Android @lemdro.id ijeff @lemdro.id 8mo ago

9to5Google: iMessage for Android doesn't matter, just use good apps

9to5google.com I don't want iMessage for Android – I just want everyone to use good messaging apps

iMessage for Android is only a cool idea because of the ridiculous attitude that's developed around the service, when other apps exist.

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118 comments

This is entirely a USA problem. No one in Europe uses iMessage as their primary messaging app.
- What do they use? Whatsapp? Wechat? Signal?
  
  Whatsapp
  
  Over here it's Facebook Messenger, followed by Telegram and only then WhatsApp. Signal is niche stuff for nerds such as yours truly.
  
  Depends on the country but mostly WhatsApp followed in second place by Telegram
  
  Germany uses Whatsapp and Signal. Whatsapp for the older generation, Signal for the younger ones. But almost everyone has both. Telegram is a niche messenger for conspiracy theorists and alt-righters, because it's russian and those people love Russia.
  
  Edgelord Easel
  
  Viber
- And I refuse to use any Facebook products, so what’s app can fuck right off
- That's a wildly generalizing and inaccurate statement
  
  True, a small minority uses iMessage but it's so small, the EU didn't even look twice at iMessage when assessing digital gatekeepers.
  
  In what country do you live? I live in Germany and not even iPhone users use iMessage.
- Not a problem for me lmao. No one I talk to uses apple products because we have self respect
I really hate that some people I know only use Facebook Messenger, some use Instagram, some use Discord, and some use text.

It's a nightmare when working in groups for uni, so I just email everyone. Email has all the features I like.
Yeah the vast, vast majority of folk use Android, it's Apple that fucked up SMS.

Fuck them, nobody uses SMS for that reason, let Apple sort it out, or be forced to by the EU again lol
- This is so comically wrong I don’t know where to start. SMS was fucked from the get go, especially in the US where it was common to charge by the message for SMS. Seriously. It was $0.25 to send and $0.10 to receive them on a lot of people’s plans.
  
  The wireless carriers fucked SMS, and will absolutely fuck up RCS - along with all the various providers out there. It’s a dogshit standard that isn’t broadly interoperable still.
  
  iMessage was a breath of fresh air for people who did use SMS.
  
  It's so weird to me that in the US you pay to receive messages or calls. Where I live the sender pays, or the caller pays. It doesn't cost to receive. Plus you normally get unlimited messages anyway, like even a approx US$10 a month plan will have unlimited SMS included and like 200 minutes of outbound calling, plus data.
  
  If you're paying for messages received then people can send you unsolicited messages and it costs you money?
  
  You’re insanely correct, and it was extra fucked because it wasn’t even MORE DATA being used. It was piggybacking on unused data packets already being sent to towers, hence the character limit. BUT WE CAN NAKE MORE MONEY IF WE CHARGE FOR THAT
  
  You’re totally right but this is the android community…so we’re gonna need you to start sounding like the echoes here or you can leave.
  
  /s
  
  Sms was from a time communications weren't done over IP, RCS or iMessage use the IP protocol, RCS could be implemented by the telcos but isn't because , unlike SMS, it can also be implemented by anyone with a server with a connection to the internet but as RCS is an open GSMA telecom standard, it is implemented within all modem chips by phone makers, even Apple has a Qualcomm modem chip with RCS management included. I reckon it needs a few extra features in the basic standard such as E2E encryption, chatbot capabilities, malware and spoofing protection, maybe Google could help there as they have introduced those into their Message app and could disclose their code, but they are obviously trying hard to create a walled garden too... The solution could come from Meta as they seem pretty keen to advance on open communications (Threads interoperability with Mastodon is a demonstration of that policy)
  
  iMessage was a breath of fresh air for people who did use SMS.
  
  But even before the launch of iMessage it was dumb to communicate mainly over SMS simply because of how shitty it was back then.
- let Apple sort it out, or be forced to by the EU again lol
  
  The EU's Digital Markets Act doesn't care about niche messengers like iMessage.
  
  Apple has already sorted it out. They announced support for RCS is coming.
- Not in the US. Apple has about 60% of the market.
  
  True, but my entire family uses iPhones and I made them all switch to Signal.
  
  iMessage isn't required.
The elephant in the room, of course, is that this is literally only a problem in the United States. Everywhere else in the world, folks are totally fine using messaging apps. WhatsApp is pretty popular worldwide, and there are regional favorites too. But, the point is, it’s only in the States that people seem to be against this idea. The answer for why is very much up for debate, but the conversation is, at this point, just getting exhausting.

Can confirm, as a Brit. We probably would have a sardonic explanation for why only people in the States are against using other messengers too...
- Yep. In Japan we all use LINE with a small fraction of (largely Western foreigners) using whatsapp. Korea has kakaotalk with some (also?) using LINE. I'm not sure what's most popular in Chinese circles these days; WeChat, maybe?
- I'm Canadian and use a ton of messaging services. It had honestly become ridiculous until I started using Beeper!
- I went to great lengths to get my family group chat migrated from FB Messenger over to WhatsApp, and then Meta bought WhatsApp. I'm doomed. I'll never get these Americans to transition to something like Signal
- I think this might be changing in the U.S., because my friend group only talks on Discord. I don't even have their phone numbers.
I still really miss Google Hangouts. It was integrated with Gmail as a web interface. The web and mobile app synced perfectly. You could use SMS/MMS, or chat, seamlessly in the same interface. Contacts worked correctly. SMS and chat history saved to Gmail so all the text was searchable. It was AMAZING and Google killed it for no reason, only to later replace it with inferior options.

Edit: oh yeah, you could also make phone calls, or group voice and video calls using the same app/web interface.
- I mean you can do literally all of those things with Google Chat.
  
  You can text with it? Just looked at it and don't see any options for that. And don't see group calls.
tell that to everyone i know
I want to use good apps, but my family members don't. I can't just avoid my family.
Can a European please explain to me how it could possibly be better to need to switch between Signal, Telegram, Discord, Viber, WeChat, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram? How is that better than one app (SMS) that is guaranteed to be deliverable to everybody?

If each email service used a proprietary protocol to only communicate with its own service, people would be livid.

This isn't because I want iMessage, but because the suggestion every time these posts come up to "just use Signal/WhatsApp/Telegram/etc" is a frustrating take.
- SMS used to cost money per text which is why Whatsapp etc al. took no time to reach critical market penetration. Literally nobody uses SMS anymore.
  
  Edit: also iphone market share was much smaller IIRC, so people started using apps that were available both on android and iOS from the start.
  
  SMS is being used currently for messaging between iOS and android users.
  
  Literally lots of people still use this today.
- How is that better than one app (SMS) that is guaranteed to be deliverable to everybody?
  
  WhatsApp delivers to everybody as everybody in Europe has WhatsApp.
- Because they only really use WhatsApp. None uses signal as much as the Internetshah's you to think and not to sure about telegram.
What is wrong with simply texting? If anyone tells me I need to get a specific app to message them, then I won't be messaging them.
- Security is probably the most important, but there are also general chat utility features such as replies and read receipts.
- This right here is the attitude that most people have, because it's not convenient for them. Suck it up, there are many things in life you do not want to do, but you have to do them anyways.
  
  I most definitely do not need to get a specific app to talk to people. If they require that, I simply won't communicate with them. It's pretty easy really.

118 comments