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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

#221

Post by lotsofpulp »

asclepi wrote: post #112
tkxxx7 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But it will color the bubble green. And that's why they get locked out. You seem to be attaching too much significance to the color. It really is because the experience sucks over SMS. The annoyance with the green color is just a symbol of that frustration. I implore you, to try having a meaningful group chat with a mix of users. Having just one Android user instantly degrades the experience for everyone involved.…

> You seem to be attaching too much significance to the color. I'm not. That is what the Twitter OP indicated as the actual reason. He was left out " specifically because he was on Android and turned the thread green" (sic). Or in the student's own words: "we would start a new group chat, and the group would realize I was the reason it was green, and they would start another group chat without me". Nowhere is mention…

>It could be that that the SMS experience is the reason when it comes to adults who are mature enough to leave the green/blue behind them but have a lot less tolerance for poor UX.

From poor country to rich country, I have never met teens who are less tech savvy than adults. If anything, adults have problems even understanding the difference between SMS, MMS, and other messaging protocols. Teens are the ones using the new features from iMessages, not most adults.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#222

Post by lotsofpulp »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #198

I opened Message on my Mac the other day to type a message to a friend. It switched to green and was not successful. WTH? Grabbed phone and asked him. Oh I moved to an Android. Painful. The fact that I have to use the phone to text him bugs me to no end. My current group of core friends are storing a party tomorrow and it is simple as it is all the blue text and I can read the messages on everything I own. Having to…

I can send SMS, MMS, and iMessages just fine from my macOS. Never had an issue. I assume SMS/MMS needs a mobile network connection from your phone though.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#223

Post by [deleted] »

kefabean wrote: post #88
sidr wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you believe whatsapp is not e2e encrypted? Or they're going to roll it back?

They don’t need to roll-back the E2E encryption, they can just access the data right there on the device after it’s decrypted and upload data back to FB via a sidecar. It will start with basic mining of content on the device with ‘anonymous’ summary or aggregate data being uploaded but it’s a slippery slope...

[deleted]

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#224

Post by tomatocracy »

rootusrootus wrote: post #180
viraptor wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's available in iOS but not Android? From my experience they're pretty close, but I may be missing something.

Purchase controls for TV, movies, apps, etc, which all actually work, screen time controls, time-of-day control, web site limits, etc. Along with reporting functionality and integration with parents' phones for ad hoc approvals and time extensions. I haven't found anything on Android that allowed me age-appropriate fine-grain controls that didn't require exceptions like turning the entire rule off just to allow a sin…

The most infuriating thing about Android/Google Play from this perspective is that there's no way to prevent a child from installing literally any and every free app which has the lowest rating.

On iOS you can disable installing apps, uninstalling apps, updating apps or disable the app store completely using Screen Time and before that you could (and still can) require a password/fingerprint/face ID for any app install including free.

It would take almost no effort from Google's part to replicate the last of these (add an option requiring a password to install any app, even free with lowest rating) but they seem to be unwilling to do so.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#225

Post by mandelbrotwurst »

jjeaff wrote: post #193
jdminhbg wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, if it wasn't for the coloring, they wouldn't even have noticed, except if you exchanged other data than pure text, but I can't imagine this being a real deal-breaker for planning? People very frequently exchange data other than pure text when event planning: GIFs, map pins, tapbacks to express [dis]agreement, etc.

I get gifs and likes just fine on my Android from iMessage groups I am in. I can't tell anything is missing.

We can't _send_ the tapbacks though

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#226

Post by tkxxx7 »

asclepi wrote: post #112
tkxxx7 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But it will color the bubble green. And that's why they get locked out. You seem to be attaching too much significance to the color. It really is because the experience sucks over SMS. The annoyance with the green color is just a symbol of that frustration. I implore you, to try having a meaningful group chat with a mix of users. Having just one Android user instantly degrades the experience for everyone involved.…

> You seem to be attaching too much significance to the color. I'm not. That is what the Twitter OP indicated as the actual reason. He was left out " specifically because he was on Android and turned the thread green" (sic). Or in the student's own words: "we would start a new group chat, and the group would realize I was the reason it was green, and they would start another group chat without me". Nowhere is mention…

> turned the thread green

This is a short, colloquial way of expressing all of those frustrations. It’s assumed everyone knows already, not some aesthetic thing.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#227

Post by [deleted] »

throw7 wrote: post #186
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…

> RCS is garbage. The _only_ universal _carrier_ solution for messaging is SMS. What does iMessage do to get to all cell phone users? That is the only thing that matters here. full stop. I have many relatives that wanted me to "install" Whatsapp. I refuse. So whatsapp is the failure here? Or is it me because I refuse? What is garbage is OOT. Google is not the failure. Hell, the problem is right in the title of the OP…

[deleted]

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#228

Post by viraptor »

tomatocracy wrote: post #224
rootusrootus wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Purchase controls for TV, movies, apps, etc, which all actually work, screen time controls, time-of-day control, web site limits, etc. Along with reporting functionality and integration with parents' phones for ad hoc approvals and time extensions. I haven't found anything on Android that allowed me age-appropriate fine-grain controls that didn't require exceptions like turning the entire rule off just to allow a sin…

The most infuriating thing about Android/Google Play from this perspective is that there's no way to prevent a child from installing literally any and every free app which has the lowest rating. On iOS you can disable installing apps, uninstalling apps, updating apps or disable the app store completely using Screen Time and before that you could (and still can) require a password/fingerprint/face ID for any app insta…

Huh? This seems to disagree: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7039872 - you can set approvals for both paid and free apps.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#229

Post by gregknicholson »

klondike_ wrote: post #168

Embrace, Extend, Extinguish 1. Apple embraced SMS with the original iPhone 2. Apple added encryption and other enhancements to messages which were not compatible with any other phone 3. Extinguish users who use traditional SMS/MMS by downgrading quality of service and disabling enhances features What we really need is a universal internet messaging protocol like Email, something that everyone agrees on and can delive…

> What we really need is a universal internet messaging protocol like Email, something that everyone agrees on and can deliver the rich experiences people expect today

I believe the lowest common denominator will eventually win, something like HTML or email. That may be Matrix.

Re: US Gen Z and the iMessage Lock-In

#230

Post by tomatocracy »

viraptor wrote: post #228
tomatocracy wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most infuriating thing about Android/Google Play from this perspective is that there's no way to prevent a child from installing literally any and every free app which has the lowest rating. On iOS you can disable installing apps, uninstalling apps, updating apps or disable the app store completely using Screen Time and before that you could (and still can) require a password/fingerprint/face ID for any app insta…

Huh? This seems to disagree: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7039872 - you can set approvals for both paid and free apps.

That only works if you set up a separate child account for a separate device and then manage it using Family Link.

If I want to hand my own phone over to a child for a while, there's no way (that I've found anyway) to prevent a child from installing all sorts of crapware on it.

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