Apple kept iMessage to itself when it could have come to Android in 2013
- iMessage could have come to Android years ago.
- Court documents filed by Epic and Apple prior to their antitrust proceedings show that Apple managers never wanted to release iMessage for Android.
New findings show that Apple could have launched iMessage for Android years ago, but made a conscious decision against it. Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple has revealed (via 9to5Mac) that Apple’s popular messaging service was deliberately blocked, although it may have been compatible with Android as early as 2013.
Court documents filed by Epic and Apple ahead of their upcoming trial make it clear that Apple executives opposed porting iMessage to Android for competitive reasons.
According to a statement from Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, the company could have “made a version for Android that works with iOS” so that “it is cross-compatible with the iOS platform so that users can use it Both platforms could have seamlessly exchanged messages with one another. “
However, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering and iOS manager, said, “iMessage for Android would only serve to remove an obstacle to iPhone families giving Android phones to their children.”
When a former Apple employee stated in 2016 that “the hardest reason to leave the Apple Universe app is iMessage,” Phil Schiller, who runs the App Store, explained that “moving from iMessage to Android is us will do more harm than good. “
These statements reaffirm what most of us have known for a while – Apple likes to keep its ecosystem closed to engage and keep users there. The practice isn’t illegal, and these results wouldn’t necessarily harm Apple. They’re just another way for Epic to support the point that Apple is using platform locking to maintain its market monopoly.
In the meantime, iMessage for Android is still unavailable and it doesn’t look like it will ever leave Apple’s walled garden. However, Android users can take advantage of RCS, which offers a similar experience in the Google Messages app.
