Forstall also said that there are 140m iOS users of the iOS 5 "iMessage" service, which bypasses SMS systems, who are sending more than 1bn messages a day.
(Okrain says he will try to transition users by writing about the new release in the change log of the iMessage app's update).
Now this app is available in a standalone format to all iPhone and iPad users, outside of iMessage.
The update also fixes problems that millions of users had with iMessage, where it failed to send messages over the data channel.
Even so, Apple must feel that some puzzlement is a necessary evil in the interests of keeping users on iMessage – and thus the iPhone.
As part of iOS 10's new iMessage features, which incorporates apps right within the iMessage application, Confide users will be able to send self-destructing messages direct from their texts.
The iMessage extension is one of three new features Google announced today for iOS users.
FBI director James Comey criticised Apple in September 2014, meanwhile, for the inclusion of end-to-end encryption in the iMessage system.
"I've disabled Instagram" came the iMessage from my colleague.
When the iMessage App Store first launched, it was touted as the next big platform for apps – a new way for developers to gain users and make money, and was followed by an initial surge of iMessage app downloads.
