Android Users Rejoice: iMessage is Here – But Not Thanks to Apple!

Google has been trying everything to get Apple to offer iMessage on Android, and we don’t see that happening anytime soon. So now it’s up to other brands to make this a reality, and that company is Carl Pei’s Nothing.

That’s right, the brand has announced its new messaging app called Nothing Chats, which lets you move to the blue side, which is Google’s take on iMessage. Nothing Chats is coming to Phone 2 users in the coming days, and Pei says all users have the right to use whatever app they want. So how come nothing does this?

It has developed the app in collaboration with Sunbird, which already has the technology to enable iMessage to work on non-Apple devices. The developer has been running its own app on the Play Store since its release in 2022, and it already has 10,000 downloads. But if you need to use iMessage on the Phone 2, you’ll need to sign in with your Apple ID, which might get you in trouble with Apple, but at least your messages will stay secure behind end-to-end encryption, which is also central to Sunbird’s privacy policy.

It goes without saying that in its beta avatar, Nothing Chats offers features like individual messages, group chats, the other person’s direct typing detector, full-resolution media sharing, and voice notes. However, other options such as read receipts and message reactions/replies are coming soon.

The company is bringing this feature to countries like the US, where the battle between iMessage and RCS Messages has been going on for years. We’re not sure if Nothing has any plans to bring the app to Phone 1 users, but Phone 2 users can try the Chats app starting November 17 and download it from the Play Store. iMessage is not very common for users in India, so we don’t see the company talking about the feature for users in the country.