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> While blue-bubble FOMO is certainly real, suggesting that it’s the reason people want iPhones is A-grade, uncut “people only buy Apple products because they’r
by LesZedCB 5y ago
> While blue-bubble FOMO is certainly real, suggesting that it’s the reason people want iPhones is A-grade, uncut “people only buy Apple products because they’re status symbols” kind of delusion.
~ Macworld.com
yeah, ok...
> Since Apple made that choice not to support Android, though, it’s probably safe to say that Apple never actually intended for iMessage to compete for instant-message domination over the rest of the world
apple has made exclusive decisions over and over and over again. and i think everybody outside of the apple bubble knows that its because Brand Prestige is a HUGE part of apples branding.
- netizen-936824 5y agoBlue bubble FOMO isn't real though, at least I've never heard of it outside these few articles claiming its a thing
- Wowfunhappy 5y agoWell, I've heard of it. And frankly, I have it myself, too.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y agoWell, admitting you have a problem is the first step
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- colinmhayes 5y agoGreen texts are objectively worse. It's hard to have text conversations with iPhone users as a none iPhone user because they refuse to use messaging apps and sms takes like 20 seconds. Not to mention degraded media quality and lack of all the other features iMessage has.
- knaik94 5y agoI have yet see a meaningful difference between Whatsapp and iMessage. The degraded media happens because Apple like to use non standard formats for media and the framework of iMessage is based around compatibility with MMS and SMS. MMS is pretty limited even in the age of 5g. Apple could easily allow iMessage to work on android but they don't because they know people will buy iPhones for iMessage.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- colinmhayes 5y agoWhatsApp is just as good as iMessage. The problem is almost no iPhone users in the US use it in my experience. Everyone is happy with their iMessage.
- pmontra 5y agoWhat do people with Android phones use, SMS? In Europe not only Android is dominant but people use WhatsApp or Messenger. iPhone owners must use them too as their primary messaging app. I guess they have their iMessage full with SMS from banks and other notifications, like my Android SMS app.
- navjack27 5y agoYes Or mms or rcs. Sometimes you could be texting another person on an Android that's just on a different carrier and for whatever reason you can't get the rcs status. And this applies to way more than just texting... Some carriers let calls that stay within their own network sound way better. Switch sims and boom, crap quality. I use whatever The other person wants to use though. Telegram, discord, Skype, email, text, Twitter, whatever
- Nextgrid 5y agoIt's "as good" except for Zuckerberg creeping around in the shadows and using Whatsapp as a backdoor to your contacts list to infer who you're talking to. Apple has yet to do this and so far there's little indication they are going to. WA having terrible uptake in the US is a good thing.
- technothrasher 5y agoI had never heard of it either until I switched to an iPhone for unrelated reasons. Half my contacts suddenly were congratulating me on being "blue". It was... weird.
- zelphirkalt 5y agoSounds like a cult. It is very creepy, to have many people message you after you install a messenger too.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- XorNot 5y agoTo be fair this is something I would do ironically because I'm a millenial and that's how my humor works. Though I would also not be surprised to find people who felt this genuinely.
- jakelazaroff 5y agoAlso a millennial, have seen people say this both in jest and in earnest.
- democra 5y agoAre you really going with "I've never really heard of it, so it isn't real."? It's not how it works.
- vineyardmike 5y agoanecdata: I heard about it a lot. ESPECIALLY when i was in high school and college. Definitely heard girls (with iphones) gossip and discussing prospective men and say "but his texts are green". Its not code for "he isn't rich" - I went to a private school and hung out with sorority girls so everyone was well off, but something more ambiguous. Something makes blue bubbles feel better. Maybe its just that iMessage is a more rich form of communication vs SMS, and people hate needing another app to check for that one android user in their life.
- UnpossibleJim 5y agoYeah, I use Signal for a few of my friends and I try to get others in so we can all be in the same chat group on PC and phone, the responses I get would make you think I asked them to feed their children to piranha.
- martimarkov 5y agoSome of my friends are refusing to join solely on all my signal contacts get notified I’m on signal now. Which I agree to an extent and there is actually no way to disable it.
