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US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

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Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#71

Post by throw0101a »

danpalmer wrote: post #8
pcmoney wrote: post #6

It is interesting that the comments on the Twitter thread are "Just use WhatsApp". Which is basically iMessage but from Facebook. Comparing two, the vendor lock-in from Apple seems much preferable to the one with Facebook in light of the data scandals Facebook has and their ongoing effort to backdoor WhatsApp and integrate it with FB messenger etc. Also a group message is only as secure as its most weakly encrypted m…

In Europe WhatsApp was huge well before Facebook purchased them. From my own experience, the product has barely changed since then, so I don't really feel like it's a Facebook product (yet), and so while I dislike using Facebook services WhatApp is basically fine for now. Almost everyone I know uses WhatsApp. Funnily enough my family are the only ones who don't, and use iMessage instead. This isn't an active choice t…

> In Europe WhatsApp was huge well before Facebook purchased them.

FB purchased them because they were huge.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#72

Post by givinguflac »

Barrin92 wrote: post #68
pcmoney wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does sell your data and is not secure. What $750 dongle? You can get an iPhone for like $300 these days. Forces itself into your life? How? Apple's data security is better than literally every other smart phone provider and its OS is fundamentally less intrusive than Android.

whatsapp messages are by default encrypted regardless of the used device, whereas imessages to android devices are simply plain text. Also which of my data does whatsapp sell, and in what way is the android operating system intruding on me? If anything ios intrudes on its users by tying key functionality of its messaging service (encryption) to the apple platform. This post is honestly full of unfounded claims, like…

Lol, you can't be serious.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#73

Post by NullPrefix »

azinman2 wrote: post #65
asclepi wrote: post #55

I do notice a pattern of misunderstanding that I've also observed when talking with Android users IRL. iMessage is very different from Whatsapp. For starters, there is no dedicated iMessage app. iMessage is managed from the iOS Messages app, which handles both iMessage and SMS. It's very good at managing both from one unified interface. In fact, it's so good that it uses arbitrary coloring of messages so you can see…

Sorry, but group chat over SMS is crap. Lots of Android phones as well don’t operate group SMS well, you get reduced resolution in photos and videos, can’t like/heart messages in the same way, no typing indicators, etc etc. Losing iMessage features sucks when you’re otherwise used to it.

>no typing indicators

That is a feature. Also no "seen" privacy violators.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#74

Post by givinguflac »

damnyou wrote: post #26
pcmoney wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does sell your data and is not secure. What $750 dongle? You can get an iPhone for like $300 these days. Forces itself into your life? How? Apple's data security is better than literally every other smart phone provider and its OS is fundamentally less intrusive than Android.

You are forced to buy apps from Apple if you want to use iMessage. Forced to use Apple's crappy voice software. Forced to use Apple's crappy TV box if you want to mirror your screen.

you aren't forced to use their voice software, and the major TV brands all have airplay built in now so you don't even need Apple TV... But yeah iMessage is on iOS though I don't see how you must buy apps to use it??

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#75

Post by wronglebowski »

Kadin wrote: post #64

I switched to iOS (via a used iPhone on a BYOD plan) primarily for iMessage. I was tired of being the odd man out, missing out on things that were being planned via group messages, etc. Nobody was going to switch to an entirely different mode of communication just for my sake, so the existence of theoretical alternatives doesn't really matter. (And I do try to use Facebook Messenger for group chats, so as not to lock…

I can't imagine RCS getting the momentum to become a real viable platform. Even if it's integrated into Android phones and seamless from the users perspective the major carriers have no interest in putting forth the effort or making it a real thing. I suspect it will be a nice to have feature like "HD Calling" where calls have increased quality.

