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Comment by scotchio | Hacker News Reader

Hopping from text to video in a single click is cool...

But the #1 thing that stops me from even considering buying an Android device is "it's not iMessage".

iMessage doesn't have single click to video, but it's also automatic. No hassle at all and I can blue bubble send perfection to any other iPhone-r. It's also synced to all my devices flawlessly.

I think that's what is really missing. People don't mind opening another app to place call / facetime / hangout video. They want simple, clear phone messaging that isn't an "app"

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That's basically Hangouts. I sms more from my computer than my phone but it's all synced everywhere. I'm even smsing with a co-worker from my tablet right now.

Your "That's basically Hangouts" arrangements statement is true when it comes to:

>It's also synced to all my devices flawlessly.

But as for Hangouts being flawless messaging and not just some buggy app, I have to disagree.

Often I'll type a message and hit send, it will stay in sending and never actually send. I'll need to kill the app and when I reopen, the message is gone but if I retype it and hit send, it sends immediately. This is on a Pixel 2 with Project Fi or WiFi.

Clearly that aren't doing something properly and I feel quality of the app has degraded as their efforts go elsewhere, viz. Allo, messages, etc.

Hangouts is flawless on the browser on my laptop though.

I've only ever had this happen on very very patchy internet connections. Usually when there's a captive portal that I haven't logged into (so the app doesn't know it's being blackholed).

>Often I'll type a message and hit send, it will stay in sending and never actually send. I'll need to kill the app and when I reopen, the message is gone but if I retype it and hit send, it sends immediately. This is on a Pixel 2 with Project Fi or WiFi.

I have a Pixel 2, with Project Fi, and haven't ever really had this issue.

Agreed, and it was even better before they reduced a lot of the functionality for non Fi users.

What functionality did they reduce for non-fi users?

iMessages integrates really well with os x...

os x, ios, and nothing else. That's the thing I like about gchat, it works everywhere.

Sure but I am talking about the quality of product and the vision. There is coherence. Gchat works everywhere but is not well integrated with anything.

Disclaimer: there are no ios devices in my house and I am android guy all the way. But wow does messaging suck compared to ios world

There's coherence? Try sending a message with an effect to a Mac user. (Sent with Fireworks)

"iMessage doesn't have single click to video, but it's also automatic."

I don't think i got what you are saying... What do you mean automatic?

I suspect they mean that once you've logged in with your Apple ID, which is pretty much required to use an iOS device beyond the stock apps, iMessage and FaceTime both get set up.

So, if setting up a phone for nana, you take it out of the box, set her up with an Apple ID, put it back in the box, send it to her, she takes it out of the box, and then you call or text her, all she has to do is answer the call. No futzing with downloading the right app, no having to make sure the person on the other end is using the same chat service; just doing it.

You cannot make everybody happy, i guess. If google opted in everyone to hangouts by default, people would go crazy (see chrome opting you into google accounts).

I mean, it's not like it'd be terribly hard to have an initial setup screen asking if you'd like to use Hangouts or not. I wouldn't trust Google not to make it seem mandatory, though. Or to put it in just to please Europe but in actual fact just breeze past it.

you message somebody, and they get the message. you don't have to think about what app you're using or what app they're using.

Also it's very hard to debug...

A friend on iOS think he has sent you a (SMS) text message.

You don't get it on your (non-apple) phone.

You don't get it on your (non-apple) work computer.

Three weeks later you log on to your iMac/mac-mini/whatever that you hardly ever use to find messages from whoever uses apple phones and has your email address on their contacts. It turns out that logging in to your desktop PC can link your AppleId (email address) to iMessage and start swallowing your text messages. You can only rectify this setting on an apple computer.

(Yes, I know I'm an edge case but I will never see iMessage as a good thing, walled gardens can suck).

No, you're not an edge case. iMessage does indeed not "work automatic" if you're not fully into the Apple eco system.

And if you are somewhere where SMS is not free, you might get a hefty bill.

Sounds like the Unix philosophy: "Do one thing and do it well."

More than one billion people on whatsapp disagree with you.

That's not really implied. I'm also on Whatsapp (to communicate with Android users) but I agree with every word in that comment.

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Why did you let your employer effectively commandeer your personal phone number?

Don’t let a company use your personal Apple account... nothing new there.

not an imessage problem but a your employer problem. you know the spiel that chrome puts up when you open an incognito tab?

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