It was a sort of modernization of the BBM service people used to love so much on their BlackBerry phones, but it was simpler and unified.

It started life as a somewhat simple messaging service that existed in harmony with SMS inside the Messages app on iOS devices. When I asked him why, his response was succinct but it truly spoke volumes: “I can’t live life as a green bubble.”Īpple first launched iMessage alongside iOS 5 back in 2011, and I’m not sure company execs fully understood how much value the service would end up having to its business. He quickly responded, telling me that he had ditched his HTC phone and switched back to the iPhone after just three days.

When I messaged him a few days later to see how things were going with his new Android phone, I noticed something peculiar: my message was still delivered through iMessage. We ended up landing on a sleek HTC flagship phone and he went out the next day to buy one. We sat down and spent hours discussing which features were most important to him, and then going over all of the different Android-powered options he had that might best accommodate his list of wants. This was back in the days before Apple relented and finally released new iPhone models with larger displays, and he was tired of seeing people with nice big smartphone screens while he was squinting at his tiny 4-inch iPhone display. A friend came to me many years ago and told me he was fed up with his iPhone.

Can u use imessage on android on laptop