Apple's famous iMessage is exclusive to iOS devices only. However, there have been talks in the past about bringing the service over to Android. As a matter of fact, Craig Federighi, a company executive and one of the keynote speakers for Apple, sent an email back in 2013, suggesting that if Apple does release an Android version of iMessage, it would result in higher Android sales, which is one thing that Apple might not want.
There Have Been a Lot of Conversations About Bringing Apple's iMessage to Android But to No Avail
Now, the Wall Street Journal has interviewed Federighi, asking about the lack of iMessage on Android and the email he sent back in 2013.
This is what Federighi said to Eddie Cue,
“I am concerned iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove an obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones."
Federighi went on to explain the context of the email thread,
The back and forth with Eddie was, if we’re going to enter a market and go down the road of building an application, we have to be in it in a way that’s going to make a difference. That we would have a lot of customers, that we would be able to deliver great experiences.
“And so if we just shipped an app that really didn’t get critical mass on other platforms, what it would’ve accomplished is it would’ve held us back in innovating in all the ways we wanted to innovate in messages for our customers, and wouldn’t have accomplished much at all in any other way,” he talked further.
Simply put, at that time, Apple felt that the company would have to choose where the resources are going to go and whether the resources would be enough to make a difference. Federighi said, talking further about how an Android version of iMessage “seemed like a throwaway that wasn’t going to serve the world.” or, in other words, a lost cause.
To this date, Google/Android has been trying its best to make Apple have a better way of communication between both platforms, and while there are some improvements being made, full-fledged support is still nowhere in sight.
