> iPhone customers desperately want to be able to chat together
is also laughably false lol. iPhone users just want android users to get an iphone.
is also laughably false lol. iPhone users just want android users to get an iphone.
The fact that it can be simple to share high fidelity pictures and videos, but it isn’t just because Apple wants their walled garden benefits nobody but Apple. So your claim that this is laughably false is easily refuted by my anecdotal evidence.
People that are friends or family with differing devices do exist. I know, it’s shocking. And it would be nice to have something as simple as messaging just work without all these stupid UX downgrades for no reason at all.
The only other app that I’ve seen used in several places is GroupMe, but that’s typically reserved for large groups (more than 10 people or so) that may include people you’re not friends with, but more acquaintances. So it’s been used for school classes, community groups, and things like that.
Me and my friends don’t care about green vs blue bubbles or any of that garbage. We just want to be able to communicate over the paid cellular plan that we already have. What happens in Europe has no bearing on this. All I pointed out by my comment above is that this is a problem and there are people that would like a solution.
And, not that this matters, I’m writing this on my iPhone. But, this is still an annoying problem to me because much of my family and some of my friends use android. Apple degrades my experience with family and friends for no technical reason. The only reason they do this, presumably, is to retain a large market share and promote some stupid “exclusivity” ideal that appeals to some people.
> this is a problem and there are people that would like a solution
The solution is literally downloading a free app and encouraging others to do the same.
> this is still an annoying problem to me because much of my family and some of my friends use android
Then why don't you start using Whatsapp with them? It's not like in Europe we were born with it, at some point someone told us "you are on Whatsapp, right? I'll message you there" and we downloaded the damn thing. Is it an internet connection issue? (In the sense that you need to always be able to fallback seamlessly to SMSes because the connection is spotty?)
Absolutely not. I'll never touch whatsapp with a ten thousand foot pole. If you aren't tired of facebook ruining people's lives then I don't know what to tell you, but frankly most people who pay attention are sick of FB controlling the planet.
How about instead, you use apps that don't sell your information to literally anyone who will give them a dollar? Like Apple's iMessage.
american iphone users just want others to be iphone users
Btw, Poe's law, and you are absolutely right about Europe lol. Thank you for making my point.
Then use Signal.
> Nobody is doing that. Doesn’t matter what I do.
Lol. Of course it matters: if you do it, by definition someone is doing it.
It's literally as simple as installing a cross-platform app. Apple is not stopping you from doing that.
And using a third party app/protocol is pretty much the only way right now. Even most Android users don't use RCS among themselves, because only newer phones have it enabled by default and it only works in some apps.
You don't hear iPhone users begging their friends to get on signal unless they are discussing drugs or sensitive topics. You hear android users ask iphone users to install wtv app all the time.
And I am talking about anecdotes here, but there are well-document events (some that happened this year) that do emphasize what I am saying. I won't share them though because you know... jobs... and that they should be obvious if you are following this conversation over the past decade. What I will say tho is that only one company wants (wants being generous) the other to change their messaging.
> The fact that it can be simple to share high fidelity pictures and videos, but it isn’t just because Apple wants their walled garden benefits nobody but Apple
Irrelevant. iPhone users mostly just want android users to get iphones. Doesn't matter why.
> iPhone users mostly just want android users to get iphones. Doesn't matter why.
This is anecdotal. Where is the data proclaiming this? I’ve never personally met somebody that cares what brand of phone you have.
And I guess it should also be said, I don’t use drugs or anything. I just want to be able to message friends and family without pointless restrictions. I don’t know where you’re getting these ideas from.
You might not. It is clear that the majority of iphone users don't care that android users keep complaining about green vs blue bubbles.
> Where is the data proclaiming this?
Use the mobile app usage data repository that your company provides or wtv data subscription (Bloomberg, data.ai, etc) that your company provides. After looking at aggregate, segment by iOS vs android. Hell, if you work in the mobile app space, you already know just how difficult it is to get iOS users to shift away from the apple default.
> I don’t know where you’re getting these ideas from.
like i said, techie vs normie divide. Funny you keep mentioning anecdotes when we can clearly look at the market forces. Apple isn't being pressured to change anything because their users just find it easier for others to switch to iPhone.
As others have remarked, my perspective is US-centric.
> I’ve never personally met somebody that cares what brand of phone you have.
This is incorrect, or you don't meet many people. They exist.
If you want group picture sharing, just pick a chat protocol that actually supports that, rather than bitching at Apple over what SMS, a protocol they have zero control over, can and can't do.
Apple is not deliberately degrading the experience for SMS users, or refusing to allow sharing high-quality videos and photos with SMS users. That's like saying Apple is discriminating against your grandmother by not letting you video call her landline phone from 1985.
The rest of the world uses Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal.
This blue/green bubble SMS but not SMS -thing is a 100% an American issue.
The only people that care are:
- Maybe some children
- Some immature adults
- A lot of people who have never used an iPhone and don't even know what the blue/green bubble is but whine about it anyways.
The problem is that having just one non-iphone user in the mix causes imessage to drop to SMS, taking them back a decade in functionality.
And yes, some of them do complain about it vocally. Maybe they're immature, I don't know. But it's an annoying bit of social friction, and I'm sure many android users have caved to the pressure to "upgrade" to an iphone.
The amount of features you get for groups in Telegram for example is galaxies ahead of SMS groups.
Percentage share of iphones are rising in korea and japan tho for similar reasons though.
That's what Apple wants. So they maintain arbitrary limitations to incentivize their customers to also want it.
"Android? You're buying it wrong"