4 ms·

Is SMS free in the US? I don't understand why it's still so widely used when almost every other country has moved on to WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Viber, Signal, T

by pcr0 7y ago

Is SMS free in the US? I don't understand why it's still so widely used when almost every other country has moved on to WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Viber, Signal, Telegram, Messenger etc.

eppp 7y ago
Because using some combination of eight different messaging apps seems insane?
- pcr0 7y ago
  I think most people stick to 1-2 apps based on their culture and friends. But when you live in a culturally diverse society you end up having to install quite a few (e.g. WeChat for China, Kakao for Korea, LINE for Japan/Taiwan, Whatsapp for India/many other countries, Signal for the privacy expert in your life), etc. I'd consider SMS as an "app" too, with the limitation of no group chats, and requires a roaming SIM card if you happen to go abroad.
  - ksaj 7y ago
    I use one app. It is called SMS. That way I don't have to work around "1-2" apps that do the same thing. All my friends and acquaintances (even my parents!) have SMS. I don't have to care that some of them have other redundant trendy apps, since they all also have SMS.
parliament32 7y ago
Because it's like email: It's guaranteed that 99.9% of people meet can send/receive it, for free. It's far easier to establish communication instead of playing the platform-negotiation game then trying to remember where to message who. Out of the examples you listed, personally, I don't use FB properties (so no WhatsApp or Messenger), nobody here uses WeChat/Line, Telegram is gross (hard pass on closed source faux-secure messaging), and I've never even heard of Viber. But I use Signal, and it's integrated with SMS (in the Signal app, it'll use Signal to talk with other Signal users automatically, and fallback to SMS otherwise). And yeah, SMS is basically free (read: unlimited usage included in pretty much every phone plan on every carrier) in North America.
- fao_ 7y ago
  > And yeah, SMS is basically free (read: unlimited usage included in pretty much every phone plan on every carrier) in North America. And it should be. As I understand it the messages are sent as part of the usual cell tower polling messages with no overhead for the network (Which is why they're length-limited).
beart 7y ago
Most data plans include unlimited messaging
chadlavi 7y ago
Practically, yes. Basically all phone plans except burner phones have unlimited SMS now. It's the default text based messaging service in the US. Though I would expect that to change pretty rapidly once gen z is in the ascendant. I don't think they use SMS much, a lot more Instagram messenger than anything it seems like.

by pcr0 7y ago

Is SMS free in the US? I don't understand why it's still so widely used when almost every other country has moved on to WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Viber, Signal, Telegram, Messenger etc.

eppp 7y ago

Because using some combination of eight different messaging apps seems insane?

pcr0 7y ago
I think most people stick to 1-2 apps based on their culture and friends. But when you live in a culturally diverse society you end up having to install quite a few (e.g. WeChat for China, Kakao for Korea, LINE for Japan/Taiwan, Whatsapp for India/many other countries, Signal for the privacy expert in your life), etc. I'd consider SMS as an "app" too, with the limitation of no group chats, and requires a roaming SIM card if you happen to go abroad.
- ksaj 7y ago
  I use one app. It is called SMS. That way I don't have to work around "1-2" apps that do the same thing. All my friends and acquaintances (even my parents!) have SMS. I don't have to care that some of them have other redundant trendy apps, since they all also have SMS.

parliament32 7y ago

Because it's like email: It's guaranteed that 99.9% of people meet can send/receive it, for free. It's far easier to establish communication instead of playing the platform-negotiation game then trying to remember where to message who. Out of the examples you listed, personally, I don't use FB properties (so no WhatsApp or Messenger), nobody here uses WeChat/Line, Telegram is gross (hard pass on closed source faux-secure messaging), and I've never even heard of Viber. But I use Signal, and it's integrated with SMS (in the Signal app, it'll use Signal to talk with other Signal users automatically, and fallback to SMS otherwise). And yeah, SMS is basically free (read: unlimited usage included in pretty much every phone plan on every carrier) in North America.

fao_ 7y ago
> And yeah, SMS is basically free (read: unlimited usage included in pretty much every phone plan on every carrier) in North America. And it should be. As I understand it the messages are sent as part of the usual cell tower polling messages with no overhead for the network (Which is why they're length-limited).

beart 7y ago

Most data plans include unlimited messaging

chadlavi 7y ago

Practically, yes. Basically all phone plans except burner phones have unlimited SMS now. It's the default text based messaging service in the US. Though I would expect that to change pretty rapidly once gen z is in the ascendant. I don't think they use SMS much, a lot more Instagram messenger than anything it seems like.