iMessage: Why we’ll never see it on Android OS

Apple's iMessage is a free messaging service for iPhone users. It is a particularly popular feature, which is why Google and other third-party companies have tried to create a similar chat platform for devices running Android. Google has partly succeeded with Messages, but it still has a long way to go to reach Apple's level.

You might reasonably wonder why Apple has not developed iMessage for Android OS itself. The answer emerged by chance, and seemingly…by mistake! It came to light during Apple's legal dispute with Epic Games over Fortnite, which later turned into a fierce attack on its app store policies.

At the trial, which is expected to begin on 3 May 2021, Epic Games will directly accuse Apple's executive team of restricting iMessage to its own platforms. This decision was made in 2013 as iMessage proved particularly influential, giving users an incentive not to leave its ecosystem.

Previously, Apple's own Vice President of Internet Software and Services had stated that an Android version of iMessage would be feasible in terms of design and implementation, even suggesting that compatibility between the two operating systems would be possible. This means that iOS and Android users could easily chat with one another. By contrast, Craig Federighi, Vice President of Software Engineering and head of iOS, had said that making iMessage available on any device would simply make it easier for parents to give Android smartphones to their children and other family members.

Several other Apple executives share the view that iMessage is a very powerful incentive to remain loyal to Apple's ecosystem, so they would not readily sacrifice it. Clearly, this is purely a strategic decision by Apple, which refuses to share the feature in order to retain its users. There are no technical or technological limitations. No one can really fault Apple for this, but it is surprising that, years later, Google has still not managed to come up with an equivalent to compete with it.