Apple’s ‘invitations’ Prove Why the Company Needs to Launch More Android Apps
There’s a brand new Apple app in town: Apple Invites gives you everything you need to throw a meeting, from pre-selecting your guest list to later sharing photos and videos from the event. While you need to be a paid iCloud subscriber to create events, anyone can react to and interact with them, but as expected, there’s no native Android app. And I think Apple needs to pay attention to this.
Admittedly, Android users are not left out of Apple Invites, but they do have to put up with a slower and less functional web interface in their mobile browser – an option that many iOS apps use instead of developing a true Android version. You can’t view photos and videos without an iCloud account; adding events to Google Calendar is a clunky process; and of course, you will have to return to the correct web page whenever you want to check the event.
Apple has long ignored Android – its only Android apps are the rather slow Apple Music app, a tool for detecting unauthorized trackers, and an app for switching from Android to iOS – but the launch of an event planning app really shows the shortcomings of this approach. Apple Invite is great for hosting events as long as everyone attending has an iPhone.
We know why Apple is doing this: It’s common knowledge that Apple wants users to be locked into its ecosystem rather than—horror of horrors—switching to Android. Having trouble sending photos and videos to an elderly parent who doesn’t have iOS? Don’t worry about it, just buy them an iPhone – that’s Tim Cook’s advice (to be fair, Apple’s Messages app has added RCS support since Apple’s CEO made those remarks).
Apple wants to create friction between iOS and Android to keep iPhone users where they are. And while it can be argued that the company’s approach to messaging is aimed at preventing people from switching (at least in the US – the rest of the world has switched to WhatsApp), will there really be a mass switch to Google’s mobile operating system if Apple Invites is introduced for Android?
What if Apple implements Android?
I actually really like Apple hardware and software—I’m a big fan of Apple Music —but at this point in the Apple vs. Google battle, I think Apple apps are doing more harm than good by keeping them locked down on iOS. Apple, of course, sells a lot of iPhones, so perhaps its executive team doesn’t need my advice on business strategy, but the technology landscape has become more cross-platform and service-oriented than ever before.
Take Apple TV Plus, which I subscribe to, for example: Apple has thankfully released an app for Google TV, but there’s still no app for Android (you can access it via Chrome on Android, but as with Apple Invites, it’s not the best experience ). Surely an Android app would attract more subscribers from Apple without causing too many iPhone owners to suddenly switch to a competing platform?
Then we have FaceTime: technically speaking, it’s available on Android , but you need to follow a link through your web browser to connect. (Sound familiar?) Okay, it won’t take you long to click this link, but in terms of convenience, notification management, interaction with other apps, etc., a native FaceTime app for Android would be much better.
Apple Photos is another example of an app that works well on Apple devices and doesn’t do so well anywhere else: It boasts well-designed features for sharing pictures and videos with family and friends, assuming none of those people dare invest in an Android phone. Google Photos, on the other hand, is very simple to use on any device.
We know Apple is pushing its digital services as smartphone sales stagnate, but Android users aren’t going to invest in an Apple TV+ or iCloud subscription if they have to use Chrome to get all the features on offer. Google has gone a completely different route: all of its apps are available on iOS and are generally more popular than Apple’s alternatives.
As a tech journalist who has to constantly switch between devices and platforms, one of the main reasons I mostly use Android when it comes to phones is because I can access all my apps anywhere. Just making Apple’s own Invites app for iOS won’t make me switch to iPhone, but if there was a native Android app available, I could actually use it.