Apple Explains Why iMessage Hasn't Expanded to Android

[iWatchFanboi]

Apple is now a Text Messaging Company. It's their #1 APP and PRODUCT!
Really sad.

FWI.. I don't have an Apple Watch.. because I already have a smartphone!

 

[wigby]

On the other hand, there's also this:

Great point. Sure Apple can gain control of the software but they would need Android phones to implement secure enclave hardware. Without it, no Apple Pay on Android or iMessages nor iCloud services. Only end to end hardware encryption fulfills Apple's privacy mandate.
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Working with the oldest version is probably one of their biggest concerns as their are a lot of known security flaws in the Android OS.

And the fact that there are more active android devices with small screens than android devices with big screens.

 

[MacAddict1978]

Apple knows if they released iMessage for Android they'd lose customers. Simple as that really. There's much more cons than pros for Apple to let Android users use iMessage.

A "me too" update to i-message on another platform wouldn't cost them customers. People use Android for more device choices and flexibility in what they can do with their phone (and price often). If you want an iPhone, you want an iPhone.

i-Message becomes less meaningful and over a billion people you could potentially send a message to would never know you sent them more than a regular text message. This if why Facebook messenger, snap chapt, etc are becoming so big. They're cross platform.

I love what they did with the app, but it's not very useful. More than half the people we all send texts too have android.

Google's doing something similar with their messaging app, but it's the same issue. About less than half the people you would text have iPhone.

The real issue is the Apple doesn't let you have a different default messaging app. (Android does). So not allowing users to choose a different app or be cross platform kills it.

 

[Black Magic]

I think Apple is smart not creating iMessage Platform over on Android. They avoid a ton of headaches by keeping it exclusive to iOS. Think about it. When you see the blue/grey bubbles on your screen, you expect a certain level of functionality. Being able to share from apps, send location, live photos among other things may become a problem on another platform as this requires additional OS hooks.

Keep it separate.

 

[sudo1996]

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.

Problem is they're talking about using it for AI, so they need analytics like word usage count that cannot be obtained if the data is encrypted.
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iMessage is only available on OSX/iOS products. Skype is available EVERYWHERE. Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Linux, Xbox, and even wearables. I can use it anywhere.

OK, but that doesn't mean it's not clunky. They could've easily made it nice like FaceTime instead of making something with a stupid "buddy list" interface (like AIM) that doesn't work properly half the time. Cross-platform doesn't matter for me anyway because I'm using OS X and iOS, and so are the people I'm contacting.

 

[kdarling]

Working with the oldest version is probably one of their biggest concerns as their are a lot of known security flaws in the Android OS.

Actually, studies have shown that more iOS than Android apps have security flaws.

In any case, they'd be in good company.

Heck, iOS 9.3 just fixed a big security flaw in iMessage that's been around since last Fall.

 

[C DM]

Apple is now a Text Messaging Company. It's their #1 APP and PRODUCT!
Really sad.

FWI.. I don't have an Apple Watch.. because I already have a smartphone!

Because they updated their app?
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A "me too" update to i-message on another platform wouldn't cost them customers. People use Android for more device choices and flexibility in what they can do with their phone (and price often). If you want an iPhone, you want an iPhone.

i-Message becomes less meaningful and over a billion people you could potentially send a message to would never know you sent them more than a regular text message. This if why Facebook messenger, snap chapt, etc are becoming so big. They're cross platform.

I love what they did with the app, but it's not very useful. More than half the people we all send texts too have android.

Google's doing something similar with their messaging app, but it's the same issue. About less than half the people you would text have iPhone.

The real issue is the Apple doesn't let you have a different default messaging app. (Android does). So not allowing users to choose a different app or be cross platform kills it.

Many people that use it use it with others who also use it. Of course not everyone by far, but enough nonetheless.

 

[brianvictor7]

I can't use iMessage at all because most of my friends rely on WhatsApp

Pretty much my situation. Whatsapp is faster about transmitting pictures too.

 

[ke-iron]

Not bull. I use Apple devices exclusively and Apple by not having an Android counterpart to iMessage complicates my device messaging experience. I don't want to send text messages and I don't want to have to install third party chat clients. But I need to because of this stubborn thinking on Apple's part. They are making communication more difficult for me and this is supposed to keep me using an iPhone? There's a reason most people have WhatsApp installed—it's cross platform. Apple need to wake up.

Apple in no way is making communication more difficult. People choose to use WhatsApp because they want to, besides all phones come with a text message app and if you choose to use it it's up to you. Apple message app is compatible with all other phones because you can send texts to all other phones. As for the iMessage counterpart, it's their prerogative to have it work on their devices alone if they're choose to do so. Why do you people think Apple should cater to android devices makes no sense, and are for your own selfish reasons.

 

[QuarterSwede]

It's mainly due to fragmentation. You see, Android devices have a lot of different screen sizes, and screen resolutions. They have different hardware specifications, and they run different operating systems.

Now, put yourselves in the shoes of the poor Apple programmer faced with this. They have to optimise iMessage emojis and animations for all of those products, to ensure the size and obnoxiousness are consistent on any device.

