Apple wasn't going to port iMessage to Android because there isn't any benefit. I can't charge people to use a messaging app, they're free.
I love iMessage, it's one of the reasons I stay on the Apple platform, but in a world where almost all my friends use some other app anyway, it doesn't really matter. Like I still have to have Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Signal installed in order to talk to everyone. iMessage is mostly great for less technical family members because they "get it out of the box".
Except it won't be encrypted. And the social stigma, as stupid as it is, of "green chat" or whatever teenagers are calling it, isn't going away.
1) they might fix it at some indeterminate point (do you have a source for how this will work? or some evidence pointing this way?)
2) they don't benefit by porting (uh, why is Apple Music on Android then? and yes, this is why you act anti-competitively)
3) there are other chat apps (but literally every other chat app you mention is cross-platform)
This is a very weak reply to the allegations alleged in the article.
There is no reason in the end to support more platforms because problems with other platforms end up being blamed on the service. I think this is also something they strictly want to avoid.
If there are integration issues with X networks, Y devices and Z versions of android. Users will complain to Apple. From this perspective I think it makes sense.
Yes, Apple execs thought that iMessage exclusivity would help them. Perhaps it did a little but the app still connects seamlessly to android users via sms. I never think when contacting someone, “oh wait, do they have an iPhone?”
As for imessage-specific features (iMessage App Store, cash, imessage for businesses etc): they have pretty limited use. And in fact Apple’s choice inhibits some of them (like iChat to your business) which seems like an own goal.
More importantly, Whatsapp has crushed most of the messaging apps, imessage included. Apple doesn’t seem to care or try to block it.
So what offense, exactly has been committed?
Not in US. And specially not within teens in US. ( And you can exclude Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and possibly Australia as well. Edit: And of course China. )
To this day I still dont understand how anyone use iMessages on a day to day basis. It is possibly the worst form of instant messaging I have had for years. Even worst than ICQ.
1. It's free
2. It's preinstalled
3. It's well integrated
I don't think I'd use Mail, iMessage, Safari or Preview if it was not installed by default and set up so it is a default app. Feature-wise I'd say Apple software it good enough not to bother installing anything else and that's it.
And meanwhile, when I'm (with an Android device) texting my friend (with an iPhone), I end up getting spammed with 'Laughed at "$MESSAGE"' and 'Loved "$MESSAGE"' because apparently reactions to texts come across as texts themselves.
(I don't know if this is an iMessage thing specifically, though, or even something that a sufficiently-smart Android SMS app couldn't overcome; maybe there are Android SMS apps that can parse these and show them as reactions to the relevant messages. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
iMessage transfers photos/video at their native resolution.
Which means that if three iPhone users send photos in a group chat, everything's great. Add one Android user and all four are degraded to MMS quality levels.
I think my next phone will be by Apple, specifically so I can enjoy the seamless image/video sharing the rest of my family has. Probably a few generations back - I don't need the fancy cameras and screens.
