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Apple Has Created 'Detailed Mockups' of iMessage For Android (macrumors.com)
One of the biggest features on iOS that isn't available on Android is iMessage, an instant messaging service that allows users to send information over Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, and other forms of internet access to other iOS or OS X users. Earlier this year, there were been rumors swirling around the possibility of the service coming to Android due to Apple's increased focus on services, "which means opening up certain avenues beyond its own iOS and OS X platforms." Today, Daring Fireball's John Gruber has added fuel to the fire by mentioning that he's "heard from little birdies" that a handful of "detailed mockups" of iMessage for Android have been shared around Apple. MacRumors reports: The user interface of the Android app is said to have gone through numerous designs, from one that looks identical to the version on iOS, to another that has a "pure Material Design," using Google's design language it developed a few years ago. Gruber still thinks iMessage on Android "might happen sooner or later," mainly because of iMessage's new monetized Messages App Store, which could net Apple increased income in its already profitable services category if it translated the app to Android. Apple undoubtedly created mockups for all types of products and services, the vast majority of which never make it to release, and it's unclear exactly how far along the iMessage for Android preliminary designs were at the time of their circulation through Apple, or when exactly that occurred. Still, Gruber notes that while an Android version of iMessage "may never see the light of day," even the existence of such mockups "strongly suggests that there's no 'of course not' to it."
Do you have friends and/or family with Apple products? If so, then this is a window into their little world of seamless messaging, something that is a complete shitshow on Android. Basically, once you've got a person's Apple ID, you can send them a message and it will appear:
On their iPad
On their iPhone - and the backend will switch to SMS if necessary to deliver it, if you're without data.
On their iMac, or whatever their desktop/laptop line is called now.
And they can reply to and follow the complete conversation on any device.
The biggest thing about iMessage is that it's been consistent for years across IOS devices. One consistent messaging interface, compared to Android and it's pile of apps that attempt to substitute for the missing OEM unified messaging app. Here's a few that I can think of off the top of my head :
Messages (and any aftermarket SMS app)
Hangouts
Allo
Whatsapp
Facebook Messenger
Kik
There's no one app that can do messaging via data or SMS across the desktop and phone space. Apple users don't have to deal with this fragmentation. Everyone's got iMessage. And it's pretty damn slick.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
Hangouts does everything you describe. It's what I use all the time. It is seamless across my phone and table and my PC. And it is seamless across windows, linux and apple.
It is seamless between SMS and the internal delivery system, and the conversations are synced to my gmail account allowing me to search them.