The iMessage on Android dream may have died forever
The iMessage on Android dream may have died forever
Many iPhone users would probably agree. It’d be useful if iMessage was extended to Android owners.
No longer would they need to suffer through having an Android users in a predominantly iPhone group chat, which messes up everything from shared videos, to those ‘laughed at’ ‘liked’ text messages that accompany reactions.
That’s without mentioning how those seamless over-the-web blue bubbles become standard green cellular texts when an Android user is involved. Hideous!
However, while rumoured for many years, the chances of iMessage for Android now look more remote than ever, courtesy of court filings (via The Verge) made by Epic Games in its ongoing legal spat with Apple. Epic is attempting to illustrate that Apple deliberately keeps its own products a closed shop to the detriment of others.
Epic, of course, is trying to convince a judge Apple is being unfair and restricting competition by forcing Fortnite to abide by App Store guidelines that demand Apple receives 30% of in-app purchases.
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The filing cites purported five-year old comments from Apple executives arguing that allowing iMessage on Android would be to the company’s detriment, as it would make switching from iOS to Android less of an inconvenience.
Within the filings, an unnamed Apple employee is reported as saying: “The #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is iMessage … iMessage amounts to serious lock-in.”
Apple marketing guru Phil Schiller allegedly responded by saying: “Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us, this email illustrates why.”
Another senior Apple executive Craig Federighi purportedly chimed in by saying: “iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.”
The internal opposition to iMessage launching on Android appears to nix the prospects of it happening any time soon. However, those comments were made in 2016 and Apple has become a lot more open to sharing its wares since then.
Apple Music became the first high profile app to launch on Android, while the Apple TV app is now available practically anywhere. iMessage remains a jewel in the Apple crown, which Google has not been able to replicate effectively, so our month’s on it staying Apple-exclusive.
