5 ms·

Holy moly, Apple is very aware of the competing chat apps. iMessage looks amazing and they packed a lot of features in there, but I wonder how they're going to

by orbitur 10y ago

Holy moly, Apple is very aware of the competing chat apps. iMessage looks amazing and they packed a lot of features in there, but I wonder how they're going to make it all easily discoverable.

manmal 10y ago
Look at Snapchat, it's a mess and still people figure out how to turn their selfie video into a bloodthirsty rabbit.
wodenokoto 10y ago
The problem is not discoverability, the problem is certainty that the counter part can receive these things. I already find the SMS app on iOS confusing. Am I sending a paid SMS or a free message? I dare say one of the major advantages of messaging apps in general is the certainty that the receiver will receive the message in the same shape as the sender send it. With MMS you never know if the picture can be opened, and people just gave up.
- dcgoss 10y ago
  Green bubble = SMS. Blue bubble = iMessage (data only, doesn't count towards text limits). I would assume the app would only let you use the new features with other iMessage users.
  - matt-attack 10y ago
    Even better, you can tell before you click "Send" whether the message will be green or blue, by looking at the color of the send button. Kinda nice, you can actually just enter any phone number in the "To:" field and wait a second, and check the color of the button. This will tell you instantly whether a given phone number is for an iPhone or not. Kinda neat.
- zanny 10y ago
  Its almost like SMS is an awful messaging protocol nobody should be using.
partiallypro 10y ago
Really? I felt the presentation of iMessage was embarrassingly trying to seem hip. The only thing I didn't find to be annoying bloat was the ability to tap and "like" a message. Really cuts down on messages like "great" and "ok." Otherwise it honestly felt like Yahoo Messenger from 2005 in level of bloat, where you could "buzz" people and shake their windows. People use things that aren't iMessage, not because of features, but because they are cross platform and secure. Apple doesn't have that, so everything to me just felt like texting with bloatware. I don't find those features confusing, just annoying.
- chillacy 10y ago
  I dunno, I think my parents will like it. One of the great features of snapchat is the ability to caption images with stickers and text. It's a lot of fun.
  - alttab 10y ago
    One of the other great features is being able to send a snap to someone on an Android device.
- yoz-y 10y ago
  No. People use other apps because they have a large adoption and stickers (we chat and line) or because they were free while sms were not (whats app). Only us tech nerds care about security.
  - EugeneOZ 10y ago
    But not only nerds think about cross-device compatibility.
    - yoz-y 10y ago
      Of course, that is how you get to the large user base. but I think it is wrong to assume that users care about security. If they did nobody would use SMS, email or Mc Donald's wifi but here we are. It is a very important feature, but it does not sell.

by orbitur 10y ago

Holy moly, Apple is very aware of the competing chat apps. iMessage looks amazing and they packed a lot of features in there, but I wonder how they're going to make it all easily discoverable.

manmal 10y ago

Look at Snapchat, it's a mess and still people figure out how to turn their selfie video into a bloodthirsty rabbit.

wodenokoto 10y ago

The problem is not discoverability, the problem is certainty that the counter part can receive these things. I already find the SMS app on iOS confusing. Am I sending a paid SMS or a free message? I dare say one of the major advantages of messaging apps in general is the certainty that the receiver will receive the message in the same shape as the sender send it. With MMS you never know if the picture can be opened, and people just gave up.

dcgoss 10y ago
Green bubble = SMS. Blue bubble = iMessage (data only, doesn't count towards text limits). I would assume the app would only let you use the new features with other iMessage users.
- matt-attack 10y ago
  Even better, you can tell before you click "Send" whether the message will be green or blue, by looking at the color of the send button. Kinda nice, you can actually just enter any phone number in the "To:" field and wait a second, and check the color of the button. This will tell you instantly whether a given phone number is for an iPhone or not. Kinda neat.
zanny 10y ago
Its almost like SMS is an awful messaging protocol nobody should be using.

partiallypro 10y ago

Really? I felt the presentation of iMessage was embarrassingly trying to seem hip. The only thing I didn't find to be annoying bloat was the ability to tap and "like" a message. Really cuts down on messages like "great" and "ok." Otherwise it honestly felt like Yahoo Messenger from 2005 in level of bloat, where you could "buzz" people and shake their windows. People use things that aren't iMessage, not because of features, but because they are cross platform and secure. Apple doesn't have that, so everything to me just felt like texting with bloatware. I don't find those features confusing, just annoying.

chillacy 10y ago
I dunno, I think my parents will like it. One of the great features of snapchat is the ability to caption images with stickers and text. It's a lot of fun.
- alttab 10y ago
  One of the other great features is being able to send a snap to someone on an Android device.
yoz-y 10y ago
No. People use other apps because they have a large adoption and stickers (we chat and line) or because they were free while sms were not (whats app). Only us tech nerds care about security.
- EugeneOZ 10y ago
  But not only nerds think about cross-device compatibility.
  - yoz-y 10y ago
    Of course, that is how you get to the large user base. but I think it is wrong to assume that users care about security. If they did nobody would use SMS, email or Mc Donald's wifi but here we are. It is a very important feature, but it does not sell.