You’ve got all your personal data on one platform, and transferring it to the other seems like a lot of hassle. So, you decide it’s time to break up … with your phone.īut making the switch from the iPhone to Android or vice versa might give you pause. Or you fight constantly about everything, even though you’ve created some wonderful memories together. You invest a lot of time and energy (and money) into the relationship, but you’re not getting what you need. At the same time, Apple could squeeze some services revenue from Android users through sticker purchases and peer-to-peer payments.Sometimes things just don’t work out. And for the small percentage of Android users who are willing to switch smartphone platforms, an Android version of iMessage could help sway them by hinting at iPhone-exclusive features, such as the ability to make Animoji. In all those cases, that user would still need Apple hardware. Let’s say an Android user gets hooked on iMessage and wants to keep their conversations going on a tablet, smartwatch, computer, or smart speaker. (Because Android has more users, CIRP says more of them are switching to iPhone in absolute numbers than the other way around.) Instead of worrying about mass defections from iOS, Apple should focus on the bigger growth opportunity in hardware and services beyond the smartphone. And most of those consumers stick to what they know a recent survey by Consumer Intelligence Research partners found that 91 percent of Android phone buyers in the United States last year remained with Android, and 86 percent of iPhone owners stayed with the iPhone. Over the last year, we’ve seen evidence that the smartphone business is peaking, including the first holiday sales decline in iPhone history. In the meantime, an Android version would also reinforce Apple’s message that privacy is a fundamental human right, not just a privilege for people who only associate with other iPhone users.Īpple’s stance should be that all iMessages can be encrypted, no matter who the user is talking to. By releasing iMessage on Android, Apple could put more pressure on Google and wireless carriers to built end-to-end encryption into the RCS standard, lest they lose even more control of the messaging business to Apple. While avoiding RCS is the right stance for Apple to take, inaction doesn’t accomplish anything for Apple’s customers, who will continue to fall back on unencrypted communications whenever they exchange messages with Android users. Mossberg said Google was building “an insecure messaging system controlled by carriers who are in bed with governments everywhere at exactly the time when world publics are more worried about data collection and theft than ever.”
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber said it was “ unconscionable” for Google to support a standard without encryption. Good for the Apple brandĪlternatively, Apple could just throw its support behind Google’s RCS standard, not as a replacement for iMessage, but as a fallback for messaging with Android users.īut because RCS is not end-to-end encrypted, some observers have criticized Google for backing it and have advised Apple to stay away. While Android users might appreciate having access to iMessage, the bigger benefit would be for iPhone users, who’d never again have to suffer SMS’s limitations. Apple could even help ramp up the pressure with an “invite to iMessage” button that users can send whenever the dreaded green chat bubble appears. It wouldn’t be long before iPhone users-eager for a consistent messaging experience no matter who they’re talking to-started convincing their Android-owning friends to get on board. IMessage for Android would make the green bubble a thing of the past. That way, iMessage could replace the phone’s default texting app, the same way Google Hangouts did before it pivoted to being an enterprise chat app last year. If the recipient isn’t using iMessage, the message falls back to plain old SMS, indicated by a green chat bubble. Imagine an Android version of iMessage that behaved the same way as the iOS version: When users send a text to other iMessage users-either on iOS or Android-they automatically get to use iMessage features such as full-resolution images, read receipts, large-scale group chats, stickers, and peer-to-peer payments, all backed by end-to-end encryption. For Apple, releasing iMessage on Android would also benefit its brand and business. In light of last week’s news that Google is backing a next-gen version of text messaging with iMessage-like features (officially called RCS, but nicknamed “Chat”), the time is right for iMessage to arrive on Android, and not just as a self-defeating goodwill gesture.
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