iMessage for Android? Yep, Mockups Have “Circulated” at Apple

One week prior to WWDC this year, a rumour claimed iMessage for Android would be announced. Many scoffed at the idea, but some believed it could be real, considering Apple Music exists for Android.

Well, according to “little birdies” speaking to John Gruber over at Daring Fireball, mockups of iMessage for Android actually exist, and have “circulated” within Apple:

I’ve heard from little birdies that mockups of iMessage for Android have circulated within the company, with varying UI styles ranging from looking like the iOS Messages app to pure Material Design. iMessage for Android may never see the light of day, but the existence of detailed mockups strongly suggests that there’s no “of course not” to it.

Gruber is known to have deep contacts with Apple and sources close to the company. In February of this year, Apple SVP of services Eddy Cue, told Gruber peak iMessage traffic per second is at nearly 200,000.

iMessage is one part of the Apple ecosystem which keeps users attracted to iPhone. Would Apple ever expand the encrypted messaging platform to Android?