The New iMessage Is Great. But Why on Earth Isn’t It on Android?

Apple’s big messaging moves were among the biggest and most unexpected announcements of Tim Cook’s WWDC keynote Monday. iMessage gained a host of features, from “invisible ink” that hides a message until it’s swiped, to in-line Apple Music links that play seamlessly in-app, to “digital touch,” which lets you send images you draw, or even your heartbeat. It’s also, like Facebook Messenger, now open to third-party developers.

All of this is big. It’s good news for Apple, since it’ll undoubtedly convince a few holdouts to get iPhones so they can use all the cool new features with their friends. If Apple wants to be more than an iPhone company, though, if it wants to be a software and services company the way it claims, there’s one other thing it needed to do: make iMessage for Android.