I should have said it explicitly, but there was an implicit "couldn't do themselves in a reasonable amount of time".

If the rumors are true, Apple already has iMessage running on Android, they just haven't released it yet. They used to support AIM and other messaging services, so they're no stranger to cross-platform messaging apps. The could probably pull together a Beeper competitor pretty quickly.

Nobody at Apple would want to work on a second-class citizen app. That's why they'd acquire a company to do it and maintain it.

You're moving the goalposts. Parent said "Beeper doesn't seem to offer anything that Apple couldn't do themselves."

It’s the same thing. There is no reason for Apple to buy Beeper except to make them stop.

Apple doesn’t do that. It has lawyers to use.

> There is no reason for Apple to buy Beeper except to make them stop.

OP clearly was not arguing that the acquisition would be for a shutdown.

Acquisition and continued operation is a plausible (albeit unlikely) strategy that Apple could use to avoid further regulatory scrutiny while also deterring copycats.

Averageroyalty appeared to be arguing that Apple would only buy them so they wouldn’t use the API anymore. That was my read of their comment.

The OP they responded to was arguing there’s no point in Apple doing that, if they wanted an app on android they could do it themselves. They already have for Apple Music, Apple TV, and their moved to iPhone app.

I don’t think there is any level of frozen over hell where Apple would ever buy the company and let them run the service. There’s no chance they’ll ever buy the company. Even if they did, they would just shut it down for something Apple makes. Apple does not need third-party code to interface with Apple‘s own service.