https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/9/22375128/apple-imessage-android-ecosystem-lock-in-epic-games-filings-app-store-dispute

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Filed under:

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  * Tech
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Apple says iMessage on Android 'will hurt us more than help us'

New, 403 comments

Epic argues it's part of Apple's lock-in strategy

By Jon Porter@JonPorty Apr 9, 2021, 4:27am EDT

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[akrales_19] Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple knows that iMessage's blue bubbles are a big barrier to people
switching to Android, which is why the service has never appeared on
Google's mobile operating system. That's according to depositions and
emails from Apple employees, including some high-ranking executives,
revealed in a court filing from Epic Games as part of its legal
dispute with the iPhone manufacturer.

Epic argues that Apple consciously tries to lock customers into its
ecosystem of devices, and that iMessage is one of the key services
helping it to do so. It cites comments made by Apple's senior vice
president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, senior vice
president of software engineering Craig Federighi, and Apple Fellow
Phil Schiller to support its argument.

Related

Three questions that will decide Epic v. Apple

"The #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is
iMessage ... iMessage amounts to serious lock-in," was how one
unnamed former Apple employee put it in an email in 2016, prompting
Schiller to respond that, "moving iMessage to Android will hurt us
more than help us, this email illustrates why."

`"iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to
iPhone families giving their kids Android phones"'

"iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to
iPhone families giving their kids Android phones," was Federighi's
concern according to the Epic filing. Although workarounds to using
iMessage on Android have emerged over the years, none have been
particularly convenient or reliable.

According to Epic's filing, citing Eddy Cue, Apple decided not to
develop iMessage for Android as early as 2013, following the launch
of the messaging service with iOS 5 in 2011. Cue admits that Apple
"could have made a version on Android that worked with iOS" so that
"users of both platforms would have been able to exchange messages
with one another seamlessly." Evidently, such a version was never
developed.

Along with iMessage, Epic cites a series of other Apple services that
it argues contribute to lock-in. Notably, these include its video
chat service FaceTime, which Steve Jobs announced would be an open
industry standard back at WWDC 2010. FaceTime subsequently released
across iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but it's not officially available
for any non-Apple devices.

In This Stream

Fortnite vs. Apple and Google: everything you need to know about
Epic's mobile app stores fight

  * Apple says iMessage on Android 'will hurt us more than help us'
  * Three questions that will decide Epic v. Apple

View all 53 stories

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