Tim Cook says he has no problem porting Apple apps to Android

posted by Michael H. / May 28, 2013, 10:47 PM

Tim Cook says he has no problem porting Apple apps to Android

Tim Cook has been letting loose a string of pretty interesting soundbytes so far during his talk at the AllThingsD D11 conference. He has talked about Google Glass, Apple's APIs, and the fabled iPhablet, but maybe the most interesting quote of the day was his comment on the possibility of Apple possibly porting its apps to Android. It wasn't an admission that it would happen, but Cook was far more accepting of the idea than you might think.

What happened was that Cook was asked by an audience member about the possibility of adding support in iCloud for other platforms. Cook responded by saying "We have no religious issue with doing that. If we thought it made sense to do that we would do it." This is far from admission that it will happen, but at least it isn't a complete denial either.

Of course, we would be surprised to see Apple port anything to Android other than maybe iTunes. On a long enough timeline, maybe Safari would come to Android as well, but we're certainly not going to hold our breath.

source: AllThingsD

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35 Comments

1. av911

Posts: 206; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

I want Safari.

posted on May 28, 2013, 10:49 PM 5

12. AnTuTu

Posts: 1592; Member since: Oct 14, 2012

Tim Cook says he has no problem porting Apple apps to Android ---> But he won't do it why because if he does then Apple will completely loose its ground.

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:45 PM 16

20. ITEngineer

Posts: 54; Member since: Mar 26, 2013

And what ground is he on? my wife has an ipad and iphone, i have a S4 and a Nexus 7, Safari is no where near the browsers that exists on Android. Icloud/Itunes would only make sense for people who bought things and changed to android and would like to see the movies or hear the songs they own, but Apple won't do that, and in a way they are right, cause a lot of users want to switch to android but they invested so much in itunes that they would lose a lot. So Apple won't make it easy for them by saying we built a migration bridge for you Goodbye!

posted on May 29, 2013, 2:02 AM 5

21. AnTuTu

Posts: 1592; Member since: Oct 14, 2012

Well I have spoken to people who own an iDevice and when you ask them why have they bought this ? Most of them would always say oh there are so many apps in the Apple's app store. So according to this article, if Apple does that then people who are thinking to buy an iDevice because of apps won't buy it.

posted on May 29, 2013, 2:36 AM 1

22. ITEngineer

Posts: 54; Member since: Mar 26, 2013

Almost all of the apps developed by other than apple exists on android. The Apps that are developed by apple and could be ported to android are the following. 1.Garageband 2.Maps 3.iCloud 4.iTunes And thats pretty much about it. The only two major apps are 3 & 4, and that is what apple is all about. so i dont see them giving these two away, although if you ask me no one would use iTunes since its a pain in the @ss

posted on May 29, 2013, 4:16 AM 1

23. AnTuTu

Posts: 1592; Member since: Oct 14, 2012

Totally agree with you.

posted on May 29, 2013, 4:33 AM 0

26. Hemlocke unregistered

Safari is more standards compliant than Chrome, and for someone who has used both extensively, i actually prefer the UX of Safari over Chrome. Couple that with the fact that Safari isn't just a data mining tool, and i could see plenty of users choosing Safari on Android.

posted on May 29, 2013, 5:35 AM 2

28. Droid_X_Doug

Posts: 5993; Member since: Dec 22, 2010

It will be a cold day in Hell before Apple ports any of its core apps to Android. Apple's business is selling iToys. The only way you will see core Apple apps on Android is if Apple first ports Android to its iToys.

posted on May 29, 2013, 6:37 AM 0

33. medicci37

Posts: 1361; Member since: Nov 19, 2011

Why???

posted on May 29, 2013, 3:58 PM 0

2. KingKurogiii

Posts: 5713; Member since: Oct 23, 2011

sounds like ol' Cook has pretty much accepted Android and other Smartphone platforms are here to stay.

posted on May 28, 2013, 10:58 PM 7

3. Samsomesh

Posts: 195; Member since: Jun 11, 2012

Android has enough apps.:)

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:00 PM 7

32. stealthd unregistered

You heard it developers, stop making apps. Android is perfect and doesn't need anything new, ever.

posted on May 29, 2013, 1:17 PM 2

4. HDShatter

Posts: 1021; Member since: Jan 17, 2013

Just like when Apple had to accept windows was better than Macs.

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:02 PM 6

6. quakan

Posts: 1418; Member since: Mar 02, 2011

OSX is definitely better than Windows in my opinion. Also the best computer to run Windows on is a Mac.

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:18 PM 11

8. ocilfa

Posts: 334; Member since: Aug 03, 2012

Wrong. The best computer to run windows on is a user built PC.

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:22 PM 13

9. quakan

Posts: 1418; Member since: Mar 02, 2011

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57581290-37/macbook-pro-declared-best-performing-windows-laptop/

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:26 PM 5

10. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

E X A C T L Y. The difference between Apple and other desktop PC OEM's is Apple uses quality components throughout the entire PC. I can get a PC custom built thats cheaper than a Mac, will outperform it and be as stable as a Mac. Power supply, mobo, cpu cooler is places PC OEM's skimp on quality that Apple probably dont.

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:37 PM 6

11. quakan

Posts: 1418; Member since: Mar 02, 2011

Yeah, I know custom PCs are best but you don't see most people out seeking custom PCs on a regular basis. Most of us buy what's on the shelf and don't consider any hardware upgrades. That report is strictly based on consumer ready-to-buy computers.

posted on May 28, 2013, 11:42 PM 3

13. HDShatter

Posts: 1021; Member since: Jan 17, 2013

I would say this is actually the most powerful laptop I know of thats actually a good price for what you get not your crappy mac. http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP9570 That laptop can use a Desktop hexacore i7 with 2 gpus. I guarantee you it has better performance than any laptop macs will for 5+ years and for the same price its probably 4-5x the raw power of a high end mac. You wasting your $ buying from desktop manufacturers. Build your own you will save money or you can use your savings for higher quality parts.

posted on May 29, 2013, 12:10 AM 0

19. Berzerk000

Posts: 4275; Member since: Jun 26, 2011

Macs might not be the best performers compared to PCs, but they last a VERY long time.

posted on May 29, 2013, 1:20 AM 2

27. Hemlocke unregistered

What are you, 60? Unless you are a hardcore gamer or work from home in some compute intensive environment, what use is a desktop at all? There is a reason the PC market is dying. Most people only need a tablet, or at most, a laptop, to do what they do at home. Good luck throwing that ginormous neon-glow travesty into a travel bag for a vacation or work trip.

posted on May 29, 2013, 5:41 AM 0

34. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

"What are you, 60? Unless you are a hardcore gamer or work from home in some compute intensive environment, what use is a desktop at all?" Do you even have a job? What use is a desktop? Tell that to the govt and corporate America....I have been in both industries since 1999 and desktops still rule there. By the way...I'd rather browse the internet at my computer desk from my desktop with a 23 in monitor, a shelf for the keyboard and mouse and desktop speakers...