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iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

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Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#281

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Facetime was announced as an open standard to be. It is speculated that it never came to light because of a patent dispute[1]. [1] https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/06/make-facetime-an-open-standar...

Apple set up colocated servers across the world and changed the Facetime protocol significantly to work around a single patent (a patent for direct device to device communication of all things). I can’t imagine a patent dispute actually stopping them if they were firm on making FT an open standard.

I come from a land where patents don’t really work. I often wonder, are there any examples of patents in the field of software engineering that worked like they supposed to, protecting small collectives from powerful corporations?

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#282
post #116
post #81

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For me - it's simply a question of reliability. SMS is not reliable in the US, and I live in an area with poor coverage. My preferred mode of communication is texting but SMS is a no-go.

If it’s of any solace, SMS is not reliable anywhere in the world. It may seem reliable sometimes in some places, but that’s mostly a facade.

SMS is very reliable here in New Zealand, even more so than any IP-based systems. I've had SMS get through easily in one-signal-bar situations where IP data was nearly inoperable (especially if I happened to be attached to a 2G GPRS cell). Wonder if SMS reliability is really an issue peciular to certain networks. SMS reliability has been good for me both in NZ and all the foriegn networks I have used in my travels around the world. 4G is very good though in low signal situations so IP based protcols are improving in reliability... Just need networks to hurry up their 4G roll out and turn off their 2G/3G networks.

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 22 and live in a mid-sized city, and I've seen people trying to get into a relationship (or even something more casual, but not a platonic friendship) get rejected because of the dreaded "green bubbles" - and really, I'm not exaggerating. And not from rich people who have the latest iPhone either. In addition, I have been in friend groups that would exclude Android users because if you have even 1 Android user in…

High school senior here; I can second the prevalence of this experience starting in middle school. Oh and texting an i phone user sucks because those reactions come through like: Loved "blah blah blah" Please when texting us android plebians don't use those reaction things.

I don’t think it’s just Android users who see it. I’m on iPhone and in a group text with a mix of Android and iPhone users I see it that way too. Maybe I’m on the cusp of being old and cranky but it seems a silly thing to worry about.

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#284
post #141

It is really interesting to see the difference between countries, I travel between Asia and Europe and I knew that iMessage existed, but I thought people dropped it like SMS, years ago. Interesting to see that in a globalized world some differences still persist. I have asked around me to Iphone owners if they used iMessage and they almost never use it. It must be something specific to the US. Please do not downvote…

So people don't use SMS outside the US? I knew WhatsApp was big in other countries, but didn't realize no one even uses SMS not iMessage. What do people use in Europe?

Not Europe, but here in NZ I find most Apple owners use iMessenger. Android owners seem to prefer WhatsApp. However I'm finding more and more people using Facebook Messenger. As an Android owner I only really SMS with my husband's iPhone when I need messages to get through instantly but otherwise I just use whatever app the other person has. SMS is mostly for work contacts now days.

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High school senior here; I can second the prevalence of this experience starting in middle school. Oh and texting an i phone user sucks because those reactions come through like: Loved "blah blah blah" Please when texting us android plebians don't use those reaction things.

To be fair I am an iOS user and found the reactions an unnecessary and annoying gimmick. It’s faster to just type the “laughing with tears” emoji and press send than to use the equivalent reaction.

It’s much easier to heart the thousandth photo of a fuzzy critter my sister has saved than to formulate a response. When it’s all iPhone users the chat is a lot cleaner too.

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#286
post #20

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Apple built iMessage and FaceTime to move Apple devices. Why would or should they open it? Not to mention, it is probably tied into the hardware at a deep level — it clearly works much better on more modern phones, and better on iOS than MacOS.

Because Apple has signalled an intent to become more service oriented instead of device oriented. Because theres a limit to how many physical devices they can sell and would like to keep growing after they hit that limit. Its why Apple Music works on Android and has a Javascript SDK

Sure, Apple could sell FaceTime as a stand-alone paid service but with so many free video chat tools I’m not sure they’d have many takers.

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#287
post #161
post #40

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> iMessage motivates people to people buy iPhones instead of Android Why, though? Does your average iPhone user actually care if the bubbles they see in their chats are blue or green? If so, why? Note that I'm talking about average users. Sure, there are likely a bunch of privacy-conscious users who believe in Apple's commitment to security and privacy and prefer iMessage on those grounds. But otherwise, why? > It wo…

99% of Americans don’t want to be funneled to WhatsApp or signal for group chat. They want it to live right next to their native texts. Your group is likely different from the mainstream.

Which is why 99% of Americans get a to live in a shitty Nash equilibrium of either being socially ostracised and excluded or being locked into an expensive monopoly of a single smart phone vendor.

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#288
post #257
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iMessage motivates people to people buy iPhones instead of Android when everyone else in a social circle has it. Why should Apple give up on that? What will Apple gain from making it ubiquitous? It would in fact disappoint many people as now they can't use their phone to distance themselves from the people who don't have that blue circle. Note that I'm arguing from Apple's perspective here. From my own I believe they…

iMessage is ABSOLUTELY brilliant if your family and friends are all on iPhones, which I'm pretty sure is fairly common in most Western countries. Regardless whether you agree with that, it is super practical for me and my family. It also means we don't have run other chat software like WhatsApp. The whole experience is just so seamless and well integrated across your devices. Everything from regular messages, voiceno…

> brilliant if your family and friends are all on iPhones, which I'm pretty sure is fairly common in most Western countries

iOS market share is 60% in the US which is the highest worldwide, and only above 50% in a handful of other countries (UK, Japan, Oz, Canada)[0]. If you have any friends who are not rich, or are European or South American, there's a good chance they won't iMessage you but try to add you on WhatsApp.

[0]https://deviceatlas.com/blog/android-v-ios-market-share

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#289
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well given that it also does not do it on android I dont see that mattering.

Not really an Android or WhatsApp user, so my perspective there is probably not all that relevant ;) I am curious if any apps there fall back to SMS? I think Hangouts might have a long time back?

I think hangouts did and Facebook messenger for Android once did

Re: iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)

#290
post #141

It is really interesting to see the difference between countries, I travel between Asia and Europe and I knew that iMessage existed, but I thought people dropped it like SMS, years ago. Interesting to see that in a globalized world some differences still persist. I have asked around me to Iphone owners if they used iMessage and they almost never use it. It must be something specific to the US. Please do not downvote…

Texting was relatively expensive in Europe while it was almost free in the US. Then the iPhone was always more popular in the US as well making it something of a standard.

I notice that in the International School kids use iMessage more since it's so US/UK oriented and there are too many parents with money.

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