Apple Has Created 'Detailed Mockups' of iMessage for Android

[nsayer]

Apple undoubtedly creates mockups for all types of products and services, the vast majority of which never make it to release

For every "Yes," there are a thousand "Nos."

 

[aloshka]

I'm sure Apple is devastated.

Actually I'm with him. Got the iPhone 7plus, outside iMessages nothing really new. Either way, if iMessages was on windows or android, I'd be gone in a heartbeat.

 

[nsayer]

Apple still hasn't figured out how to even offer a decent sized battery at an inflated cost (you'd think they could do THAT).

As opposed to a decent sized battery that conflagrates.

 

[jbrandonpowell]

Apple should do this, and quickly.

The problem with relying on "stickiness" is that it reveals a fundamental lack of confidence in Apple's products to sell themselves. Apple has to have courage that its products are good enough to sell even absent "exclusive" access to iMessage or, if it lacks that courage, make the products better. Otherwise, something better than iMessage will catch on anyway, and if Apple is relying on that to prop up sales, everything will evaporate at once.

Agreed. I think expanding iMessage to Android could also have the opposite affect of what many think. Instead of people leaving iPhone for Android I feel one it could bring Android users to iPhone.

 

[davinche]

There was a whole lawsuit over iMessages stickiness... Remember how iPhone users that switched to Android were losing text messages to iMessage purgatory because they forgot to turn it off before deactivating their old iPhone? People switched back to iPhone because of that bug!

I don't know if I would give iMessage a try if it was ever released on Android, I'm too afraid that if i ever turned it off I would still lose messages from iPhone users. But it is definitely a huge perk of owning an Apple device and one of the only reasons I could see for picking up an iPhone.

This is still an issue with iMessage. I turned off iMessage per Apple's instructions over a year and a half ago after a couple of my friends stopped using iPhones and people stopped receiving messages sent to group chats. To this day I still have people who send messages to group and I never receive them. I've done the phone number removal process Apple has on their website multiple times and I followed Apple's instructions for deactivating iMessage. It seems as though iMessage checks when a group chat is started if everyone has iMessage but never re-checks it in case one of the members no longer uses it. There are various work arounds like having everyone with an iPhone delete the group chat which work sometimes to fix the issue but if one person in the group chat does not delete the chat and send a message to the group the problem sticks around.

 

[d4gli]

Glad to hear... Bring it - I'll switch to the brand new Mi Mix from Xiaomi - bye 7+

 

[Roadstar]

No thanks. Whatsapp is much better.

Well, for my multi-device use Whatsapp has a major downside of being tied to a single device at a time. If iMessage came to Android with the current multi-device support, I'd move as much of my messaging back to it as possible.

 

[mrklaw]

Just do it already. My wife is never buying an iphone, and its incredibly annoying to send an imessage and not know whether it'll be ready on her ipad (as an imessage with embedded graphics etc) or on her android phone (which will be stripped of anything otherwise it gets sent as an MMS costing me money)

So never mind 'imessage keeps people in the ios ecosystem' - how about realising that some of us that enjoy using an iphone have to regularly communicate with others that have other phones, and by providing imessage to android it'll make our lives easier too.

 

[loon3y]

I think Apple should bring iMessage to Windows before they bring it to Android.

Many workplaces require that you have a Windows laptop. None require that you have an Android phone (at least, none that I know of). It'd be nice if I could send and receive iMessage from my Windows laptop from work.

They could just throw it into icloud.com - I already use that a lot for accessing my various iWork documents and Notes from my work computer.

This

 

[dogslobber]

iMessage could've been the standard messaging App, but instead Facebook owned WhatsApp is quickly taking that crown in most of the world outside of the US. Honestly though if I could iMessage from an Android phone, I'd ditch iPhone. Apple still hasn't figured out how to even offer a decent sized battery at an inflated cost (you'd think they could do THAT).

A lot of people won't touch facebook whatsapp and the other one as they are owned by an advertising company that's even worse than Google. Apple is a safe pair of hands as they don't have the agenda the likes of facebook and google have.

Facebook is the devil in all but name.

 

[castlerock]

It really surprises me that there's so many messaging apps out there and not one has been universally adopted as a standard.

There is a standard. It's just not found traction. Both Apple and i.e. Comcast (well, at least for the mobile app) use SIP for their VoIP products and there is a complementary messaging function built into SIP. It's all about implementation. There's no (technical) reason we _can't_ have iMessage for Android, and our lives would be easier if everybody used SIP (in a non-proprietary implementation) but that's another discussion. It all comes down to marketing decisions.

 

[cult hero]

This would be awesome. Of all the services I would like to see Apple make cross platform, Messages is absolutely number 1.

 

[HallStevenson]

I use imessage almost exclusively because everyone i care to message with has an iphone. However, something interesting to me, several of them are now abroad. One is Spain, another in Chile, any yet another in France (all with iphones) but they now prefer to communicate with WhatsApp. I don't get that but it does seem that imessage is not that sticky outside of the US at least in my small personal experience.

