Leaving iMessage off of Android helps Apple “lock-in” customers, according to Epic lawsuit

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Emails from Apple employees that were revealed by Epic Games as part of its lawsuit against Apple to show that Apple is aware that the iMessage app’s exclusivity stops people from moving to Android devices. Epic claims that this is evidence of the fact that Apple has intentionally tried to keep its customers locked into the Apple device ecosystem by refusing to offer its apps to other devices.

iMessage has been a part of Apple’s platforms since 2011, and the seamless messaging app has never made its way to any Android device. According to Epic Games’ claims, this is all very intentional to try to make consumers have to purchase Apple products.

Epic cited Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddie Cue in documents filed with the court. Cue said “could have made a version on Android that worked with iOS” and that doing so would make messaging between different platforms “seamless.”

Apple likes to keep apps like iMessage to itself

According to Epic Games, iMessage is just one of the factors that Apple considers when trying to lock users into the Apple platform. Another major feature cited is Apple’s FaceTime which launched in 2010 and has since been a feature on most Apple products, but has never made its way over to Android.

The people at Apple are obviously aware of the company’s decision to remain exclusive with these apps. In response to an email from a former employee claiming that iMessage was the “the #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe,” Apple executive Phil Schiller said that, “moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us, this email illustrates why.”

Though it seems like Epic is not okay with Apple holding on tight to its iMessage app, it looks like Apple won’t be bringing the app to Android any time soon, unless something major changes.

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