Apple Explains Why iMessage Isn't Coming To Android (networkworld.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: Ahead of Apple's WWDC keynote this year, one of the more bizarre and sketchy rumors we saw take shape claimed that Apple was planning to deliver iMessage to Android. As is typically the case, the rumor mill took this somewhat ridiculous rumor and ran with it. The only problem is that some people were so busy trying to figure out the ramifications of iMessage hitting Android that they didn't take a step back and try and figure out if this is something Apple would even contemplate in the first place. Remember, every move Apple makes is strategic and geared towards making more money, either via device sales or software. That being the case, iMessage on Android would not only be a free app, but it would also eliminate a user-experience advantage of iOS. Interestingly enough, Walt Mossberg of The Verge asked a senior Apple executive about the rumor whereupon the nameless executive all but indicated that iMessage will never be coming to Android. Walt Mossberg writes: "First, he said, Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to provide a large enough data set for any possible AI learning the company is working on. And, second, having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those device -- the company's classic (and successful) rationale for years."

Comments

why do people like non-interoperability so much?

[Anonymous Coward]

See, I rock it oldschool with my messaging. Open protocols, choice of clients, ability to write you own client if you want, extensible, not locked into any one vendor's ecosystem, and most importantly, ability to communicate with people not in that vendor's ecosystem.

That's what we had - past tense. Like anything it wasn't perfect, and needed some modernization and so forth, which it could have gotten.... except that we threw the concepts of my first paragraph the fuck out. Somehow, almost overnight it seems, everyone suddenly said, "HEY! It would be a swell idea if we had a metric shitton of non-interoperating messenger apps, all closed up, no choice, no nothing, controlled by a single vendor! This is gonna rock!"

And then everybody else went, "Fuck YEAH!!!"

And now here we are.

What the fuck was that about anyway? Is this one of those things that happens when you get old, when you stop having even the dimmest comprehension of why all the cool kids think the latest hot trend is a great idea? Is it like those baggy pants that were the rage for a while? Because I didn't understand those either.

Re:Huh...

[BronsCon]

You are suggesting it's Apple's fault that PCs and Android tablets do not have cellular radios?

No, merely pointing out that iMessage being able to send SMS messages does not fit the cross-platform communication scenario I mentioned in my original post.

Further, all Apple computers lack cellular radios, some PCs and Android tablets do include cellular radios, just as some iPads do. Much like an iPad, as they are data devices that do not connect to the voice network over which SMS are sent, those PCs and Android devices can not receive SMS.

In what way is this a failing of iMessage?

In comparison to something like Skype, or even AIM, it's a massive failing in that you are limited by the platform itself in who you can communicate with, and how; some people you may want to message can't even install an app to allow you to do so.

As I said:

My experience has been

That's first hand experience, not just a guess. Back when my primary machine was a Mac and my secondary was an iPad, a lot of my friends used to chat with me via iMessage. As I had an Android phone and that's what was always with me, even if I wasn't at my Mac or iPad, they began getting frustrated when they'd send me a message via iMessage and I wouldn't get it for hours. Mind you, they weren't frustrated with me and didn't avoid chatting with me because of it; instead, they unilaterally switched to using Skype. Even when communicating with each other, even when all parties in a given conversation used only Apple devices.

My experience may or may not be typical, but it is my experience. My entire group of friends, many of whom use only apple products, have abandoned iMessage; many of their friends who are not in my circle have done the same, and I'm sure it's cascaded from there.