“It’s time for Apple to fix texting” • Hacker News Board

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#281

Post by kelnos » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:04 PM UTC

radiojasper wrote: post #122

I still don't get why people use SMS/MMS anyway? I've been using WhatsApp for ages now and so does everybody else in my country - and every country I've been in, apart from China and Japan. My friend who's from the US once said "I've paid for those text messages, so I'm going to use them!" But if I send him a text from Europe to the US, I pay 1 damn euro per delivered text. WhatsApp is free! Is there any viable reaso…

I use WhatsApp as well, but not many of the people I communicate with have it. SMS/MMS is a common denominator that everyone with a phone number has, and can always be relied upon to work without foreknowledge that the other party has a particular app installed.

> But if I send him a text from Europe to the US, I pay 1 damn euro per delivered text

How the tables have turned! It's no secret that the US has more expensive cellular plans than the rest of the world, but with my carrier, international texting is free.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#282

Post by hnburnsy » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:05 PM UTC

dymk wrote: post #131

wincy wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? I don't even notice the difference in color except that I know not to use the tapback stuff when I'm texting an Android user. Does the green on white actually bother anyone? This seems like grasping at straws to me.

I've never heard this issue ever raised by anyone in real life. I've only seen it brought up in internet tiffs about how Apple is using green message bubbles to "shame" non-Apple users. Which is similarly straw-graspy.

yes it is a thing, from January 2022...

Why Apple’s iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-apples-imessage-is-winning-...

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#283

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:05 PM UTC

radiojasper wrote: post #122

I still don't get why people use SMS/MMS anyway? I've been using WhatsApp for ages now and so does everybody else in my country - and every country I've been in, apart from China and Japan. My friend who's from the US once said "I've paid for those text messages, so I'm going to use them!" But if I send him a text from Europe to the US, I pay 1 damn euro per delivered text. WhatsApp is free! Is there any viable reaso…

[deleted]

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#284

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:05 PM UTC

jacooper wrote: post #81

dt2m wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great point which I haven't heard before in this age-old debate. But until Apple's dominance starts to wane, there's no chance in hell they will provide iMessage for other platforms unless forced by regulation. If push comes to shove, they can implement heuristics which run texts from non-Apple devices through a harder spam filter. Spam isn't non-existent on the iMessage network, and there already seems to…

Well Apple is going to be forced anyway, the EU's Digital Markets Act will be enforced soon. And fines are up to 20% of global revenue .

[deleted]

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#285

Post by kelnos » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:05 PM UTC

simonjgreen wrote: post #257

rootusrootus wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost nobody I know uses WhatsApp. On the other hand, a significant number of people I meet do have iMessage. There's no incentive for me to install WhatsApp. Even my friends internationally all have iPhones. I don't install third-party apps unless there is a very good reason. SMS is an inferior but acceptable fallback for edge cases.

Your bubble is not representative of the whole world though. >80% of mobile devices are not iPhones. ( https://www.statista.com/statistics/272307/market-share-fore... ) 80% is not an edge case.

This is a subthread about someone not from the US being surprised at the messaging habits of people in the US, so I think quoting a stat about iPhone/iMessage penetration in the US is perfectly relevant. The US "bubble" is the only one that matters in this particular conversation, as it's specifically what this conversation is about.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#286

Post by hnburnsy » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #162

dymk wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard this issue ever raised by anyone in real life. I've only seen it brought up in internet tiffs about how Apple is using green message bubbles to "shame" non-Apple users. Which is similarly straw-graspy.

Given how cruel and capricious children tend to be, it would not surprise me in the least that iPhone-using US teenagers ostracize peers with Android devices because of the green bubbles.

they are... https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-apples-imessage-is-winning-...

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#287

Post by tannhaeuser » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

When considering Google pushing for RCS, keep in mind Google has sabotaged MMS in Android for 10+ years due to the convenient Stagefreight bug. MMS being a practical and once widely used (for ringtones and such) content distribution channel with carrier billing out of Google's reach and ever increasing lust for sensor data that can be used for ad targeting. Think sending literature, reports, music for pennies (with greedy telcos kept in check in a regulated market).

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#288

Post by staticfish » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

throwayawya11 wrote: post #24

Maybe Google should enable push notification support again for Mail.app Gmail users too.

I'm pretty sure last time I checked, Gmail supported IMAP's IDLE[1] extension just fine. I get instant notifications on Mail.app.

[1]https://samjohnston.org/2008/07/18/proof-gmail-imap-gimap-su...

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#289

Post by simonjgreen » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #241

Ah, another "grassroots" initiative to adopt a "standard" (RCS) from Google! No thanks, I don't want this RCS crap on my phone. iMessage works seamlessly on my multiple phones, iPads, and Macs. Fuck off with that carrier lock-in trash.

It's from GSMA https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/rcs/

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#290

Post by joenot443 » Tue, Aug 09, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

pwpw wrote: post #234

This is such a weirdly US specific issue. It's hard to understand why people in this country refuse to adopt a data-based messaging service such as Signal or WhatsApp like the rest of the world has. Why are US citizens so set on having a terrible experience when messaging half of the population? How did other countries decide that using platform agnostic messaging services are better? I believe the UK has a similar s…

This might be news to you, but huge amounts of land in Canada and the US is still not well served by fast cell service. In those places, you often have an unreliable single bar 3G or 2G connection, and using a data heavy messenger like WhatsApp is entirely unrealistic.