> the current state of affairs is just a result of an anti-consumer corporate pissing match.
This would be true if Google didn't want to implement the iMessage protocol as you predict; but in the current state of affairs it's just Apple being anticompetitive.
>This would be true if Google didn't want to implement the iMessage protocol as you predict; but in the current state of affairs it's just Apple being anticompetitive.
I do believe, everyone understands how Google is motivated to get hands-on access to iMessage. They have had so many messaging services over the years, that I stopped keeping track already. At the same time iMessage is 11 years old and in good standing.
If you look at the launch date of WhatsApp, you'll see that in fact Apple is competitive. They introduced iMessage two years after WA got it's run.
Has Google said that they'd implement iMessage if Apple were to open up the protocol/service? Given Google's history with messaging, I'd be surprised if they'd be so interested in doing this.
More likely they'd prefer Apple just build a standalone iMessage app for Android. (And I feel like this option would be more palatable to Apple too, if the alternative is opening up the protocol to third parties.)
Even if Google didn't implement it, which I think they would, somebody else would do so and put it on the Play store. That's all it would take to make this issue go away for everyone.
This would be true if Google didn't want to implement the iMessage protocol as you predict; but in the current state of affairs it's just Apple being anticompetitive.