They use WhatsApp because it's 'universal' across iOS and Android. Just because you have an iPhone and they happen to have iPhones, it's very likely that their friends, or plenty of them, use Android. This way, there's no add'l cost to text everyone.
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Whatsapp has over 400 million users. I would say that's the closest anyone has come to a universal standard.

I don't know how Google counts "downloads", but in Google Play Store, it says WhatsApp has been downloaded "1 billion+" times. I've downloaded it multiple times myself, between different phones or even after I've wiped my phone(s) and re-installed apps. It was always linked to the same Google account, so did it count 10+ downloads just from me or (1) ?

 

[Elijen]

Many workplaces require that you have a Windows laptop.

Find a new job

 

[kenny.vl]

I don't see the added value of iMessage on Android.
The entire world is using WhatsApp already. (at least everyone in my world is... )
In the past, this could have been of value to co-operate with my Mac but since WhatsApp has it's own Mac desktop-application, that desire has faded away.

Cross-platform FaceTime, would be more interesting though. Although... Skype?

 

[digger10]

I don't see the added value of iMessage on Android.
The entire world is using WhatsApp already. (at least everyone in my world is... )
In the past, this could have been of value to co-operate with my Mac but since WhatsApp has it's own Mac desktop-application, that desire has faded away.

Cross-platform FaceTime, would be more interesting though. Although... Skype?

WhatsApp passed one billion users in the spring. 1 in 7 people on earth uses WhatsApp. Video Calls/FaceTime are in beta. iMessage will be too late either way.

 

[MacBH928]

I wish this means the death of Whatsapp

 

[eebrown]

This more than likely will never happen, thank god.

I'm kinda confused as to why people think iMessage is so great, dont get me wrong I have no complaints with it but is there something different about it that sets it apart from other texting apps or just standard SMS messaging?

 

[verpeiler]

I can't see Android users embracing iMessage. I think they would rather continue to get regular SMSs from their iOS-using friends than install yet another messaging app.

The difference is, you could actually set iMessage on Android as you standard SMS and iMessage App... and since google f***s up messaging with multiple apps this could be an opportunity for apple.

 

[calzon65]

Too bad Apple didn't do this years ago before WhatApp became so popular, especially outside the USA. Apple missed that opportunity.

 

[Githyanki]

This is still an issue with iMessage. I turned off iMessage per Apple's instructions over a year and a half ago after a couple of my friends stopped using iPhones and people stopped receiving messages sent to group chats. To this day I still have people who send messages to group and I never receive them. I've done the phone number removal process Apple has on their website multiple times and I followed Apple's instructions for deactivating iMessage. It seems as though iMessage checks when a group chat is started if everyone has iMessage but never re-checks it in case one of the members no longer uses it. There are various work arounds like having everyone with an iPhone delete the group chat which work sometimes to fix the issue but if one person in the group chat does not delete the chat and send a message to the group the problem sticks around.

Add to that list of why I loose messages: Still have iPad and macbook, when I did a software upgrade, iMessage got automatically turned back on. Lost messages for a day or so until someone asked why I wasn't answering.

 

[calzon65]

I'm kinda confused as to why people think iMessage is so great, dont get me wrong I have no complaints with it but is there something different about it that sets it apart from other texting apps or just standard SMS messaging?

The Delivery notification is probably the most beloved feature.

 

[nburwell]

Too bad Apple didn't do this years ago before WhatApp became so popular, especially outside the USA. Apple missed that opportunity.

Couldn't agree more. Now there seems to be endless options in terms of texting apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Kik, etc.). While I'm certainly not opposed to seeing iMessage on Android, I think Apple missed the boat on this.

 

[HJM.NL]

I use imessage almost exclusively because everyone i care to message with has an iphone. However, something interesting to me, several of them are now abroad. One is Spain, another in Chile, any yet another in France (all with iphones) but they now prefer to communicate with WhatsApp. I don't get that but it does seem that imessage is not that sticky outside of the US at least in my small personal experience.

Many countries in Europe whatsapp is the standard. Also android has a much bigger presence here. Whatsapp works cross platform and you're also able to do group chats which is often used by companies. Although I like iMessage, the majority (even iPhone owners) are using whatsapp.
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Couldn't agree more. Now there seems to be endless options in terms of texting apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Kik, etc.). While I'm certainly not opposed to seeing iMessage on Android, I think Apple missed the boat on this.

Yep, too little too late again. If Apple made it for android few years ago and if it were stable and smooth... would be good advertisement for them to attract newcomers. Everything goes at a snail pace in walled Appleland.

 

[slimothy]

I'm kinda confused as to why people think iMessage is so great, dont get me wrong I have no complaints with it but is there something different about it that sets it apart from other texting apps or just standard SMS messaging?

Sure there is. 1) Trust in Apple. The security of iMessage is a must for me, since I am a cyber-security professional by day. 2) It's fast. 3) I know when I'm texting a common person vs. a person with an iPhone (green vs blue text bubbles). 4) It just works. The peace of mind knowing that my texts are delivered, and read by the recipient and not a huge data-mine company (like FB or Google) is a great feeling.