks, but don't close them all at once due to the value this provides. Of course, they could never admit to this / have a paper trail for it, software is hard / complex, and jailbreakers are amazingly talented, so maybe I'm crazy, but that's what I would do in their position.
Apple always takes it's time to do things because it does them in a way that people can actually use, rather than rushing to be 'first'.
Android does rush features out, often getting them into a few devices ahead of Apple, but because of the failure of distribution of updates for Android, Apple actually gets to deliver features to consumers well ahead of Android.
Also, Android does often end up having to copy the iOS way of doing things when it proves to have been well thought out - e.g. The new permissions model.
In the past, however, they've focused on differentiating themselves while also poo-poohing any features their competition has but they don't, saying you don't need that feature anyway.
I'm glad Apple's gotten away from the sour grapes mentality, but I hope this puts an end to the false claim that Android owes its success to copying Apple's innovations.