“That new Samsung Galaxy S8 looks amazing,” Patrick Holland writes for CNET. “But, I won’t get one. The Galaxy S8, like all Android phones, lacks a tiny blue-bubbled wonder: iMessage. And while it’s not the only feature keeping me on an iPhone, it might be the most significant. As many iPhone users know, iMessage is a hard addiction to beat.”
“What is it about those friendly blue text bubbles that has a hold on me? Is it that the color blue has come to represent all the wonderful things iMessage is capable of?” Holland writes. “Or am I just afraid of becoming a green bubble to my blue bubble friends and family? This is an honest dilemma for me. And there is really only one solution: I want iMessage on Android.”
“At last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), third-party app-makers got access to iMessage software in order to create apps, stickers and games for the service. This marked the first time Apple opened up iMessage compatibility publicly,” Holland writes. “Some journalists, even me, thought this foreshadowed a future where Apple might bring iMessage to Android. That would change everything. But right now it’s just speculation, so let’s not jump the gun.”
“While iMessage isn’t the only reason I stay — the camera, iOS, iCloud backup and tech support from the Apple Store — it’s definitely one of the most compelling,” Holland writes. “So if iMessage doesn’t hop ship to Android, then I probably won’t either.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We haven’t heard peep one about Apple delivering “Messages for Android” this year. Perhaps the stickiness and the iPhone sales it aids outweighs the potential benefits of owning and controlling the world’s dominant messaging app? Hardware sales trump sticker sales.
Note to Fragmandroid settlers: We read your green missives with pure disdain; every one of them screams “look at my poor choice!” in neon green.
SEE ALSO:
Messages and five other apps Apple really needs to make for Android – March 15, 2017
Messy Messages: Apple needs to do more with Messages’ continuity across devices – March 3, 2017
Why Apple’s holding back Messages for Android: Hardware sales – June 15, 2016
Apple’s new iMessage is great, but why the hell isn’t it on Android, yet? – June 14, 2016
Apple’s iMessage and Siri will allow iOS 10 users to send money via Square Cash – June 13, 2016
Apple to deliver iMessage to Android at WWDC – June 9, 2016
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying when an android users ends up in a group message. 99% of the time myself or someone else creates a new thread minus any android users lol
‘myself” does?
=> I, myself, … ?
I, myself, thought blogs were supposed to reflect casual speech, and typos etc. were not supposed to be a big deal. Or did I get it wrong?
Do prolific semi-literate emoji texters care what plaform is used to share their pretty little icons, or about the privacy or security of their messaging? Facebook’s very existence proves that neither some users just don’t care. What is most disheartening, though, is that Apple seems not to help people understand the security ramifications. On the contrary, Apple actually includes Facebook, baked into the iOS settings panel. Moreover, iAds and constant phoning home of iOS provides fingerprinting and tracking for Apple as well.
Finally, it’s the height of hypocrisy for a Google-laden website to claim non-Apple messaging applications are insecure. You’re datamining too.
It’s unlikely that Apple will open up iMessages to Android. It won’t help them sell anything (product or service) and will make eliminate on of the services that make the iPhone unique. In fact Apple have made a lot of effort to ensure that iMessages can work with other messaging systems.
I’m still puzzled that so many Android Users rave about how great WhatsApp is. I’ve been trying it for the past couple of months and it’s so tied to the iPhone and one Mac that I just don’t get it. Am I missing something?
Messages is all over all of my devices, 2 macs, 1 iPhone, 1 AppleWatch, 2 iPads and it doesn’t require the phone to be tethered. I use Messages more on my Macs than on my iDevices.
Is this just one of those things where it works better with PCs and Android devices? Or is it just that this is the best that Android users can do? I can’t even get the WhatsApp desktop App to do a line break!
WhatsApp has Signal’s encryption protocol built into it. It also free to use with many providers in other countries (no data charges). This alone makes it better than iMessage.
iMessage’s encryption should not be trusted. It still amazes me how ignorant everyone in our country is. Our government collects all data and yet a high majority of people still send “green bubbles”(SMS).
“That new Samsung Galaxy S8 looks amazing,”
Beauty is only skin deep.