Rumor: Apple has made mockups of iMessage for Android with 'Material Design'
Whether or not it's ever released, Apple has allegedly toyed internally with the idea of releasing iMessage for Android, going as far as to make mockups for the text messaging client in Google's "Material Design," according to a new report.
Citing anonymous sources, John Gruber of Daring Fireball said this week that various Android iMessage mockups have circulated within Apple. The concepts have had varying user interface designs, with some adhering to Android-consistent Material Design, while others replicated iOS on Android.
The details were dropped as an aside while Gruber spoke of the "stickiness" of Apple's iMessage platform. iMessage is exclusive to Apple devices, including iOS and macOS.
Gruber cautioned that iMessage for Android may never actually be released. But he pointed to the alleged mockups as a sign that it's at least possible.
In a footnote, he also acknowledged that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs promised back in 2010 that FaceTime video chat would become an open standard, available for other platforms and services to integrate. Of course, that never happened.
Gruber said FaceTime remains Apple-exclusive for a variety of reasons, including engineering concerns, and a patent infringement lawsuit from VirnetX which forced the company to develop workarounds.
"So I don't think we're ever actually going to see FaceTime as an open standard," Gruber said. "But I think the sentiment that drove Jobs to want it to be an open standard applies to the idea of releasing iMessage for Android. Apple doesn't need to rely on platform-exclusive lock-in."
Earlier this year, in what ultimately turned out to be a bogus rumor, it was claimed that Apple was planning to debut iMessage for Android at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Such a move would not be unprecedented for Apple --?last year, the company brought its Apple Music subscription service to Android devices. It features elements of Google's Material Design.
Citing anonymous sources, John Gruber of Daring Fireball said this week that various Android iMessage mockups have circulated within Apple. The concepts have had varying user interface designs, with some adhering to Android-consistent Material Design, while others replicated iOS on Android.
The details were dropped as an aside while Gruber spoke of the "stickiness" of Apple's iMessage platform. iMessage is exclusive to Apple devices, including iOS and macOS.
Gruber cautioned that iMessage for Android may never actually be released. But he pointed to the alleged mockups as a sign that it's at least possible.
Such a move would not be unprecedented for Apple --?last year, the company brought its Apple Music subscription service to Android devices.
In a footnote, he also acknowledged that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs promised back in 2010 that FaceTime video chat would become an open standard, available for other platforms and services to integrate. Of course, that never happened.
Gruber said FaceTime remains Apple-exclusive for a variety of reasons, including engineering concerns, and a patent infringement lawsuit from VirnetX which forced the company to develop workarounds.
"So I don't think we're ever actually going to see FaceTime as an open standard," Gruber said. "But I think the sentiment that drove Jobs to want it to be an open standard applies to the idea of releasing iMessage for Android. Apple doesn't need to rely on platform-exclusive lock-in."
Earlier this year, in what ultimately turned out to be a bogus rumor, it was claimed that Apple was planning to debut iMessage for Android at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Such a move would not be unprecedented for Apple --?last year, the company brought its Apple Music subscription service to Android devices. It features elements of Google's Material Design.
Comments
If iKnockoff users want the real experience they need to buy a real iPhone.
I'd rather see Apple make their hardware, software, services and ecosystem best in class so people aren't tempted to use Google services or someone else's hardware.
Agreed. When you buy Apple, you buy the UX of the whole product: hardware & software.
iMessage is a big Apple asset. It's really the only messenger, to date, that's been able to seamlessly mix internal messaging with SMS. If I'm Apple why would I want to take away such a differentiator?
Since the encryption keys may be stolen on the Android device and that would put the whole iMessage's reputation at stake, Apple will never release an Android iMessage. If it does, all hackers will concentrate to break it on the Android side, succeeding in a week with the insider trading of the very Android insiders and the blame will be still on Apple. A manager must have suicidal tendencies to authorize such a destructive project.
Apple _now_ could make money from iMessages with they new Store integration, so we very likely will see that on Android, too. Prior to the Store features, there was very little incentive for Apple to support iMessages on Android. Apple is increasingly becoming a "services" company.
I'm not sure Apple can justify it on sticker revenue alone.