Don’t get it twisted: Apple Android apps are for domination, not cooperation

A new job ad for Apple, Inc. has been spotted in the news today via Apple’s own website. The job, posted on August 4, 2015, is titled “Applications SW Engineer- Android” with the following job description: “We’re looking for engineers to help us bring exciting new mobile products to the Android platform.”

It is at this point that many Apple fans turn excited. Some believe iCloud, iWork, and iMessage are all apps that will end up on the Android platform. Others believe FaceTime could be in the works for Android users, or that the iTunes Store will be added alongside of the Apple Music app Cupertino’s got planned for Android users.

But, while Apple fans are celebrating Apple’s new “openness” towards the Android platform, and even Apple’s job ad makes it exciting, don’t get it twisted: Apple’s apps are for the sole purpose of domination, not cooperation.

This is the same Apple that launched “phablets” last year with the purpose of winning new users to iOS from Android. Prior to that, Apple would laugh at Android and its “fragmentation” each year. Of course, fragmentation is one of those pejorative terms, like “bloatware,” that’s used to stack the argument against the opponent. Take common words, redefine them, and use them against your opponent; it’s the perfect way to create a straw man that you can easily burn down.

Each year, Apple has attacked the fact that Android users can be a few major major updates behind (on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich instead of Android 5.0 Lollipop, for example) and still be content with their outdated Android build. Each year, Apple’s trump card has been, “we give you the latest each year so that you can have the best now, not later,” but Apple changed its tune last September to win Android users with its bigger screens. The company whose iPhone announcements were always filled with Android vs. iOS update adoption graphs and charts suddenly had very little to say about Android.

Tim Cook has had quite a lot to say about Android users turning to iOS with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, however, with only about 15% of current iPhone users upgrading from an older-generation iPhone to one of Apple’s latest devices. In other words, Apple’s appeal with Android users is not because they respect the choices of Android users, but because Apple wants to win them over to iOS. In other words, Apple’s not pleased with a world where its rival continues to crush it quarter after quarter in market share. Apple’s rival, Google, on the other hand, has always had its Google Drive, Google+, Gmail, and Google Maps apps available for iOS users – even with its reign over worldwide market share.

Apple’s first apps on the Android platform are “Apple Music” and “Move to iOS,” the latter designed for consumers who are willing to leave iOS after their “love affair” or long-term stint with Android, but this new job ad from Apple shows that the company may be adding more Apple Android apps to its “wooing Android users” agenda. We have no idea what these apps will be, but Apple’s consistent pattern over the last few years has been to win the war against Android. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that he would do whatever he had to do to stomp out Android (at all costs), and the new Apple Android apps will match that very same motive.