- netizen-936824 5y agoOr perhaps we shouldn't trust apple with our communication data and move everyone to something lime signal But yea, I wouldn't want to date someone who thinks like that anyhow. Their values are obviously too different from my own if they value iMessage over security, privacy, and the ability to modify my own devices
- Nextgrid 5y agoBesides its E2E, Signal has all the downsides of iMessage; it still relies on phone numbers as identity, is a centralized walled garden hostile to third-party clients and the desktop client is an Electron pile of shit.
- 5y ago
- nr2x 5y agoSwitching from iphone, which all my friends and family use, to a pixel caused so many issues with texting I almost went back to iOS solely because I was causing headaches for others. FOMO is real for sure, but plain old inconvenience is also at play. If your entire family and social circle is on iOS, it's a massive pain to leave. This is by design.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nrmitchi 5y agoI completely understand what you mean by this, and what bothers me the most is that this is problem should be entirely avoidable. Pleaes correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of a single technical reason why "a non iphone in a group chat" has to cause such infuriating levels of inconvenience for everyone involved. Someone had to put explicit effort into making it as unbearable as it is. The only reason I can think of is Apple using a dominant position in a network in order to sabotage alternatives.
- notriddle 5y agoRCS is great. They should have done it ten years ago. Sure, ten years ago it probably didn’t seem to matter, but the iPhone 5 already bumped the screen size from 3.5in to 4in the rear camera was already 1080p, and “phablets” were already a term in 2012. It was totally foreseeable that MMS size limits where going to be a problem, if they weren’t already! What a great case of skating where the puck is, instead of skating where it’s headed. RCS existed as a spec, just not implemented by carriers. The fact that Apple, and even Google, are routing around their MMS servers is totally their fault.
- giantrobot 5y ago> Pleaes correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of a single technical reason why "a non iphone in a group chat" has to cause such infuriating levels of inconvenience for everyone involved. SMS/MMS is the lowest common denominator for non-Messages devices. So including a non-Messages device in a group chat means the whole chat needs to be downgraded to SMS. Even if Apple added support for RCS tomorrow, group chats would need to downgrade to it and lose E2EE and rely on the participants carriers to deliver messages just like with SMS. There's no good way for Apple to integrate the shit show of non-Messages protocols in a sane way. Carriers made a mess of RCS in the design, implementation, and deployment. Google has had to run their own RCS backend to allow Android users to actually use RCS thanks to the carriers' bungling and meddling. Even they haven't helped the situation with a decade of half-starts in messaging apps. Blaming Apple is a bit ridiculous. They're not going to spend a billion dollars fixing the problems created by carriers and Google when they already have their own messaging system.
- ideamotor 5y agoOh it's real. It's very frustrating to text people who can't receive live photos, videos sent are reduced in quality by a significant degree, can't receive replies to specific comments, and can't receive link previews. People don't click links without a preview, period. So no use sending a video or live photo via icloud link either. I have absolutely minimized texting android users due to these issues. It probably helps that 80% of the folks I text regularly (or have at some point) are apple users.
- smcleod 5y agoThat's not iMessage / Apple's fault - that's a limitation of the SMS and MMS technologies.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoIf only there were a more modern standard, it could be called RCS
- mehrdada 5y agoRCS is an inferior anti-user unencrypted "standard" to iMessage; too little, too late, and driven by Google who effectively bribes carriers to get behind it by providing backend servers to them and sell out the user. No user wants additional say from carrier and potential opportunity for billing. The only reason RCS has even become a thing and Android is playing that game is Google intended to force Apple's hand by ganging up on them with carriers. They failed and now they whine. What they are asking iMessage is to basically fold their pocket ace hand and join and be a lower-class participant in a Google-controlled messaging world. No wonder Apple will always say fuck you.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoIf iMessage is such a pocket ace then perhaps they are abusing their market position.
- uxp100 5y agoIt gets talked about a lot (I've seen many articles talking about it over years), so I guess I think it must exist. Never ever heard of it in real life. Maybe just Wealthy Zoomers? People from New York? Teenagers? I have no idea, but things keep telling me it is real. Like, I know more people with android than not, I have an iphone, I think I've never been in a group chat that was "blue bubble." MMS isn't as bad as it used to be, however. Less regions have service that is too poor for MMS to work but SMS works fine I think.
