Apple’s Move to iOS app is too little, too late

Apple’s Move to iOS app brings to fruition the rumors we’ve been hearing about Apple hiring engineers to craft apps for the Android platform, and Apple Music for Android will only add further credence to Apple’s job description and search some months ago. As can be expected, however, Apple has been blasted on Google Play all week by Android consumers who want to tell Apple what they think about the fruit company who’s only using Google Play now to win customers over instead of trying to care about Android consumers (whether or not they ever leave Android). While the 1-star ratings are over the top and a bit ridiculous for an app which few people will use (I know, I went there and said it), I still think that the hate against it is justified.
For the last few years, Apple has treated Android like it’s nothing short of a bastard child. Apple legendary CEO Steve Jobs said that he would exhaust his resources to “stomp out Android at all costs” if he could, whatever it took. Android wasn’t a legitimate platform for him, claiming that Android was a mere copy of iOS, etc. And, when Steve Jobs died due to unfortunate health, and Jobs’s handpicked successor, Tim Cook, took over, Cook continued the same message that Steve Jobs had claimed: that is, that Android consumers “settle for less” since many of them will never get the latest and greatest update in Android on their devices.
Until last year. The larger iPhone 6 Plus showed that Apple had started paying attention to consumers, but only because a number of iPhone users had ditched iOS for Android. Apple wanted its customers back, so it was trying to play nice with Android to win more profit back. And the same thing can be said for the new Move to iOS app.
Move to iOS is Apple’s new Android app that lets former Android users migrate to iOS and the iPhone experience with little trouble. In other words, contacts can be moved over to iOS effortlessly. There’s little word on whether or not Apple will extend this to music, but Google’s Play Music app is available on iOS, making the experience better than before. At the same time, however, it shows that Apple’s only efforts toward Android users (Apple Music, Move to iOS) are just to pull over Android users from Android. I’ve already said that Apple’s apps are for domination, not cooperation.
And this explains the frustration of Android users with the new app: it’s nothing new, nothing different. Rather, it shows that Apple is only willing to cater to Android users IF (being the operative word) they’re moving to iOS and leaving Android behind. There is no act of goodwill, no means to reach out to current Android users in hopes of eventually coaxing them, no Apple Mail, iCloud Drive, Apple Maps, or other apps available on Android that let Android users try the best of the Apple experience. Even the Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s presentation left out Google’s Chrome web browser for Apple’s own Safari and Microsoft’s Edge browsers.
When you examine Google, on the other hand, Google has done the exact opposite of Apple: the search engine giant has allowed iOS users to access Gmail, Google+, Google’s own unlimited photo cloud storage, Google Maps, Chrome web browser, Play Music, Play Movies, Google Drive, Google search, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, with the latest being Android Wear for iOS that lets iOS users pair their Android Wear watch with their iPhone. Apple Music only gives a free, three-month trial, however, and Apple’s Move to iOS is only designed to win you away from Android.
There is no cooperation for Android users who also use iOS devices, nor is there any respect for Android consumers who use both platforms. Apple’s stubbornness in this area is not only affecting Android users who, with some coaxing, may be interested in iOS, but also current iOS users who prefer to use an iPad with an Android smartphone on a regular basis. What about those dual-platform customers? Doesn’t Apple have an obligation to them, too?
When you do the math, Google has been most cooperative with iOS users, understanding that not everyone wants to leave their comfortable setup to transition to a new OS. Apple hasn’t figured that out yet, that not providing comparable services for Android users isn’t going to motivate them to leave Android. The majority of the world uses Android as its mobile platform. Google’s Android has 80+% of the mobile marketshare when it comes to platforms, with few caring for iOS. That’s not a wish for Google, it’s a fact. Yet and still, Apple continues down its merry path, wanting nothing more than to win in a sheer numbers battle. And, ironically, the only numbers battle it can win is in profit, which isn’t earned honestly when you consider how Cupertino crams low-end specs into a smartphone, slaps its name on it, and sells it for $700.
The Move to iOS app will remain in the Play Store, but that doesn’t mean Android consumers have to like it, nor should they. It’s a slap in the face to Android users when Apple publishes an app, only to say, “it’s just for consumers that are smart enough to leave Android” (making most Android users feel like they’re less than nothing). It’s completely disrespectful and dismissive of Android and what Google has achieved with its users. Google will allow this app, since there’s no legal reason to counteract it, but that doesn’t mean Android users have to play nice with Apple at the Play Store. If Apple wants the mobile OS battle to end, the ball’s in their court. With $200 billion in cash profits in the bank currently, it shouldn’t be that hard.