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So that makes sense for Apple. But it doesn't make sense for literally every other messenger app. Why do they bother existing?

(i.e 1 billion people use Messenger X, is the game plan that some one else with an actual business model wants those billion users so they buy it... so Messenger apps are a marketing channel?)

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For WhatsApp/Facebook the business model is: access to your contacts

And I am so confused, that nobody is bothered with it, and so many users of whatsapp.

I really distrust Signal for it forcing to add contacts only by phone, not hy sone user ids/nick-names

At first messaging was a draw to have people use the portal (AOL, ICQ, MSN). Later, they tried to sell the apps as another banner slot.

The more recent bout has their own services in messaging itself; bots to provide enterprise-specific functions to Slack, payment and marketplace tie-ins to Messenger.

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