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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."
Hangouts.
Does basically the same thing. Works on both platforms.
iMessage just sends regular text messages to non-Apple things. I've never had an issue with texting people with Android phones from my iPhone.
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.
a mix of iOS and Android devices coupled with one or more non-Mac computers
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
He's calling iMessage a superior messaging platform. Is heroine legal in his state? Simple medical pot won't explain this.
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.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Wrong, PCs and Android tablet with cellular radio can send/receive SMS just fine.
1) Layman know fuck all about importance of open standard, they just care about ability to show the latest titty emoticon on their message. 2) We nerd know why proprietary standard suck ass, but all our friend, family, colleague use that titty_emoticon_IM. We sigh and painfully migrate all our contact from old IRC/ICQ/MSN/whatever to that titty_emoticon_IM. 3) 5 years later, next gen kids think titty_emoticon_IM are for grannies, and penis_emoticon_IM rulz. Go back to step (1) Thats why we can never have good thing.
Isn't that what they say everytime before they do the thing?
* MP3 players are junk and just get left in drawers... http://www.bit-tech.net/news/h...
* Macs will never run on Intel http://www.theinquirer.net/inq...
* Ipods will never do video. http://www.macobserver.com/tmo...
* We are not working on a phone. http://www.macobserver.com/tmo...
* People want keyboards, tablets are going to fail http://www.wired.com/2010/02/s...
* Information about a tablet is incorrect http://www.googl8.com/85998192...
"Go to CNN [for a] spell-checked, fact-checked summary" -- CmdrTaco
How is GOOGLE Hangouts not vendor locked? Besides I'd change "Hangouts works everywhere" to "Hangouts works every now and then". We've had a weekly meeting with remote developers for months now and have gone back to just using a speakerphone because of all the issues we had with hangouts.
And if they're in front of, say, a PC or Android tablet instead of their phone? If you want to ensure they get the message, you have to send it over IMessage *and* whatever other platform they use (most likely Skype or AIM). Or, you could skip iMessage and just send it on the other platform, which they'll likely have installed on their PC, tablet, and phone, so they'll get it wherever they are without you having to send it twice. That's precisely the scenario I talked about in my initial post, and it's precisely why my die-hard Apple friends have abandoned iMessage (and Messages on their Macs and iPads) as unreliable.
That's the real problem though isn't it? If I'm going to send a message to somebody, I have no idea what device they're in front of, or if they're near any device at all. I'll use the messages app either on my phone or on my Mac and that message will get to them on their phone (at least) whether it's an iPhone or not. I'm not going to send two messages because SMS is the least (or may be better said "most") common denominator. I'm certainly not going to use Skype unless I know for a fact that they do. Other friends or associates might prefer hangouts. Some of them may have Skype installed on all their devices while others may not. Frankly, I don't want to keep track of that.
Your friends may use something instead of the messages app on their iPhone for long group chats when they know what everyone else is using, but I doubt they've abandoned it for all texting.
Right now there is no universal protocol for messaging, but most people have a phone which is capable of sending and receiving SMS/MMS messages. That is your safest bet, or you could, you know... call them.
And to be clear, one doesn't explicitly choose to use iMessage or not. The built in messaging apps will use iMessage to communicate with other apple devices when they can, but will use something else when they can't. Instead of creating an iMessage for Android, Apple could simply allow the messages app on the iPhone to use an AIM, Yahoo, or Google account like the Messages app on the Mac does. But again, none of of those are universal.
What is this supposed "user-experience advantage" of iMessage? I sure can't figure it out. The first thing I do when my employer gives me a new iPhone is turn off iMessage, because it has caused me plenty of trouble and I have never knowingly seen one single solitary benefit from it.
I do a lot of international travel, keeping data roaming turned off, and knew nothing of iMessage when I got my first iPhone. It took me forever to figure out why text messages to and from certain people always seemed to be delayed. One day I turned on international data roaming to check for an urgent work email and instantly a slew of old text messages came through, followed by an alert from my carrier that I'd just spent 25 euros in roaming fees. I eventually figured out it was all down to iMessage, and the people whose texts were delayed were all iPhone users, so oddly enough it was Apple's "user-experience advantage" that cost me 25 euros and blocked messages to other iPhone users while allowing messages to non-iPhone users to pass unmolested....
Perhaps this new fangled email thing they have nowadays would fit the bill?
I believe they even have it on computers now.
Q: Why is starting a comment in the Subject: field incredibly irritating?
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
*Not* being able to communicate with people outside the iOS user base is a user experience advantage?
This is one thing MS is getting right that Apple is doing wrong. MS aims to have cortana control and sync all discrete services by having its cortana app actually manage the device and its notifications. Apple will just be under that umbrella. Google on the other hand is allowing their apps and services on all devices, allowing the user experience to live everywhere.
Apple will just be overwhelmed or niche, unless they can somehow get a killer app or killer hardware that everyone else needs to catch up on. This is why everyone uses hangouts or slack/irc
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