I can actually understand them dragging their heels on that - it only manifests when you leave iOS, at which point they've already lost the customer, and it causes a worse experience on their new non-Apple device, which could drive the user back into Apple's arms. It's slimy, but switching ecosystems is a high-friction event, and Apple may have just determined that the cost of supporting former customers is greater than the winback they'd get from doing so.
Alienating developers, on the other hand, seems like a losing play. Publishing on Android doesn't mean you stop publishing on iOS, but giving them the cold shoulder might drive them to do so.
It's the same play in both cases - creating extra friction when you step outside of Apple's ecosystem.
Users who switch to an Android phone aren't any more "lost" to Apple than developers who publish on Android. They often still have iPads, iPods and/or Macs. Some might still buy music and/or video from iTunes. And so on.
In both cases, Apple is choosing to risk losing X as well in order to increase their chances of holding onto Y. And since we see other companies making both choices, it isn't an obviously winning or losing play in either case.
It's actually asking happening to new Apple customers as well. My wife got an iPad and signed into Messages thinking she could use it like Messages on her mac – instead it broke her android phone°.
She has since stop using the iPad I think largely because her initial interactions with it were so poor. This is actually hurting Apple's goals.
° I assume this means she entered her phone number as a contact address - but frankly the experience is so horrible that she's unwilling to talk about it.
They're actually hurting their current customers, those that can't get a text message through to their lost Apple brethren. Shame on them for having traitors in their flock, I guess.
Certainly, but the common factor is that the friends they're having problems with are dirty Android users. I have no doubt they've been content to let people believe that the problem is that Android can't handle text messages.
Alienating developers, on the other hand, seems like a losing play. Publishing on Android doesn't mean you stop publishing on iOS, but giving them the cold shoulder might drive them to do so.