With Google lacking any real leadership in the Android division(See Wear OS) this problem won't be solved anytime soon. I recently switched from Android to iOS because I have faith in their ecosystem and vision. Sure it's a walled garden, but I'd rather have a nice walled garden that's tended to than a forest with no supervision, direction or purpose.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#76

Post by nerdjon »

asclepi wrote: post #55

I do notice a pattern of misunderstanding that I've also observed when talking with Android users IRL. iMessage is very different from Whatsapp. For starters, there is no dedicated iMessage app. iMessage is managed from the iOS Messages app, which handles both iMessage and SMS. It's very good at managing both from one unified interface. In fact, it's so good that it uses arbitrary coloring of messages so you can see…

Except there is more to it than just the green bubbles.

- Reactions to messages

- Any applications in group chats

- Encrypted

- Seen and typing indicators

The biggest single thing that I actually care about. There is a nice button "Leave this Conversation" I can click on an iMessage group chat, and it leaves the conversation.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#77

Post by Barrin92 »

givinguflac wrote: post #72
Barrin92 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whatsapp messages are by default encrypted regardless of the used device, whereas imessages to android devices are simply plain text. Also which of my data does whatsapp sell, and in what way is the android operating system intruding on me? If anything ios intrudes on its users by tying key functionality of its messaging service (encryption) to the apple platform. This post is honestly full of unfounded claims, like…

Lol, you can't be serious.

I'm entirely serious. I have no idea what it even means for android to intrude on me in this context. I know what an intrusive app is, I don't know what an intrusive operating system is.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#78

Post by NobodyNada »

azinman2 wrote: post #65
asclepi wrote: post #55

I do notice a pattern of misunderstanding that I've also observed when talking with Android users IRL. iMessage is very different from Whatsapp. For starters, there is no dedicated iMessage app. iMessage is managed from the iOS Messages app, which handles both iMessage and SMS. It's very good at managing both from one unified interface. In fact, it's so good that it uses arbitrary coloring of messages so you can see…

Sorry, but group chat over SMS is crap. Lots of Android phones as well don’t operate group SMS well, you get reduced resolution in photos and videos, can’t like/heart messages in the same way, no typing indicators, etc etc. Losing iMessage features sucks when you’re otherwise used to it.

MMS is also extremely unreliable compared to iMessage (as I mentioned in another comment thread). Messages are often delayed by upwards of 15 minutes, and I can't send or receive at all if I'm somewhere with less-than-perfect cell coverage (including my home and work). Additionally, some cellular plans can't receive MMS at all, and I've seen some Android phones unable to receive messages sent to a group larger than 8 or 10 participants.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#79

Post by asclepi »

n8henry wrote: post #58
asclepi wrote: post #55

I do notice a pattern of misunderstanding that I've also observed when talking with Android users IRL. iMessage is very different from Whatsapp. For starters, there is no dedicated iMessage app. iMessage is managed from the iOS Messages app, which handles both iMessage and SMS. It's very good at managing both from one unified interface. In fact, it's so good that it uses arbitrary coloring of messages so you can see…

They are locking their Android friends out of group messages, which are very popular among that age group.

The same applies. Messages can perfectly handle group messages that include a mix of iOS and Android users. Unlike Whatsapp, Messages doesn't require that every participant has Messages, nor that they have an iPhone. Messages will send each and every group message to every Android user in the group using SMS.

But it will color the bubble green. And that's why they get locked out.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#80

Post by tyree731 »

azinman2 wrote: post #65
asclepi wrote: post #55

I do notice a pattern of misunderstanding that I've also observed when talking with Android users IRL. iMessage is very different from Whatsapp. For starters, there is no dedicated iMessage app. iMessage is managed from the iOS Messages app, which handles both iMessage and SMS. It's very good at managing both from one unified interface. In fact, it's so good that it uses arbitrary coloring of messages so you can see…

Sorry, but group chat over SMS is crap. Lots of Android phones as well don’t operate group SMS well, you get reduced resolution in photos and videos, can’t like/heart messages in the same way, no typing indicators, etc etc. Losing iMessage features sucks when you’re otherwise used to it.

IMHO the bigger problem with group chat over SMS is that some networks (looking at you AT&T) limit the number of participants in a group SMS chat to ten. If you try to send a message to more than ten people it sends it ten of them, silently ignoring the rest, leading to weird fractured SMS group chats.
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