- thmorriss 5y agoblue bubble fomo is very real. It is the main reason ~5 of my friends have switched to iphones in my age group (~21) in the last two years
- specialp 5y agoOn TikTok there's a lot of GenZ videos about green bubbles being ugh. It is definitely a thing with younger people. I got an iPhone after never thinking I'd buy one ever, but decided Apple is the lesser of 2 evils, and everyone I text that has an iPhone immediately recognized the blue bubble. Also, it sucks if you want to send a picture or video to a green bubble.
- jacobmartin 5y agoI saw a guy on tinder once say not to even bother if your texts are going to be green. It really rocked my world to realize there are real people actually like that out there
- netizen-936824 5y agoHonestly I wouldn't want to date someone who thinks like that anyhow, so good. It filters them out because their values obviously don't line up with mine.
- colinmhayes 5y agoYou can't really have text conversations between iMessage and android because SMS is so slow. It's like having a conversation where each person can only say two sentences a minute.
- herbst 5y agoThis again seems a regional issue, SMS is so underused around here I am regularly impressed how fast they arrive. Way faster than the typical android notification takes to show up (since heavy battery saving was made standard) for any IM app
- Nextgrid 5y agoThis could actually work as a decent filter if you don't want to waste endless hours doing tech support and fixing up their stupid Android full of malware.
- mcast 5y agoI imagine blue-bubble FOMO is more popular within the US because most younger Americans use text messaging instead of WhatsApp/Telegram like you would find in Europe or South America (aside from occasional group chats or college teamwork)
- Bayart 5y agoIn France, SMS is still the most common message medium. It's free, it works, there's no app needed. Messaging app are wildly dependent on social circles and age groups. I'm forced to use 5 of them...
- howinteresting 5y agoMost younger Americans (and people of many other countries) use Discord.
- herbst 5y agoFor daily messaging to friends and family?
- howinteresting 5y agoFriends, yes, and family if they're on Discord as well. The IRC style of group communication genuinely works better than a ton of different group chats.
- kaesar14 5y agoLol completely untrue outside of a demographic of people online. Maybe the people in computer science majors at universities, not your average young American
- howinteresting 5y agoTalking about 13-17 year olds here, people who aren't old enough to be in universities.
- skavi 5y agoIf that’s the case, I am fairly confident in saying you were never an American teenager for this past decade.
- cbm-vic-20 5y agoI was never an American teenager in this century. IDGAF what color my "bubble" is, and neither does anyone else I care to communicate with. That said, even in the olden days as a teenager there was a lot of social pressure for things that just don't matter.
- stnmtn 5y agoYes, it might not exist for you and your age group, but saying that it "doesn't exist at all" is just wrong. It does matter, and it is a factor for certain age groups. You can disagree with it, but that doesn't make it not real.
- nhumrich 5y agoIt's a peer pressure thing. I know people who have legitimately bought iPhones because they kept getting left out of group chats.
- celestialcheese 5y agoIt wasn't FOMO for me, but rather a exhaustion from interoperability between the two platforms. Group chats become impossible with iphone users, so you stop being invited. Texts were constantly dropping, so people would think I was ignoring messages. Just switched from android to iPhone after 12 years of owning and working with android as a developer. I just got tired of fiddling. Most of my social group and family uses iPhone and there's no way the non-technical folks in my life are switching, so... If you can't beat, join. So now least you've now heard of it from someone other than these articles :shrug:
- pmontra 5y agoA success for Apple's strategy. It can't work in all the other countries were the primary messaging app even for iPhone users are WhatsApp or similar apps.
- parineum 5y agoThere's no FOMO here but when iPhone users bitch about it like it's my fault and not Apple's, I think less of them. It's a shame so many people are allowing themselves to be manipulated by Apple to peer pressure their friends into buying Apple products.
- sidlls 5y agoI can't disagree that Brand Prestige is a big part of their marketing and branding. I used Android phones and linux or MS operating systems on PCs exclusively for my entire life, until the last 2 years or so. I was also quite zealously anti-Apple and anti-Apple-fanboy, and I considered their 1984 ad to be incredibly ironic. Once the fifth android device in a row bricked on me I made a decision to try an iPhone 11. I couldn't be happier. It just worked, never crashed, and certainly didn't brick during the time I used it, just under 2 years. I recently upgraded to an iPhone 13 and am still thrilled with it. I never had an Android phone that lasted longer than a year before issues started to surface, and I never had one make it 2 years ever. The performance of the iPhone made the take the plunge to try a MacBook Pro for my personal use. Couldn't be happier with that, either: it offers a linux-like experience on the command line, and provides a mostly great UI (I don't care for Finder--but I haven't any other real complaints). Edit: my Android phone purchases were top-of-the-line models: Nexus and Pixel phones purchased off Google directly.
