Jerod Harris | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday that Apple isn’t putting much effort into improving the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices because its users haven’t asked for it. “I don’t hear our users asking us to put a lot of energy into it, at this point,” Cook said in response to an audience question at the Vox Media code conference in Beverly Hills, California. “I’d love to turn you into an iPhone.” The response comes less than a month after Google launched an ad campaign aimed at putting pressure on Apple. Currently, texts between iPhones use iMessage, which has a much smoother experience than when an Android device texts an iPhone, in which SMS messages appear as green bubbles. Google wants Apple to adopt RCS, a type of messaging intended as a next-generation SMS replacement with encryption and other modern features. The questioner pressed Cook, saying he can’t send a video to his mom because of SMS restrictions. “Buy your mom an iPhone,” Cook said.
Promoting privacy goes back to Steve Jobs
Cook was joined by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs to discuss the Apple founder’s legacy and announce a new Steve Jobs archive and potential documentary. Apple’s recent push for privacy isn’t a new goal for the company — the thinking actually goes back to founder Steve Jobs, Cook said. “Steve really instilled in the company in the early days the importance of privacy, and it has grown since then,” Cook said. Cook cited a speech by Jobs in 2010 where he said privacy means users consent to sharing their data. “Privacy means people know what they’re signing up for, in plain English and repeatedly. That’s what it means,” Jobs said in the speech cited by Cook. Cook’s remarks come as the company’s privacy push has drawn increasing criticism as self-serving as the company introduced new privacy features that make measuring online advertising more difficult as Apple reportedly plans to increase the size of its advertising business and introduce new ad units. This is the same philosophy behind App Tracking Transparency, a feature introduced in 2021 that has disrupted the online advertising industry. iPhone owners are asked before sharing a unique device identification number with apps at launch — and most iPhone owners choose not to, preventing online advertisers from accurately tracking the performance of their ads. Companies, including Facebook parent Meta, have called the change anti-competitive. In February, Meta said it would cost it $10 billion this year. “What we felt is that people should own their data and should make their own decisions,” Cook said Wednesday. “People should be empowered to be able to make that decision in a really simple and straightforward way. Not buried 95 pages deep in a privacy policy somewhere.” Cook said Apple follows stricter rules than advertisers and defended the company’s search ads. “We’ve never said that digital advertising is a bad thing,” Cook said. “What’s not good is vacuuming up people’s data when they’re not doing it on an informed basis.” Cook was asked if he sees Apple as a powerful company that has intervened because regulators haven’t passed privacy laws. “We’re not trying to be a regulator,” Cook said. “All we’re trying to do is empower people to make the decision for themselves.”
