
Microsoft says it would love to work with Apple to bring iMessage support to Win - john58
https://9to5mac.com/2018/05/10/imessage-on-windows/
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mcphage
I'm sure Microsoft would also love to work with Nintendo to bring Mario and
Zelda to Windows as well.

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satysin
I am surprised Apple have not extended iMessage to a web interface that relies
on the iPhone iMessage app to do all the work in the same way that WhatsApp
Web works.

You don't lose E2EE, you keep the requirement of having an iPhone, etc.

Sure they have the macOS desktop iMessage app but a web interface would be
great for iPhone owners who don't use macOS of which there are _many_.

They could easily wrap such a web service up in Electron just like WhatsApp
does for their Windows Store desktop app.

I guess Apple relying on Electron isn't likely to happen but there is no
reason they couldn't over-engineer it with their own embedded browser
solution.

They already have the technology as it is used for iTunes on Windows (which,
interestingly, is now available in the Windows Store via Desktop Bridge).

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kitsunesoba
Apple using Electron is _extremely_ unlikely. They’re more likely to port
iMessage to Windows with the Windows port of the Objective-C runtime + Cocoa +
Foundation (a sort of modernized YellowBox[1]) they used to port iTunes and
previously Safari to Windows.

The browser used in the Windows version of iTunes is WebKit, not Chromium.

1:
[http://www.shawcomputing.net/resources/apple/os_pictures/ybn...](http://www.shawcomputing.net/resources/apple/os_pictures/ybnt4/)

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r32a_
It will never happen, iMessage is one of the network effects of Apple/iPhone
ecosystem.

~~~
ergomarky
This would still encourage people to buy iPhones though, it's just a bridge
between Your Phone (the app on Windows in question) and your iPhone so you can
reply to (i)Messages on windows as you do a Mac.

Don't really see why they would be vehemently against this.

~~~
threeseed
Apple makes a lot more money from Macs than iPhones.

And along with Continuity is a key pillar of the "Apple products work better
together" marketing message.

~~~
vecter
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/382260/segments-share-
re...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/382260/segments-share-revenue-of-
apple/)

Apple makes way more money from iPhones than Macs.

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wilsonnb
Yeah I see no reason why Apple would want to do that. Which is probably why
Microsoft said they would like to do it.

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dzonga
Personally I find WhatsApp having a better UX than iMessage. now the worry is
about data being siphoned by Zucker zucker. I can hardly search for an old
text on iMessage on mac or iPhone. have stopped using it entirely.

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abritinthebay
What are you talking about? It has search _built in_ \- I can and do regularly
search for stuff from years ago.

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Improvotter
However much I'd like this to happen, it'll never ever happen.

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platinumrad
Do yourself a favor and skip the comment section or you'll see where the
"technologically illiterate yet happy to pontificate apple fanboy" stereotype
comes.

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solarkraft
except this is more about politics than technology

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platinumrad
When I made this comment the top comments on the article were about how
opening up the iMessage protocol would cause it to become riddled with
security vulnerabilities.

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ericzawo
I know it won't ever happen, but releasing it would really help reframe
Apple's increasingly more obvious unfair shake it gives its customers.

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jacksmith21006
Never happen.

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dawnerd
Didn't stop them from bringing itunes or icloud. I've just found it weird
apple hasn't had a web version at least.

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shadowfacts
How could you do a web version of iMessages without losing end-to-end
encryption?

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thesimon
WebCrypto?

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r00fus
No way Apple is going to rely on outside technology stack for something which
could damage its entire _secure_ branding.

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bitwize
Well, Apple has a port of all of OS X above the Unix layer to NT lying around
somewhere. iMessage should be a relative doddle to bring to Windows.

~~~
phs318u
Are you referring to Yellow Box and Rhapsody?

[http://roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/4B800F78-0F75-45...](http://roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/4B800F78-0F75-455A-9681-F186A4365805.html)

~~~
bitwize
I'm referring to the updated version of this Apple is sure to have lying
around. Apple has deployed apps (Safari, iTunes?) based on a Win32 Cocoa port
before. You'd be crazy to think they don't keep Cocoa/Nextstep for Win32
kicking around, even if they never release it.

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alexkavon
This isn't a big deal really. However Microsoft wants the real secret sauce.
They either want A: Apple to build a client in Windows with C#. Or possibly B:
wants to able to allow swift compilation on Windows thus opening the door wide
open for app ecosystem. You think probably not but then again WSL.

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dpark
Microsoft has literally tens of thousands of engineers capable of building the
client for Windows if Apple will let them. I am certain that no one on this
integration project cares whether Apple actually does the work, only whether
they allow it.

Disclosure: Microsoft employee, but nowhere near this group.

~~~
alexkavon
That's essentially what I'm saying. There is a longer game at play. I only
state they probably want Apple to do it because they helped Apple port iTunes
to the Windows Store. It's not a play for iMessage but a longer play.

~~~
dpark
I’m not sure what the longer play is or how it ties into Apple building in C#
or Swift on Windows, neither of which are a prerequisite to iMessage on
Windows.

~~~
alexkavon
Well, if Apple builds an app in C# then they would probably want to use their
OS to do so. In order to do that they would need Visual Studio for Mac which
would allow them to work with Apple to improve those tools and open doors for
developing C# applications on MacOS as well as compiling those Applications
for MacOS. If Apple were to write a client in Swift or ObjC then it would do
the reverse and potentially open up applications to be compiled for and run on
Windows. This allowing easier porting of apps from MacOS to Windows and
helping eliminate their "lack of apps in the Windows store" problem. Cross
functionality is Microsoft's current game. How many different ways they can
achieve it is up to your imagination.

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dpark
There’s pretty much zero chance that any of those build scenarios would
happen. This is a hypothetical app for Windows, so it would be built on
Windows, and it would use Windows tooling. No Swift, no Objective-C, no macOS.
There is no reason that Apple would drag their entire ecosystem along to build
this app, if they even built it themselves.

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alexkavon
_eye roll_

