Hot on the heels of announcing Apple Music for Android in November 2015, there’s a possibility that the tech giant will soon roll out an iMessage app for Android users.
A source “familiar with the company’s thinking” told MacDailyNews that Apple will announce iMessage for Android at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2016 next Monday (13th June 2016).
It’s indeed a big move for Apple because for years, iMessage has been a closed messaging app and only those with Apple hardware can use it. This would mark the first time that iMessage will be opening up beyond Apple users.
It would also mean that iMessage will be going head-to-head with Google’s newly announced messaging app, “Allo“, which will be made available for both Android and iOS devices.
“Allo” boasts features like a built-in Google assistant that offers up proactive suggestions, resizable message bubbles, emoji, stickers, smart replies, mini games, an Incognito mode with end-to-end encryption, and more.
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Perhaps the decision to bring iMessage to Android is Apple’s response to “Allo”? That having said, iOS and OS X users have always depended heavily on iMessage because of its simplicity, convenience, and above all, security. It’s the very thing that sets Apple apart from other operating platforms, in terms of standard (stock) messaging apps.
Whether or not Apple will roll out an iMessage app for Android next week remains to be seen, and we’ll find out in a couple of days :)
First announced in 2011, iMessage is an instant messenger service developed by Apple Inc. It allows users to send texts, documents, photos, videos, contact information, and group messages over Wi-Fi, mobile phone Internet access, or other forms of Internet access to other iOS or OS X users, thus providing an alternative to standard SMS/MMS messaging for most users with devices running iOS 5 or later.
In February, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue said that announced that the number of iMessages sent have surpassed 200,000 per second.
iMessage is accessible through the Messages app on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 5 or later or on a Mac running OS X Mountain Lion or later.
Sources: MacDailyNews, Daring Fireball, Google’s Blog, iMessage Wiki / Featured image: TechnoBezz.
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