A few months ago we discovered that Apple already had in mind the possibility of bringing iMessage on Android, but finally decided not to do so to maintain certain exclusivity to the platform. However, it seems Android users will get to see some of the iMessage features.
In 9to5Google they have been able to verify that the reactions to the messages that we can put in iMessage are sent as simple emojis in Android. It’s a novelty that is starting to spread right now, so it may not be activated everywhere yet.
May my reactions become your reactions too
If you use iMessage only with people who also have an iPhone, you will not notice any of this, because the recipients of your messages will see the same as what you see on your screen. But for those exclusive iMessage details that you send to someone with an Android terminal, the reactions to the messages (the tapback as we can read in macOS), it will be sent in the form of a simple emoji.
What’s more, depending on the Android version you have, the RCS system can interpret those reactions as reactions from Google’s own messenger so that everything looks the same regardless of the platform you use.
Could this be a first step for traditional SMS-based messaging platforms to start to merge or at least become fully compatible? It will be seen. In Spain everyone has gotten used to WhatsApp, but in countries like the United States iMessage is so ubiquitous that these news become important.