It’s no secret that Apple sees iMessage as a big enough selling point to maintain exclusive service for Apple devices, although new lawsuits filed by Epic Games in its ongoing lawsuit with the company reveal how Apple executives they rationalized their decision not to develop an iMessage version for Android.
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Apple clearly acknowledges the power of iMessage in maintaining user loyalty to its platforms, especially in the US, and Epic uses emails as well as excerpts from deposits with Apple executives Eddie Cue, Craig Federighi and Phil Schiller for to strengthen its narrative that Apple seeks to block customers in its ecosystem.
For example, the document mentions an email from 2016 in which a former Apple employee, without a name, complained that iMessage “means serious blocking,” which prompted Schiller to respond: “Moving iMessage to Android will do us more worse than it will help us, this email illustrates why. “
A. Since 2013, Apple has decided not to develop a version of iMessage for the Android operating system. (Cue Dep. 92: 22-93: 1.)
b. Mr. Cue testified that Apple “could have made an Android version that works with iOS,” so that there would be cross-compatibility with the iOS platform, so that users of both platforms could exchange 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 executive at iOS, feared that “iMessage on Android will simply serve to remove [an] an obstacle to iPhone families giving children Android phones. “(PX407, ‘122)
d. Phil Schiller, an Apple executive who runs the App Store, agreed that Apple should not offer iMessage on Android devices. (Cue Dep. 92: 18-93: 1.)
e. In 2016, when a former Apple employee commented that “the hardest # 1 [reason] to leave the Apple universe application is iMessage. . . iMessage equates to a “serious blockage” for the Apple ecosystem, Mr. Schiller commented that “moving iMessage to Android will do us more harm than good, this email illustrates why.” (PX416, ‘610; Cue Dep 114: 14 -115: 2.)
As Cue’s comments show, Apple has been able to develop an Android version of iMessage since 2013, but chose not to, as it would remove an obstacle that prevents families from offering their children Android phones.
In 2016, rumors began to circulate about the possibility of Apple launching a version of iMessage for Android smartphones due to the company’s increased focus on services, however, senior executives at Apple rejected these rumors, acknowledging that having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sell these devices, which has been the company’s classic (and successful) reason 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 pair Beats products with Android devices.