The European Union questions the need to consider iMessage as cross-platform under the Digital Markets Act.
Despite scrutiny, the European Union appears not to recognize iMessage as a critical bridge between businesses and consumers in EU business markets. The specific specificity of iMessage, likely due to its lack of widespread use for business purposes, excludes the service from the definition of an essential platform service in the EU.
See more: Beeper Mini: Android app that lets you use iMessage
Apple offers a few iMessage features that cater to business needs. However, these are only available in a few EU countries, such as Italy, France and Germany. One of the most prominent features is Business Chat, which allows users to get support from selected businesses through the Messages app on an iPhone. Such features are expected to be particularly popular in the EU, strengthening iMessage as a key service platform.
The report comes less than a month after Google wrote to the European Commission advocating for cross-platform iMessage interoperability. At the same time, Google asked Apple to support RCS messaging on the iPhone, with Apple itself later announcing that it intends to do so within the next year.
Just a day after software developer Beeper successfully reversed iMessage , the new app, Beeper Mini, enables any Android device to connect directly to Apple's servers and use iMessage.
Read also: Apple: Big change to iMessage next year
Three of services are already established as core offerings of the platform: the App Store, Safari, and iOS. There has been discussion about whether iMessage could be integrated into the rest of Apple's services, and that discussion has been going on for five months.
The committee said it will make a final decision in February.
Source: androidcentral.com
