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Apple Explains Why iMessage Hasn't Expanded to Android

Mac Fly (film) said:
If it isn't cross-platform it is by definition inferior.
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Incorrect. What you say requires that the definition of superior has only a single dimension: cross-platform or not.

The notion of superiority almost certainly involves many dimensions, and each may have a different weight depending on its importance.
 
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tjmeijer said:
So its all about money for apple?, not about customer satisfaction?
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People that don't own Apple hardware aren't really Apple customers (except for ones paying for a service like Music or buying stuff off of iTunes). Google and Facebook are in the ad business so they want as many eyeballs as possible regardless of platform. I guess Apple could port iMessage to Android and charge for it but I'm guessing people would complain about that.
 
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jasonklee said:
Anyone who buys an iPhone just for iMessage is someone who doesn't deserve to use any technology. It's beyond comprehension why Apple would use resources to enhance something so banal and useless such as an instant messaging app
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I honestly don't think you know what iMessage is.
Derekuda said:
It's also a fact that while Tim Cook is in charge, Apple will continue to see stock plummet and that loyalty number will decrease faster and faster.
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I honestly don't think you know what a fact is.
Derekuda said:
iMessage is only available on OSX/iOS products. Skype is available EVERYWHERE..
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iMessage uses SMS which is everywhere. Skype is certainly everywhere, you just have to download it, setup a login, find out your recipients login, request they connect with you, and once they do that - they can see your message.
 
sudo1996 said:
iMessage claims to be end-to-end encrypted, so even analytics shouldn't be possible!
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Of course it is. Even if Apple can't see the content of your messages, there is plenty of metadata that they can collect to understand how people are using the service, such as e.g. the number of messages people send, to how many distinct recipients, if they are using continuity to send/receive messages from a Mac, and many other things.

Hopefully they use the differential privacy methods they bragged about at WWDC to truly anonymize all that data. If they didn't, messaging metadata could also be used to build social graphs a la Facebook, which has a lot of privacy implications. In many ways, metadata is more important than the content of communications when it comes to analytics.
 
Derekuda said:
That's fine. As an Android user, I find Skype vastly superior for both Video chat and messaging. But like most Americans, I use standard SMS 99% of the time.
ALSO, people here in the USA are pretty dumb when it comes to messaging in general. They all have unlimited texting (which is pretty impossible not to have even on prepaid plans) but use iMessage which counts against their data caps just so they can see the three little dots when people type.

EDIT: Google Hangouts is also great for messaging, but like I said before, most people just use SMS.
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Speak for yourself bud... not 'everbody' in the USA has unlimited text. Until I switched to TMO last year, I was on a grandfathered ATT unlimited data plan with no free text. At the time, iMessage and Google Voice (for my Android friends) worked fine for me.

So stop with the generalizations.
 
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I still believe they'll release it for Android this autumn alongside the iOS version. It makes no sense to release it now as well as to announce in advance.
 
FactVsOpinion said:
And so if all apple software (macos, photos, final cut, etc) doesn't run of all non-apple hardware, then you're an unhappy apple customer? More like an unreasonable Apple customer.
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thats not what i am saying at all...
just talking about an app.. thats about communicating.. and wanting it to be on android.. just like iTunes
 
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CarlosQG said:
I can't use iMessage at all because most of my friends rely on WhatsApp :(
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There have been many attempts at an open instant messaging app going back to the 90's. While the technology is there, it has always come to who was willing to accept the cost or running the message server and distribution of the message load. I've seen several business plans but not with the right valuations. Crack that egg, you have the next Unicorn.
 
mantan said:
It's sad (and telling) that we've reached the point where iMessage is considered one of the iPhones biggest advantages. It used to be the iPhone was clearly superior hardware and great software features were just a bonus. I remember the days where we happily accepted no MMS or landscape keyboards because Apple said we didn't need them...but the device was so much better than anything else that we didn't care.
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Not necessarily. Phone choices are all relative. The A9 processor benchmarks higher in single core processing than the Snapdragon 820. Touch ID is among the fastest FP scanners on the market. I just like iMessage more than Touch ID. It might be telling for you, but my iPhone is more than capable of being my daily driver for another year.
 
FightTheFuture said:
iMessage uses SMS which is everywhere. Skype is certainly everywhere, you just have to download it, setup a login, find out your recipients login, request they connect with you, and once they do that - they can see your message.
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Wrong! The "Messages" App uses SMS and iMessage (which are both separate messaging services.)
 
The Mad Hatter said:
Speak for yourself bud... not 'everbody' in the USA has unlimited text. Until I switched to TMO last year, I was on a grandfathered ATT unlimited data plan with no free text. At the time, iMessage and Google Voice (for my Android friends) worked fine for me.
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But now that you have T-Mo, you DO have unlimted messaging which furthers my point. Also, I can't help you if your using an overpriced outdated grandfathered plan from the early 90's. That's on you.
 
jasonklee said:
Anyone who buys an iPhone just for iMessage is someone who doesn't deserve to use any technology. It's beyond comprehension why Apple would use resources to enhance something so banal and useless such as an instant messaging app instead of fabricating real features like the ability to force quit all apps at once. Priorities, Apple. Get them straight.
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You sound like a confused teenager
 
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