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Comment by mmmlinux | Hacker News Reader

Why is SMS type texting not prevalent outside the US? I keep seeing arguments about how everyone uses whatsapp or wechat or what ever, But why? Is the SMS service not there for some reason? Is it perceived as less safe to give out your phone number? Do many people have data only devices with out a number?

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SMS is limited to 140 symbols per message (half of that for non-Latin languages), costs money, multimedia messages are a royal PITA to handle.[0]

Most providers moved to bundled plans with tons and tons of SMS included, but only when they already lost to WA.

[0] Last year I needed to send a photo through MMS. It took me 3 attempts to find a proper combo on how to photo in a format acceptible for MMS. Think 640x480 at best. Only three because I've used MMS in the past so somewhere back in my mind there are still info about it. If I were 20 y/o I wouldn't even figure out what I need to do.

One of the reasons, at least here in the UK, is that for a long time you only got so many SMS messages in your phone contract. MMS was also awful for a long time. WhatsApp solved both those problems, and most importantly was on every device possible.

And it was easy to set up. No need for accounts and email addresses. The fact that your phone number served as id and login meant that even my tech-illiterate mother was able to use it.

I think people first moved away from SMS because it cost extra to send them, while messaging apps were virtually free. Then messaging apps beat SMS on features, you can send photos, videos, files, read receipts, works across platforms, etc.

Outside the us carriers continued to charge for sms

Photo sent over MMS is potato quality. There are also other missing features eg. typing indicator.

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