Report: Apple is working on upgrades to iMessage with the eventual goal of making it more like a social network, to better compete with WhatsApp
watch out, Facebook! Livemint : Sources: iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to include upgrades to notifications, Lock Screen, and iMessage, a redesigned iPad Home Screen, and more privacy protections Tweets: @mattnavarra : Remember Ping? Good luck with this, Apple. https://www.cnbc.com/... Mark Gurman / @markgurman : New story on iOS 15: Apple plans revamped iPad Home Screen with widgets, new anti-data collection features, updated Lock Screen, new ways of handling notifications based on your status and more https://www.bloomberg.com/... Charlie Chapman / @_chuckyc : I think I really like this idea actually. I'm not sure exactly what's on my wishlist for iMessage, but there's certainly a lot of ideas that could be taken from social networks Also worth noting a big advantage of most of them currently is cross-platform compatibility 🤭 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Addisu Demissie / @asdem : I just want to be able to mark a message as unread please https://twitter.com/... itz_Shinaa / @4more2u : @WhatsApp has proven particularly resilient is spite of the recent privacy communications snafu. “Total Screen Time/Time in App” is the name of the game, thus sms+texts will die a slow death without an upgrade. iMessage still has fans - “Liked” “Loved” was a cool feature 😎 https://twitter.com/... Molly Wood / @mollywood : The replies say it all. iMessage is the literal best-working part of any iPhone and if it needs anything, it's easier privacy controls on other devices and to stop occasionally forgetting to use your phone number and sending to email instead and THAT. IS. IT. https://twitter.com/... Steve Kovach / @stevekovach : I think a lot of people are missing the framing here. Apple has been adding new social features to iMessage every year for the last several years. Stickers. App integrations. Replies. More options for group chats. Reactions. Etc. Sounds like it'll just be more of the same. https://twitter.com/... Pete Brown / @pjb_media : You know what's really G-R-E-A-T about #WhatsApp???? It works on #Android, #iOS & the web!! Wow what a concept! Cross-platform messaging! If #Apple wants this to be a real social network, can't be iOS only If it is, it will just be the next version of #Ping #iMessage #Apple https://twitter.com/... Sar Haribhakti / @sarthakgh : Its almost like a bunch of leaders running podcasts and imessage at Apple woke up, looked around and decided to do what everyone has long expected them to do https://www.cnbc.com/... Josh Chafetz / @joshchafetz : Please no. I just want to text people. https://twitter.com/... Amit Kumar / @akumar : and you thought they hired @joshelman to fix App Store Search lol https://twitter.com/... Steve Kovach / @stevekovach : iMessage replaced Facebook/Instagram for me when I deleted my accounts over 2 years ago. I feel no need to go back. https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/... Ed Bott / @edbott : “The social network for people who only want to talk to people who own Apple hardware” is a pretty tough sell. https://twitter.com/... Ungwang / @tswanaonthemoon : But why compete with WhatsApp? People using iMessage have your devices so what else are they gaining? If it's data, Apple is at the forefront of privacy protection. So why fight for an app that's exclusive to your platform? https://twitter.com/... @darth : i do not even like those apps on the bottom of imessage tbh https://twitter.com/... Steve Moser / @stevemoser : I wonder if this will be similar to using a social network like twitter but where everyone's account is set to private. I don't see Apple supporting any public social network features but I would be happy if I was wrong on that. Nice scoop by @markgurman https://twitter.com/... @mergesort : All I really want is customized notifications and watch delivery for Messages. If my best friend or girlfriend texts me, let me know please. If it's some rando, I can wait. https://twitter.com/... David Brunelle / @davidbrunelle : Thank goodness! You know, I wake up every day and think to myself: “The only thing missing from my life is just one more social network.” https://twitter.com/... Ben Goodman / @bengoodman : Please make it so we don't have to speak to people who have androids https://twitter.com/... Alistair Barr / @alistairmbarr : Watch out Facebook: Apple is trying to make iMessage more social to compete better with WhatsApp, via @markgurman @technology https://www.bloomberg.com/... Alex B / @somospostpc : €1,000 says Apple adds Stories to iMessage https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Tony Romm / @tonyromm : nobody wants this shit to be more like a social network, i just want to send shitty messages to shitty people and have them not reply to me as quickly as my anxiety demands why must we ruin everything https://twitter.com/... Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff : One thing that jumps out at me: “The company is also working on upgrades to iMessage with the eventual goal of acting as more of a social network and better competing with Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp.” I don't need iMessage to ever resemble a social network https://www.bloomberg.com/... @superebza : Only way to compete with WhatsApp is to launch an Android app as well otherwise forget https://twitter.com/... Steve Kovach / @stevekovach : Little nugget in @markgurman's scoop on new social features coming to Apple iMessage should be sending Facebook into a tizzy this morning. https://www.cnbc.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : so @markgurman is reporting that iOS 15 will include a major revamp to notifications, an updated lockscreen, and redesigned iPad home screen. Hopefully it will ease the pain of managing multiple notifications in iOS https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s reported iMessage work arrives after Zuckerberg identified Apple as a major competitor, arguing that iMessage benefits from Apple’s control of its platform in competition with WhatsApp and Messenger. The proposal would extend that competition from messaging distribution into more social interaction within Messages.
The later iOS 15 rollout included new ways to share in Messages, showing that Messages was part of Apple’s broader software update rather than an isolated feature experiment.
First-order effects
- The reported upgrades put Apple’s iMessage team in more direct product competition with WhatsApp and Facebook’s Messenger for user engagement inside messaging conversations.
- Apple’s iOS 15 messaging changes give iPhone and iPad users additional sharing features within the Apple-controlled Messages experience.
Second-order effects
- WhatsApp and Messenger face greater pressure to differentiate their social and communication features where iMessage is already embedded in Apple’s devices.
- A more socially capable iMessage would reinforce the value of Apple’s proprietary messaging layer; Apple’s later blocking of the Beeper Mini client illustrates how tightly it controls access to that layer.
Third-order effects
- If Apple keeps adding social functions to Messages while preserving proprietary access, messaging competition increasingly turns on control of the device platform and its default communication service rather than on standalone app features.
- The conflict outlined by Zuckerberg points toward continued scrutiny of how platform owners use default apps and interoperability boundaries to compete with cross-platform services.
The trend: Messaging services are evolving into broader social layers, while platform owners use integrated defaults and controlled access to defend their position.