Google is gunning for iMessage as the advertising giant wishes Apple’s service to fall under the umbrella of the ‘core platform service.’ To help bring its plan to fruition, the company has partnered with several European telecom companies to push the European Commission to force Apple to make iMessage a cross-platform messaging service with other apps such as Google Messages and more.

Several telecom companies and Google have sent a letter to the European Union stating that iMessage meets the new Digital Markets Act’s conditions

A paywalled report from Financial Times that was spotted by Android Authority states that in addition to Google, Telefónica, Orange, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and others have sent a letter to the European Union that iMessage should come under the Digital Markets Act completely as it meets the legislation’s criteria. All the aforementioned companies state that consumers would greatly benefit from iMessage becoming cross-platform compatible with other messaging services.

The European Union believes that since iMessage is pre-installed on all iPhones and is exclusively available to users who use these devices, the service indirectly contributes to Apple’s revenue since it forces buyers to gravitate towards upgrading to one of these iPhones. Due to these conditions, iMessage is already under investigation by the European Union, though Apple has been able to prevent its exclusive service from being covered under the Digital Markets Act.

The California-based giant states that iMessage is not very popular in Europe and does not fulfill the Digital Markets Act requirement of 45 million monthly active users to qualify as a ‘gatekeeper’ service. Apple has also argued that iMessage should not come under the Digital Markets Act since it is completely free to use, and all iPhones can be functional without interacting with the app in any shape or form.

The European Union has until February to decide the fate of iMessage and if it will become a part of the Digital Markets Act. Assuming the app satisfies all conditions, Apple has until March 2024 to comply with the new rules, thus making the service interoperable with other messaging apps.

News Source: Financial Times