Apple has how many software engineers? ... This isn't an issue.

 

[Dmunjal]

How does Apple monetize iMessage except by using it to help sell their own hardware?

They can't. End of the need to theorize.

Apple could put it on the Play Store and charge $5.

 

[JimmyHook]

If it isn't cross-platform it is by definition inferior.

If it is cross platform by definition it is inferior because it has to read your messages and track you for money

 

[Mr.Brossard]

What I want is iMessage for Windows.

Me, too... If/When they release it for Windows, I'm switching. It's the only app I really need on the Mac.

 

[Pattaya]

I never use iMessage at all, everybody I know has The Line App, Line is huge in Asia.

 

[Karma*Police]

In-app purchases is a probably a pretty marginal revenue stream, comparatively.

It also doesn't seem as if they get much leverage with potential Android switchers if they are already providing the advantages of iMessage on Android.

The last suggestion is very Microsoft-ian. Not that it isn't real, but cutting off the competition's air supply just doesn't seem to be the way Apple cares to do business.

Until Apple does it, it's all speculation of course. The same arguments were made about iTunes for Windows but that turned out to be pretty great because it created a halo effect and Windows users switched to Macs.

 

[littyboy]

It's probably better this way anyway. How would we judge Android users if not for the green bubbles?

Don't forget the 10 second delay in message being sent as text =/

 

[oldmacs]

I knew it was too good to be true :/

Was hoping finally my Android friends would be able to iMessage me and if I wanted to move to Android at some stage I'd be able to do it. iMessage is literally the thing that keeps me on the iPhone.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple could put it on the Play Store and charge $5.

And then nobody will use it. Why do you think chat apps like slack, telegram, whatsapp, line and wechat are free? They need to build up that critical user base. Monetisation comes afterwards.

Who in their right mind is going to pay for iMessage for android when whatsapp is free?

 

[maxsix]

Bull.

You're being narrow minded.

 

[Rigby]

Are you really trying to sell expensive, super-low-quality, terribly-implemented MMS as a decent way to share photos?!

What exactly makes them "super-low-quality, terribly-implemented" in your opinion? And BTW, they can also be used to send videos, voice messages, vCards and various other things. And the best thing about it: You know it works for almost everyone, without requiring that the recipient has a specific app installed.

Now that's an advanced stage of living in a bubble. Literally no one has ever used MMS. Period.

I'm sorry, but you have no idea what you are talking about.

Phones send multiple SMS if you exceed the character limit and not MMS, btw, and you're wrong about the automatic fall-back to MMS on most phones because MMS are way too expensive for that.

MMS messaging is included at no extra cost (compared to SMS) by most major carriers today. In the US, you get unlimited SMS and MMS with most recent plans.

The option may exist but it's not enabled by default on any phone that I know of.

Do you have an iPhone? Ever checked the Messages settings under "SMS/MMS"? It's the same for Android.

The reason for Whatsapp's huge success in Europe is not because of international texting

No, but because plans without unlimited texting are still common, especially with prepaid plans that young people often use. They switched to Whatsapp simply because SMS was relatively expensive.

There is not a single phone that supports SMS group chats because it's impossible with the SMS protocol. You can send a text to multiple users but they won't know about the other receivers and the replies will always end up in a separate chat and go only to you and not the others. There are proprietary services that provide such a feature, but SMS by itself does not have the ability.

Again, you might want to check your iPhone settings, where you can specifically enable SMS/MMS group messaging.

 

[dampfnudel]

You're confusing analytics with data tied to a specific user.

As long as Apple doesn't get "confused"...

 

[Abazigal]

Does no one ever feel irritated that whatsapp isn't available on tablets and has a neutered desktop app?

Right now, I am using mainly whatsapp because that's what everyone around me has, but managed to convert a small circle of friends and colleagues to telegram, which we prefer because it is available on all platforms and devices. Telegram in split-screen on my iPad rocks. I can even install telegram on my work laptop, which somehow manages to bypass admin restrictions.

The new iMessage updates in iOS 10 look like it might get me back to using it again for some of the purposes like hailing an uber taxi. I do have quite a few friends using iPhones as well, so we will see how far we can push this limited circle.

 

[Rigby]

Problem is they're talking about using it for AI, so they need analytics like word usage count that cannot be obtained if the data is encrypted.

What exactly do you mean by AI? Chatbots? Of course that is possible, if the users explicitly include the bot in a chat conversation. What is not possible is to run analytics on the message content without the users' consent.

BTW, this is no different from Whatsapp which also uses end-to-end encryption of the message content. Of course they still see a lot of metadata, just like Apple.

 

[Bawstun]

Their logic is sound. The FIRST thing I thought when hearing the rumor of iMessage coming to Android was: it will diminish/dilute the brand. The appeal of iMessage and being something specific to iOS would be lost.

So, I fully expected them to do it. with their decisions lately and everything...

 

[macfacts]

You're confusing analytics with data tied to a specific user.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=analytics+pregnant+target

Using analytics, Target was able to id a specific person and know she was pregnant before her parents knew! Tell me how that happened without data being tied to a specific person.