- knaik94 5y agoI am not sure what budget range you were choosing for these Android phones you mentioned. If you spent the same amount of money that you spend on an iPhone 13/11 on an android, it wouldn't brick. My Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and S2 are still working. They aren't fast but they could be used if I was desperate. I am glad iPhones worked out for you, but I have to say I haven't had any problems with the Androids I have used. I also like that I can root and customize the OS at a deep level. I have an iPad mini and iPod touch. I am familiar with both ecosystems. My iPad mini 4 has crashed on me and it is getting worse with every iOS/iPadOS update. Ram seems to be the limiting factor.
- acchow 5y agoWait, people outside the Apple bubble believe that Apple users buy Apple products because of "Brand Prestige"?
- Biganon 5y agoNah, the 99% of law students in my classes who went for shiny macbooks instead of absolutely any computer that allows its user to take notes and search the web obviously did so after carefully weighing the pros and cons of every solution. Not because they felt compelled to fit in the group.
- llampx 5y ago99% of developers that don't develop for Windows also seem to use and prefer Macbook Pros, so the argument "the law students don't know squat" doesn't really hold water. If my Thinkpad was not a solution, I would have continued using a Mac even with their lack of ports and upgradability.
- Biganon 5y agoDevelopers need much more in a computer than the average law student. Heck, I would consider buying a macbook myself, they're obviously very good computers. All I'm saying is, let's not downplay the insane trendiness effect that goes with Apple products. There are numerous stories on reddit of kids who get bullied if they have an android phone instead of an iPhone. Teenagers crying when they receive the last Samsung phone instead of an iPhone. Etc.
- zelphirkalt 5y ago> 99% of developers ... What? In what world? I think that is a bubble in itself right there. Software devs are among the most aware groups of people (which still is not too aware, sadly) about limitations, configurability, free software, and open source software on their devices. You cannot even test websites you develop properly on MacOS (including what happens with blocking solutions in place, as MacOS limits their capabilities). Also browsers do not have the same right like on other systems. Only Safari has, which is not what you should test with. It is ill suited at least for web development.
- lwkl 5y ago> Brand Prestige is a HUGE part of apples branding. I agree it is certainly part of their branding. An iPhone is an iPhone no matter the price you pay. The iPhone SE for $400 doesn't feel any less premium as the most expensive $2000 iPhone. There isn't really a obvious design element that tells you it's the cheap iPhone (except the notch and the camera, but it could just be that you didn't buy a new one) and this is also true for the hardware. Other manufacturers definitely have a much worse customer experience for people that buy their low-end models. This is understandable because they don't have the margins Apple has. But pretending that people buying Apple just do so because they are held hostage and they are missing out on a better user experience is delusional. Android and iOS both are trying to lock you into their ecosystem and try to sell you additional services which increase your lock-in. I'm not conviced that they deliberately design their products in a way to increase the lock-in. It probably comes naturaly if you don't have any open standards and interopability as a design goal. People on here talk about RCS for example but if you look at the Wikipedia page about RCS [1] you can see that carriers started implementing RCS in the last 4-5 years. For my country there is only one carrier listed and they implemented RCS less than 2 years ago. Sure RCS was a standard when Apple released iMessage but at the time most providers were still charging outrageous prices for SMS/MMS. Good luck convincing them a standard which would remove a revenue stream. So iMessage was a good solution to offer a better experience for iPhone users. It just works, no configuration required and you can always fallback to SMS/MMS. They probably could've made iMessage an open standard or made an Android app. But would've other manufacturers and Google participated in this standard (mind you it would've been centralized, there was no Signal protocol) or would everyone using iMessage be better than what we have now? I think a lot of the criticism today is hindsight. We know a lot more today and a lot of stuff was in it's infancy when it was released and tried to solve different problems than what we see today. Sorry for the rant. This post went a bit overboard but I had a lot of thoughts on the topic that ended up in this post. And I'm interested if someone has something to add or disagrees with my assesment completely. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services#Status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services#St...