It’s no secret that Apple sees iMessage as a major enough selling point to maintain the exclusive service of Apple devices, although new lawsuits filed by Epic Games in its ongoing lawsuit with the company reveal how executives Apple have streamlined its decision not to develop a version of iMessage for Android.
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Apple clearly recognizes the power of iMessage to build user loyalty on its platforms, especially in the United States, and Epic uses emails as well as deposit statements with Apple executives Eddie Cue, Craig Federighi, and Phil Schiller to bolster their narrative that Apple seeks to lock customers into its ecosystem.
For example, the document cites a 2016 email in which an unnamed former Apple employee complained that iMessage “amounts to a serious block,” prompting Schiller to respond: “The transfer of iMessage on Android will do us more harm than good. Why. “
a. Back in 2013, Apple decided not to develop a version of iMessage for the Android operating system. (Cue Dep. 92: 22-93: 1).
b. Cue stated that Apple “could have made an Android version running iOS,” so “there would have been cross-compatibility with the iOS platform, so users of both platforms could have exchanged messages with each other without problems “. (Cue Dep. 92: 5-9; 92: 11-16.)
c. However, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering and chief executive of iOS, feared that “iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] Barrier for iPhone Families Offering Their Children Android Phones “(PX407, ‘122)
d. Phil Schiller, Apple executive at the helm of the App Store, agreed that Apple should not offer iMessage to Android devices. (Cue Dep. 92: 18-93: 1).
e. In 2016, when a former Apple employee commented that “number 1 harder [reason] leave the Apple universe app is iMessage. . . Schiller commented that “moving iMessage to Android will do us more harm than good, this email illustrates why” (PX416, at ‘610; Cue Dep. 114: 14) -115: 2.)
As Cue’s comments show, Apple was able to develop an Android version of iMessage back in 2013, but decided not to, as it would remove an obstacle that prevents families from giving their children Android phones.
In 2016, rumors began about the possibility that Apple could launch a version of iMessage for Android smartphones due to the company’s greater focus on services, although top Apple executives overthrew these Rumors admitting that having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sell those devices, which has been the classic (and successful) reason for the company for years.
Apple distributes some apps in the Google Play Store for Android, such as Apple Music, Move to iOS (for users switching from an Android smartphone to an iPhone), and Beats, an app used to combine with Beats products with Android devices. .