Google Updates The iOS Trojan Horse
Google has updated its Gmail and Calendar applications for iOS. These two applications are vital parts of Google’s cloud-based services, and act as a beach-head on iOS to give Google access to a group of users that would otherwise be out of reach.
Without these applications Google would have no way of reaching Apple’s profitable power-users. Getting and keeping people into any cloud-based service is one of the major battlegrounds in computing during 2016. Google’s push into the iOS user base and its continued support of their needs not only gives Google valuable data about iOS users but also holds out the hope that these people can be persuaded to switch to the Android platform at a later date with little hassle.
Apple iPhone 7 (image: Ewan Spence)
The first group of users on iOS is the Apple cloud users with Apple IDs. Once they are signed in on an iOS device, they do not look elsewhere. Email, calendars, notes, personal data and documents are all set up, as is the cloud services that Apple supplies such as Continuity. These users are pretty much locked in to Apple. Google’s updates are not for them.
The second group is those hooked into Google’s services – primarily Gmail, but also the same suite of calendars, personal data, and documents as Apple offers, as well as apps such as Google Search. No doubt Google would love these users to make the switch to Android where they could be fully monetized, but having them use Google services on iOS is the next best thing.
There’s an argument for a third ecosystem with Microsoft’s services available through the Office apps and the frankly excellent Outlook for iOS client, but it’s far less dominant or pervasive in iOS – that time will come, but is not here yet.
Apple’s WWDC 2016 (image: Getty)
The update brings the two applications into line with the services and features available on their Android counterparts, which leads to an interesting Trojan Horse effect inside iOS.
Google’s apps are about bringing users inside Google’s sphere of influence and keeping control of them. When the time comes to look for a new phone, key apps such as Gmail are now identical on iOS and Android. Switching from the iPhone results in the same experience in these popular apps, which reduces the barrier of entry. The apps also act as demonstrators, proving to many that Google apps are just as good as Apple’s apps, again building up a message of competency in the iPhone’s rival. Even if Google cannot get people to switch over just yet, it will show them how sunnier it is on the other side of the street (while getting as much value as possible from the iOS-using geekerati).
And the longer Google can keep users in its own ecosystem, the better it is for Google.
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