NEW DELHI: Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s vice president for Android, Chrome OS, Play, Photos, and Chrome, has tossed perhaps the harshest remarks at Apple yet for its iMessage policy. 

Accusing Apple of using iMessage to sell more iPhones, he linked the strategy to promoting bullying and peer pressure.

The comments come in the form of a tweet that shared a Wall Street Journal article about iMessage’s dominance and how it has led youngsters that own Androids to feel alienated from their iOS counterparts.

Google claims that distinction leads to "peer pressure and bullying" that has ultimately given Apple's iMessage a clear edge.

"Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing," wrote Lockheimer. "The standards exist today to fix this."

The “documented strategy” the VP is likely referring to is a 2016 email from Apple’s Phil Schiller that recently came to light during the legal tussle with Epic, where the executive expressed that “moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us.”

A similar comment was also made by Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple: “iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove an obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.”

Lockheimer’s comments are a part of the mounting barrage from Google against Apple for its refusal to adopt the RCS standard.

Meanwhile, Google has been pushing its own Rich Communication System (RCS) texting platform to better compete with iMessage.

RCS or Rich Communication Services is Google’s answer to iMessage and aims to modernize SMS with features we have grown used to on various chat apps like typing indicators, read receipts, high-quality photos, and more.