So, Apple has been quietly developing iMessages for Android

Apple is still thinking about developing services for Android — after all, it makes it so much easier when Android users upgrade to an iPhone — and it seems one of the apps the company spent time developing is/was iMessages for Android.

“I’ve heard from little birdies,” said Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber, “that mockups of iMessage for Android have circulated within the company.” He claims Apple has tried a number of different user interfaces before settling on  Google’s Material Design, the same UI it uses in Apple Music for Android.

Now, we can’t be sure if Apple will ship the app, but I think it should. Not only would it open up new developer opportunities to profit from the Android platform, but it would make life easier for everyone.

“The service that makes itself the most compatible across platforms and other services is the one that will outlast the rest, and I’d quite like that to be Apple’s,” I wrote earlier this year.

Messaging has the potential to be a lucrative and useful cross-platform product for a company that also often says it’s as proud of the things it doesn’t ship as those it does.

In any case, Android users may welcome a messaging app that keeps their data private.