Tim Cook at D11: Apple to Open Up APIs in the Future, but No Chat Heads

At this year's annual All Things Digital conference hosted by AllThingsD, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook, where he revealed that Apple is planning to open up additional APIs in the future, giving third party developers more control over iOS.

According to Cook, while Apple will open up more APIs, it will continue to protect customers from the "risk of bad experiences."

Always a fine line, or maybe not so fine. The customer pays us to make choices on their behalf. But you'll see us open up more.

When Facebook released its Home software for Android phones in April, Facebook director of product Adam Mosseri mentioned that the company was in ongoing talks with Apple about bringing Home (and its Chat Heads functionality) to iOS.

facebookhome.jpg
According to Cook, while Chat Heads were not the ideal choice, Apple will allow third party apps to take over some iOS features in the future, allowing developers to build better and more versatile experiences.


During the question and answer session, Cook also mentioned that Apple had no issue with porting Apple apps to Android or other platforms should the need arise in the future, though such functionality doesn't make sense at the current point in time. Full coverage of Tim Cook's comments can be found here.

Popular Stories

iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...

Top Rated Comments

ArtOfWarfare Avatar
156 months ago
So then don't use it.

Also, I absolutely do not pay Apple to make choices for me. That is profoundly asinine.
Except you do. That's how they manage to keep the experience of using their products so simple. They go through every UI dialog and say, "Do we really need to give the user this option, or are they going to want to hit this button 99+% of the time?" and if the answer is that the user is generally going to want to hit that button, then they'll remove the dialog and just have that be the default behavior.

The alternative is to have endless popups. IE, what should happen when you download a file? The answer, 99% of the time, is it should go into downloads, TYVM, get out of my way. Other OS's and browsers will present other options when you want to download a file. You as the user may not even understand the implications of certain choices.

If you don't like Apple making the choices for you, you should ditch iOS and get pure Android, and you should ditch OS X and get pure Unix or Linux. Then you can begin to understand the choices that Apple has made on your behalf and the time and frustration they've saved you in doing so. Or maybe you really like all that control, and you don't like Apple making those choices, in which case, good for you, stick with those other platforms where you can make your own choices.

I, for one, think the choices that have been made tend to be pretty good... there's a few exceptions... Mission Control really sucks and I can no longer organize 90% of my windows because I no longer have a grid of spaces to work with... the only organization I have is Spotify is always full screen to the right of my main space, and everything else is piled up in my main space.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TennisandMusic Avatar
156 months ago
I have a HTC One. Chat head sucks. Facebook ruins things.
So then don't use it.

Also, I absolutely do not pay Apple to make choices for me. That is profoundly asinine.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A MacBook lover Avatar
156 months ago
best thing I read all day
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kbt1020 Avatar
156 months ago
I have a HTC One. Chat head sucks. Facebook ruins things.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jk111 Avatar
156 months ago
I would love to see a screenshot of this. Surely there is one somewhere on the web.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jameslmoser Avatar
156 months ago
Who the fk cares about Tim Cook at ATD. He can't top Steve's legacy, why even try? He is trying to be too much like Steve, especially with the comment on wearable watches: "nothing good on the market right now".

WHAT??? I can't see Steve saying half the stuff Tim says... porting Apple apps to Android?? Steve was probably rolling in his grave.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)