European Watchdogs Examine Apple's iMessage Compatibility Under New Law

European officials are delving into whether Apple's popular messaging system, iMessage, needs to start playing nice with other services on different devices.

Apple's little blue messages could soon need to be friendly with the likes of Android and WhatsApp messages if the law requires it. A top person at Google and some big phone company leaders think that Apple's messaging should follow these new rules to help people and companies in Europe, as stated in a document that reporters got to look at.

The blue bubble texts from Apple are special because they help keep friends using iPhones. But did you know that sometimes, kids with green bubbles on their phones from other brands get teased? In 2019, Samsung started a campaign with fun pictures to try and stop that.

Messaging Inclusivity Under Scrutiny

Now, there's this big rule book called the Digital Markets Act in Europe that talks about the big companies that are like gatekeepers on the internet. They're saying iMessage might be one of these gatekeepers because it's so big and important. And Google, who has also been in trouble for being too controlling, agreed with this about iMessage.

Even though these officials are looking at Apple, they're also looking closely at Google's services, like its app store and maps, because they're also very big and important.

The European Union's team that makes sure companies are fair said they got this note from Google and others, but they didn't want to talk about it yet.

Apple once said that iMessage isn't a big gatekeeper because there are so many other messaging apps that people use. They said lots of people use lots of different apps which shows that people can choose easily.

These big decisions from the European officials need to be made by February, and everyone's waiting to see what will happen with Apple and their messages.

Image: Sophia Stark