Apple Considering Bringing More Apps to Android – First Up? iMessage

Apple has been putting feelers into the Android ecosystem, and while it is, of course, hesitant to jump into developing for Android completely, we have seen two Android apps from Apple so far – one designed to help Android users switch to iPhones, and an Apple Music App.

There may soon be yet another app released to Android, however, with rumors suggesting that Tim Cook told his company at a company-wide event that it may be bringing more apps to the Android platform. According to Cook, the Apple Music app was a way to “test the waters” when it comes to releasing Android apps.

Until the release of Apple Music, Apple’s software services were exclusively available to Apple products, with the exceptions being iTunes for Windows and its web-based services that can be accessed from any computer. The reason for this, however, was that iTunes for Windows was still a part of delivering the end-to-end listening experience, or close to it.

Users buy songs on iTunes, then upload them to their iPod or iPhone where they can listen to them. Sure, it was conducted on a Windows computer, but that’s really the only part of the equation that was non-Apple. With the release of Apple Music to Android, however, it’s a little different. There is no Apple hardware product in play.

Some speculate that the next app from Apple could indeed be its popular iMessage platform, which would certainly be a big deal, and would put Apple well into the messaging game in a way that it never has before – going up against the likes of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

There’s one thing, however, that could make iMessage attractive to users – end to end encryption, something that prevents even Apple from being able to access the messages. Although there is one known caveat – that messages backed up to iCloud are accessible to government warrants.

Of course, end to end encryption hasn’t been very well received by the government – it meant that governments were no longer able to spy on users, and that even with a warrant, in the majority of cases Apple couldn’t even hand messages of users over.

Apple’s decision to release more Android apps would certainly be an interesting one – and one that many Apple purists probably wouldn’t agree with. Apple has long been about offering an end to end experienced, with users only needing Apple products to satisfy their needs.

Playing to other markets, like Android and Windows, is something that ex-CEO and Apple founder Steve Jobs would have been adamantly against. In fact, he was adamantly against it – even the release of iTunes to Windows was a long process pushed by other Apple executives, and something that really only ever happened to help push iPod sales.

There are plenty of other services that it would be interesting to see Apple bring to Android. Many of the stock Apple apps, such as Calendar, Photos and other services that sync with iCloud, would be welcome by those that use Mac computers but prefer to stick with Android smartphones.

Of course, the decision could also be seen as an attempt at competing with the likes of Microsoft and Google. Microsoft has recently been making a big push into the Android and iOS ecosystems, especially considering its Windows Phone platform has been out for a while but hasn’t taken off in almost any way.

For Google, it’s obviously a different story, owning the vast majority of the smartphone operating system market share, yet still releasing apps to other platforms. Of course, Google isn’t as concerned about hardware as Apple or Microsoft might be, being more of a software company and making its money from advertising on its services.

Apple’s different direction could suggest that the company is hoping to diversify a little more than it has in the past. Apple has historically remained very exclusive, and it has done a lot to preserve this. Still, while its earnings from the past quarter were record high, the company has projected a rough few quarters ahead, with the tablet and computer markets on decline.

In opening up iMessage to Android, it could bring encrypted messaging to as many as a billion Android users – this would be a big deal, so definitely keep an eye out for it.

Learn More: New Apple Music Update Offers an Android Exclusive Feature

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]