Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s vice president for Android, Chrome OS, Play, Photos, and Chrome, has tossed perhaps the harshest remarks at Apple yet for its iMessage policy. Accusing Apple of using iMessage to sell more iPhones, he linked the strategy to promoting bullying and peer pressure.
The comments come in the form of a tweet that shared a Wall Street Journal article about iMessage’s dominance and how it has led youngsters that own Androids to feel alienated from their iOS counterparts:
Apple’s iMessage lock-in is a documented strategy. Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing. The standards exist today to fix this. https://t.co/MiQqMUOrgn
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) January 8, 2022
The “documented strategy” the VP is likely referring to is a 2016 email from Apple’s Phil Schiller that recently came to light during the legal tussle with Epic, where the executive expressed that “moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us.”
A similar comment was also made by Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple: “iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove an obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.”
Lockheimer’s comments are a part of the mounting barrage from Google against Apple for its refusal to adopt the RCS standard.
RCS or Rich Communication Services is Google’s answer to iMessage and aims to modernize SMS with features we have grown used to on various chat apps like typing indicators, read receipts, high-quality photos, and more.
iMessage should not benefit from bullying. Texting should bring us together, and the solution exists. Let’s fix this as one industry. 💚💙 https://t.co/18k8RNGQw4
— Android (@Android) January 8, 2022
If Apple opens up the walled garden iMessage is currently to Google Messages, the Google executive insinuates it would reduce the pressure on teens to get an iPhone. iMessage has become a must-have tool for teens in the US, failure to use which does result in bullying, just as the WSJ report says.
Not only that but iPhones and Androids will finally be able to communicate with each other in perfect harmony without having to worry about security. Currently, chats on iMessage are only encrypted when there’s an iPhone at both ends. But when an Android user comes into the picture, chat bubbles turn green and security risks begin to creep in.
Sure, in countries like the US, the green bubble situation isn’t that common of an occurrence considering a whopping 87% of teens own an iPhone. But elsewhere, Android users outnumber Apple users 3 to 1, and the lack of proper compatibility between RCS and iMessage means it’s near impossible to fully secure messaging on iMessage.
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