Microsoft and Apple have long since ceased to be archrivals of yore, but, unlike the Redmond giant, Cupertino's still preserves habits that date back to the days when the two fought daily in the spotlight, for example, their reluctance to open their services to other platforms.
In other words: it is very difficult for developers (whether they are Uncle Z from the corner computer store or one of the largest technology companies in the world) to integrate Apple's digital products into their creations, even when APIs are available for that task.
This theme takes us to conference for developers Build, from Microsoft, whose 2018 edition was presented this week just before the Google conference. Among the novelties shown by l, the company announced a new application for Windows called Your Phone, which, as the name kinda already says, connect to your smartphone to take part of the mobile experience (notifications, photos, contacts, etc.) to the desktop.
When it is released (which should happen in the coming months, according to the company), the app will be compatible with both Android and iOS. In the case of the Apple system, Microsoft said that its creation was able to easily import photos and notifications from the iPhone, but faced a barrier when trying to integrate the iMessage in the package. They hope to be able to work with Ma to incorporate the company's messaging platform into the system, but well, we all know that this is an (almost) lost fight.
The information comes from an interview with executives Joe Belfiore and Shilpa Ranganathan to The Verge. As the second said:
Apple makes things a little more difficult for messaging, but we are extremely willing to work with them. I want to do this in a way that respects the ecosystem that we are building and, at the same time, creates a pleasurable experience. Messaging is a point where we are not currently where we need to be compared to Android, but we need to work with Apple.
The executives have not yet contacted Apple to probe any type of integration, so it is impossible to say whether Ma is in the least willing to collaborate with the old rival.
Personally, I suspect that Microsoft will come face to face with the wall: the only recent case in which Cupertino broke its impenetrable fence was that of Apple Music, with its Android application and we all know that this was an extremely calculated maneuver to bring the music platform to a significantly larger number of users and thereby make it more attractive to record companies and artists. In the case of the good iMessage, something tells me that it is doing very well the way it is, thanks.
Still, hope is the last to die. Who knows, we may see a turnaround in this case soon. Let us wait.
