Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone' • Hacker News Board

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#141

Post by cloogshicer » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 5:03 PM UTC

cloogshicer wrote: post #42

Thankfully, shit like this will soon be illegal in the EU when the Digital Markets Act hits. Hopefully they'll plug all the loopholes and actually enforce it. I don't understand how anyone can defend business practices like this, which are exclusively there for the purpose of platform lock-in.

Also, this is not about Android or iMessage specifically, it's about interoperability. WhatsApp etc. are just as guilty.

Wouldn't it be amazing if you could message all your friends in a single App, without having to think about what platform they're using? If you could just see and respond to all their messages in a single thread, one for each friend?

The number of messengers I have installed on my phone (and I'm forced to use regularly because they're not interoperable) is madness.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#142

Post by tshaddox » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 5:09 PM UTC

MagnumOpus wrote: post #108

emodendroket wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like a stretch to claim that Apple’s position in either market is truly dominant given a similarly sized competitor.

Not a stretch - one of the criteria of dominance is being able to make abnormal profits. The company's famous 200% markups that are triple that of everyone else in the industry is a strong sign. (Even if you disregard that its next-biggest competitor Samsung is 10x smaller in phone revenues.)

Their mobile hardware is generally comparable to competitors' flagships both in tech specs and prices, so aren't the profits more of an issue with scale and efficiency? It feels like quite the stretch to claim that Apple is able to massively overcharge for its phones because they control access to iMessage.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#143

Post by _whiteCaps_ » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 5:19 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #138

mrguyorama wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently was a part of my fathers wedding. His new wife sent me tens of pictures and videos that I was excited for because I'm bad at taking pictures. Each and every picture and video had absurdly low resolution, to the point that they were useless and unviewable. I don't know why apple struggles to do something my damn flip phone from 2005 could do no problem, other than doing it on purpose.

MMS (flip phone from 2005) is not sending 4K 10MP photos and videos. I do not think any chat protocols promises sharing multimedia at original quality. iMessage is the only one I know of, and that is only when both users are on wifi. If the goal is to send and receive full quality media, then messaging protocols are not the proper way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services

RCS was designed to fix this, but Apple won't implement it.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#144

Post by thih9 » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 5:36 PM UTC

metalliqaz wrote: post #135

thih9 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assumed the latest idea was for Apple to adopt RCS > But Apple can adopt RCS—the modern industry standard—for these threads instead. Source: https://www.android.com/get-the-message/ , published around the beginning of August as far as I recall.

They already support good, old-fashioned text messages, they could just do it without being petty.

Messages is a complex app. I imagine adding a new protocol (with its own quirks) and ensuring it stays compatible with everything else is in the best case not easy.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#145

Post by shpx » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 6:24 PM UTC

dvngnt_ wrote: post #17

RichardCNormos wrote: post #12

Quoted post unavailable.

sounds like a troll comment

It is, but I’m disappointed that it’s flagged because regardless of how much we might dislike it, it’s still a common view.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#146

Post by angryasian » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 6:26 PM UTC

blantonl wrote: post #81

cloogshicer wrote: post #42

Thankfully, shit like this will soon be illegal in the EU when the Digital Markets Act hits. Hopefully they'll plug all the loopholes and actually enforce it. I don't understand how anyone can defend business practices like this, which are exclusively there for the purpose of platform lock-in.

Since when did Apple have any obligation to provide iMessage to Android users? 10 years ago? Now? I think Tim Cook is spot on here. Get an iPhone for your grandma if she wants the user experience that iMessages provide. Otherwise, you can get her signal or snapchat or one of the 4,225 secure messaging ecosystems.

Since they are contributing to school bullying. not having a blue bubble shouldn't matter, but we forget how brutal school was.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#147

Post by angryasian » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 6:27 PM UTC

gw99 wrote: post #45

felixdaq wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average Joe does not know the difference between SMS and the more advanced features that iMessage offers when messaging withing the apple ecosystem. All they see is that androids are unable to send high quality images, send reactions etc.

Err yeah they do know. Everyone just uses WhatsApp.

Meta's whatsapp is not great either. Telegram or Signal are better alternatives.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#148

Post by angryasian » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 6:30 PM UTC

sircastor wrote: post #65

metalliqaz wrote: post #15

Remember how much shit Microsoft got when they did crap like this with Windows and IE? I guess Bill Gates just wasn't charming enough.

Microsoft’s market share was substantially higher then Apples is in their relative market segments.

when looked at by manuf. this isn't true at all.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#149

Post by angryasian » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 6:31 PM UTC

What happened to this HN community. Apple took what was an open standard for interoperability, added "paywall" features on top of it, and its even to the point where people are ostracized for not buying into this paywall.

This behavior should be condemned not celebrated.

Re: Tim Cook's response to Android texting compatibility: 'buy your mom an iPhone'

#150

Post by threatofrain » Thu, Sep 08, 2022, 6:56 PM UTC

angryasian wrote: post #146

blantonl wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when did Apple have any obligation to provide iMessage to Android users? 10 years ago? Now? I think Tim Cook is spot on here. Get an iPhone for your grandma if she wants the user experience that iMessages provide. Otherwise, you can get her signal or snapchat or one of the 4,225 secure messaging ecosystems.

Since they are contributing to school bullying. not having a blue bubble shouldn't matter, but we forget how brutal school was.

The color also refers to whether your messages are end to end encrypted, which is a big deal in messaging. Is the presence or absence of a padlock on browsers embarrassing? What if iMessage merely said “This message is not secured by encryption.”?