Maybe I'm stupid but how exactly is someone locked in? You can take your data elsewhere with ease. Maybe Apple makes really great products so that people don't want to leave. I don't understand why people think they have a right to build in backdoors in software, demand software to be written for other companies, open their own stores on a proprietary platform. How does people justify it? Apple is a company not the government. They are not the majority provider of PC’s or phones. It's simply nuts.
It's no secret that Apple sees iMessage as a big enough selling point to keep the service exclusive to Apple devices, however new court filings submitted by Epic Games in its ongoing lawsuit with the company reveal just how Apple executives have rationalized their decision not to develop a version of iMessage for Android.
Apple clearly recognizes the power that iMessage has to keep users loyal to its platforms, particularly in the U.S., and Epic is using emails as well as extracts from depositions with Apple executives Eddie Cue, Craig Federighi, and Phil Schiller to bolster its narrative that Apple seeks to lock customers into its ecosystem.
For example, the document cites an 2016 email in which an unnamed former Apple employee complained that iMessage "amounts to serious lock-in," which prompted Schiller to respond: "Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us, this email illustrates why."
As Cue's comments show, Apple was capable of developing an Android version of iMessage as early as 2013, but chose not to, since it would remove one obstacle that prevents families from giving their children Android phones.
In 2016, rumors began swirling around the possibility Apple might launch a version of iMessage for Android smartphones due to the company's increased focus on services, however senior Apple executives shot down those rumors by admitting that having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those devices, which has been the company's classic (and successful) rationale for years.
Apple does distribute some apps on the Google Play store for Android, such as Apple Music, Move to iOS (for users who are transitioning from an Android smartphone to an iPhone), and Beats, an app used to pair with Beats products with Android devices.
Article Link: Apple's Rationale for Not Bringing iMessage to Android Revealed in Legal Documents
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Apple's Rationale for Not Bringing iMessage to Android Revealed in Legal Documents
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I think it's great that Apple is hardware-first. Their recent foray into services was getting me pretty nervous about their priorities. Most of Apple's cross-platform services are nothing special compared to services-first companies like Google and Microsoft. And that's fine! Because Apple makes premium hardware, where the customer is never the product.
None of this surprises me. iMessage on Android would hurt big time at this point as it is a killer feature. Now that being said I do wish Apple would make iMessage connection for windows/ a web browser interface.
Reason being is a lot of people can not always be on a Mac. Namely for work. My wife for example most of the software she is required to use for her industry is windows only and never will move off of it. That is a feature from android she messes is being able to text from her web browser. I am not as affect as I am an iOS dev and as such just sign into iMessage on my work machine along with my personal.
I think adding at least iMessage support to windows would help them sell more iPhones which is their main money maker any how.
Reason being is a lot of people can not always be on a Mac. Namely for work. My wife for example most of the software she is required to use for her industry is windows only and never will move off of it. That is a feature from android she messes is being able to text from her web browser. I am not as affect as I am an iOS dev and as such just sign into iMessage on my work machine along with my personal.
I think adding at least iMessage support to windows would help them sell more iPhones which is their main money maker any how.
Technically you don't have to use it, you choose to use it.
iMessage is perfectly capable of using SMS/MMS for non-iMessage users. I gather you just don't want to be a green bubble.
Not for group messages. You just get left out of conversations.
Indeed, a general purpose platform like a smartphone has nothing to do with gaming consoles. Again, the point was what exactly?
I never use it for group messages, I hate them with a passion, but that sounds like Apple dropped the ball on that one.
yes but the iPhone is only 21% of the whole market.
79% of the world is android basically.
So saying that its bad that apple decided to keep iMessage for their device when it has a very small share of worldwide usage is Apple being unfair doesnt make any sense.
It could be argued that Apple in not making their system interchangeable with the 79% of the market is taking a risk. Would customers buy something that cant be used with other devices? Apple has to take that gamble.
Also, where would it end? Apple needs to make GarageBand on android? I mean seriously?
The key issue with iMessage is that it falls back to SMS. All Apple did was implement a standard SMS system with additional features if both devices were on the iPhone. iMessage basically doesnt stop you taking to another person on a phone. Thats is unlike WhatsApp and Messenger which require you to have their software and sign into their systems to receive a message. iMessage doesnt restrict you as to who you can contact.
WeChat is far more than a message app. Its literally a do everything platform in China mandated by the govt. Lets stick to messaging apps only. Btw, WhatsApp, FB Messenger and IG all work on the FB platform underneath. The combined users worldwide is huge and not just confined to one country like most of WeChat users are.
Lol, I can't believe people think Apple should be coerced to implementing iMessage on any platform other than iOS. You can literally turn it off and never use it if you'd like - it isn't even required for use of texting on any of their platforms using the default messaging app.
For that to be true, iPhones need to have near 100% market share in Scotland. The UK iPhone share is 50%.
WhatsApp is 66% of the market in the UK apparently.
