Eddy Cue wanted to bring iMessage to Android in 2013 - Not surprisingly Big Tech's want to lock users into their own Walled Gardens

This is the reason why I've never used an OEMs app that is unique to them only (well also because I have many friends using different phone brands and OSs). Even when I had an iPhone 3 (and now an iPhone 12 Pro) and a Samsung Android phone, I always stuck to using a service that was generally available across devices.

So yes that was why it was easy for me to switch from an iPhone to Android, and back again now in 2021 to an iPhone. Inter-operability and compatibility is what we as consumers should be demanding and ourselves choosing. The point is of all my colleagues, and friends and family, are using different phones and OSs. We should resist using a product locked only into one ecosystem.

There is a rumour (and only that) that Apple may consider adopting RCS, and if so that would change the game somewhat (and will have some effect on WhatsApp, Telegram and others). SMS was a universal messaging standard dictated by the cellular networks, but it does not look like Big Tech companies will voluntarily support a single standard otherwise. What we should have though is a mandatory open standard used by all that is not aligned to any specific brand or provider. This is something consumers should push governments to adopt.

A parting thought: Imagine a world with no single standard for e-mail or SMS messaging...

See https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22406303/imessage-android-eddy-cue-emails-apple-epic-deposition

#technology #openstandards #apple #instantmessaging