The court dealing with the May 3 Apple and Epic trial over App Store rules has used a motion denial to remind the two sides that the trial is meant for measured consideration of evidence, not surprises.
In the filing published on Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denies a motion by Apple to prevent Epic from allowing certain third-party witnesses from taking part in the Apple-Epic trial.
Apple motioned to the court to exclude three third-party witnesses for Epic, namely Vivek Sharma of Facebook, Microsoft s Lori Wright, and Benjamin Simon of Yoga Buddhi. Apple reckoned that Epic violated rules for failing to disclose the witnesses as individuals, as it had instead listed their employers.
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iMessage for Android killed due to lock-in, legal documents reveal
JC Torres - Apr 9, 2021, 12:52am CDT
There are two primary iOS apps that Android users want on Google’s platform. iTunes, which eventually became Apple Music, did eventually land on Android but iMessage and its convenient messaging systems remain a distant dream. There may have been a time when bringing iMessage to Android was a possibility but, as revealed in a document used by Epic Games in its Fortnite-related lawsuit against Apple, the iPhone maker’s execs shot that idea done in fear of losing people to Android.
Epic Games and Apple are gearing up to meet in court next month over the former’s addition of a feature in Fortnite that bypassed iOS’s payment system. The game developer has raised the stakes by painting Apple as a company that uses its dominant position to create a monopoly of its own platform and it is using depositions of Apple’s own executives to prove its point
Apple considered bringing iMessage to Android, then decided iOS-only method was more useful
In the ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games, the former has been called out for its practice of keeping its apps and services exclusive to its devices. A working example provided for this was Apple s popular app iMessage.
Sarthak Dogra | April 9, 2021 | Updated 13:44 IST
(Image: Bangyu Wang/ Unsplash)
Highlights
In a line of questioning, Apple executives agreed that its popular app iMessage could have been made available for Android.
The app would have worked with cross-compatibility between Android and iOS.
However, it was kept exclusive to keep buyers locked in within the Apple ecosystem.
Apple Execs: iMessage on Android Would Hurt Us More Than Help Us
Epic went looking for evidence of Apple s lock-in strategy and found it in employee emails. By Matthew Humphries
(Photo: Shutterstock)
It s no secret that Apple favors a walled garden approach with its devices and services. And nowhere is that more evident than with iMessage. The only way to see those precious blue bubbles is on an Apple device.
According to court docs from Apple s App Store battle with Epic Games, Apple execs are well-aware that iMessage helps keep customers tethered to its ecosystem.
Epic Games argues that Apple purposefully locks customers into its ecosystem of devices and services, and its lawyers this week served up some Apple emails to prove its point. As The Verge reports, one of the key exchanges is from an unnamed, former Apple employee, who states: The #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is iMessage . iMessage amounts to serious lock-in.
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