You may be right, but I think in the grand scheme of things it's a shame that iMessage isn't widely adopted, it could have been a great alternative to Telegram or Signal amidst all the privacy issues concerning Whatsapp.
Instead of Apple leading the world with great privacy messenger app, they put hardware profits first which is beneficial short term until iMessage popularity declines as BBM did.
And how would Apple monetize iMessage? On iPhone it's included in the price tag. No one would use iMessage on Android if they had to pay, when WhatsApp and all the others are free. And thankfully, Apple does not monetize "free" services with ads/data harvesting. Unless you're suggesting Apple should buy up server space to host a service for competing platforms at loss, which would simultaneously undermine their own product differentiation...?
May be a case of that but also I see lots of people whenever I’m out using iMessage. I do believe the majority of iPhone users will use iMessage as their predominant messaging platform.
As for the Nova launcher, I am in the minority but I don’t like using third party software to change the look of my Home Screen. I’m very OCD when it comes to things like that. Only official solutions.
Also, that doesn’t solve the issue of an Android phone not having the new features of new software updates from day one like you do on iOS. Google should enforce that manufacturers have to bring the new updates to all their devices within a set period of time.
Imagine a court ordering Nintendo to supply Mario and Zelda games to XBox? Imagine a court ordering McDonalds to supply Burger King with Big Macs? This is some nonsense.
It could be a gateway to iOS/iPhone, if it turns out to be a superior choice in terms of quality and privacy, it could be an example of the experience you can get OS-wide once you switch over to get the full Apple experience.
I do have to agree that Apple generally sucks at services though, and Apple apps on other platforms can be quite mediocre, so it would be a challenge for Apple to overcome if they ever consider this strategy.
EDIT: Keep in mind, millions of users are switching to Telegram and Signal NOW, due to privacy concerns with Whatsapp. So it is a significant issue Apple could lead on.
Agreed, but there are a lot of non tech iphone users that will just use the default messaging app.
Let me guess when you look outside, all of your contacts inside Scotland speak with a Scottish accent and therefore that must be the case for the other 64 million people in the UK?
WhatsApp dwarfs iMessage as does Facebook messenger in all likelihood. I use an iPhone and never use iMessage and I think I must be representative of the whole UK 😋
If apple was interested in doing what was best for the customer then they would have implemented iMessage on Android. I don't blame them for not implementing it as it does contribute to a "lock in" of sorts which sells more iPhones.
MMS is a hot mess, and SMS is antiquated at this point . Also, they could have possibly dictated the next standard. However, now that RCS is becoming a standard they are going to need to implement RCS at some point and then voila, you finally have truly cross platform messaging.
MMS is a hot mess, and SMS is antiquated at this point . Also, they could have possibly dictated the next standard. However, now that RCS is becoming a standard they are going to need to implement RCS at some point and then voila, you finally have truly cross platform messaging.
I don't know about Scotland but my experience in many parts of England is completely different. iMessage is almost non-existent compared to WhatsApp. Maybe I'm an outlier, but I've moved around quite a bit over the last few years, changed jobs and social circles, and frankly everyone everywhere more or less used WhatsApp. Android <> Android, Android <> iPhone and iPhone <> iPhone.
I also haven't received an SMS message, other than 2FA and other official things, in ages. I just checked and it was a single one in the last three years.
Again, your mileage may vary, but I don't think I'm a massive outlier here.
As an iPhone user in the UK I'd be delighted if Apple offered iMessage for Android because it would actually make it easier not to switch, but to talk to Android folks without needing an additional app.
While I've given up hope that this will ever happen, I would be happy if Apple implemented end-to-end encrypted RCS in the default Messages app alongside iMessage and regular SMS. With Google and Samsung and others rolling it out across Android, this would even be better than having to convince others to install yet another app.
While I've given up hope that this will ever happen, I would be happy if Apple implemented end-to-end encrypted RCS in the default Messages app alongside iMessage and regular SMS. With Google and Samsung and others rolling it out across Android, this would even be better than having to convince others to install yet another app.
True. But what they are doing now is a clear loser.
It is not only about getting people to iOS though, as I have written. Apple Music and Apple Pay (and other services) on Android can also generate income without people switching.
Even more importantly, creating THE major app used by everyone throughout the day, even by people on other platforms, is so much more worth than everything else Apple does to promote whatever other services Apple will come up with in the next years/decade. As it stands now, nobody not invested in Apple's ecosystem even considers Apple's services like Apple Music or Apple TV+ over its competitors, because: Apple. Making a piece of software the whole world uses for their everyday tasks would have changed people's view of Apple as a walled-off player.
The whole thing is a major strategic blunder. Not only is it a missed chance, iMessage will also simply cease to exist once it has become redundant in the US too. People may not really understand the issue because they are using iMessage every day, but just consider this: My family uses Macs, my workplace uses Macs, many of my friends are on iOS, yet nobody I know EVER uses iMessage. It's not used only 50% of the time or so. It's not used at all (Europe).
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