8 ms·

Oh 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 repl

Oh 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 ago
That's not iMessage / Apple's fault - that's a limitation of the SMS and MMS technologies.
- paulryanrogers 5y ago
  If only there were a more modern standard, it could be called RCS
  - mehrdada 5y ago
    RCS 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 ago
      If iMessage is such a pocket ace then perhaps they are abusing their market position.
      - mehrdada 5y ago
        Perhaps. Perhaps not. Considering there are dozens of other chat apps with huge market shares on both platforms, is it inconceivable that they had a better product than most chat apps? (Until quite recently iMessage was the only widely distributed and usable end to end encrypted messaging platform out there, for example.) It is Google who controls the majority of smartphones, not Apple, yet they have not been able to effectively "abuse" their market position, mind you. Personally, whenever I carry an Android, I'd very much prefer Signal or WhatsApp than Google Messages app.
        paulryanrogers 5y ago
        Bundling and control of defaults are powerful levers. If users were presented a ballot on first use then perhaps these incumbents would have to compete on an even playing field.
      - ideamotor 5y ago
        Oh I agree completely. Not only should there a regulated standard for texts placed upon any company with 5% marketshare, there should be a similar standard places upon social media over 5% marketshare.
      - dmitriid 5y ago
        And yet, in Europe Apple Messages are not nearly as big a thing as it is in the States. And similarly in other countries. There's no "abusing market position".
  - giantrobot 5y ago
    Ah yes the "standard" that the carriers have slow rolled, rolled out only partially, or rolled out in certain regions. Such a great standard Google themselves have proprietary extensions only available in their Messages app and only when using their back end. Apple and Google don't want to play nice with one another. That's on both of them. The carriers are a third pole that don't want to play nice with each other or Google or Apple. Google and Apple want value-add features on their platforms. Carriers don't want E2EE so they can mine text messages for advertisers.
    - paulryanrogers 5y ago
      Perhaps the time has come to regulate the oligopoly so more competitive upstarts aren't strangled in the crib?
      - giantrobot 5y ago
        Yeah that WhatsApp was strang...nope. Well maybe poor Signal...nope not them either. So what "competitive upstarts" were strangled in the crib?
        dmitriid 5y ago
        Telegram, Viber, Line are also doing just fine.
        giantrobot 5y ago
        Don't tell them that! Obviously they were strangled in the crib by...competition? I don't know. I don't understand some people's arguments anymore. HN: Look at my startup that will compete with and dominate some segment of a market. Also HN: Startups are impossible because big players exist!
        paulryanrogers 5y ago
        I was thinking more about alternative mobile platforms, i.e. IOS and Android
- colinmhayes 5y ago
  It doesn't matter whose fault it is. I mean its really users fault for not using messaging apps, but that's clearly by design. Apple crafted iMessage to be good enough that iPhone users overwhelmingly use it and it provides a much worse experience when texting non iPhone users.
- pkulak 5y ago
  That's a limitation of iMessage, the only chat system I've ever heard of limited to a single company's hardware.
Zircom 5y ago
>videos sent are reduced in quality by a significant degree What is the purpose of this? It's an issue solely with apple phones, people sending me videos from Android phones come through fine in full quality but anything from an apple device comes in looking like a Minecraft video. >can't receive replies to specific comments Apple actually started having their phones start sending texts with the reaction a few years ago, see this from my girlfriend earlier today https://imgur.com/a/ttEhdN0 https://imgur.com/a/ttEhdN0
- dagmx 5y ago
  Apple sticks with the more conservative MMS compliant video format. Google do some runarounds instead
  - LexGray 5y ago
    MMS video and picture sizes are size constrained by the carrier in the profile. As many carriers already allow 4MB or even unlimited sizes it is purely an issue of carriers being cheap and lazy and leaving old limits on MMS. It would probably even be profitable for carriers as MMS already counts against data and RCS allows the larger sizes anyway. Yet Google prefers to roll yet another new protocol and complain instead of getting the carriers to just fix MMS configuration issues to solve the biggest ongoing complaints.
    - ephimetheus 5y ago
      Just as a data point from outside the US: a 4MB MMS is about 5$ in Germany, even on a 30+$/mo base price package. Sending that to a group call multiplies the cost with the number of recipients. MMS (and in all likelihood RCS) is a complete non-starter for this market.
  - NicoJuicy 5y ago
    RCS is an official standard. Eg. In Belgium it was implemented in 2020, 2 years ago.
- colinmhayes 5y ago

smcleod 5y ago

That's not iMessage / Apple's fault - that's a limitation of the SMS and MMS technologies.

paulryanrogers 5y ago
If only there were a more modern standard, it could be called RCS
- mehrdada 5y ago
  RCS 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 ago
    If iMessage is such a pocket ace then perhaps they are abusing their market position.
    - mehrdada 5y ago
      Perhaps. Perhaps not. Considering there are dozens of other chat apps with huge market shares on both platforms, is it inconceivable that they had a better product than most chat apps? (Until quite recently iMessage was the only widely distributed and usable end to end encrypted messaging platform out there, for example.) It is Google who controls the majority of smartphones, not Apple, yet they have not been able to effectively "abuse" their market position, mind you. Personally, whenever I carry an Android, I'd very much prefer Signal or WhatsApp than Google Messages app.
      - paulryanrogers 5y ago
        Bundling and control of defaults are powerful levers. If users were presented a ballot on first use then perhaps these incumbents would have to compete on an even playing field.
    - ideamotor 5y ago
      Oh I agree completely. Not only should there a regulated standard for texts placed upon any company with 5% marketshare, there should be a similar standard places upon social media over 5% marketshare.
    - dmitriid 5y ago
      And yet, in Europe Apple Messages are not nearly as big a thing as it is in the States. And similarly in other countries. There's no "abusing market position".
- giantrobot 5y ago
  Ah yes the "standard" that the carriers have slow rolled, rolled out only partially, or rolled out in certain regions. Such a great standard Google themselves have proprietary extensions only available in their Messages app and only when using their back end. Apple and Google don't want to play nice with one another. That's on both of them. The carriers are a third pole that don't want to play nice with each other or Google or Apple. Google and Apple want value-add features on their platforms. Carriers don't want E2EE so they can mine text messages for advertisers.
  - paulryanrogers 5y ago
    Perhaps the time has come to regulate the oligopoly so more competitive upstarts aren't strangled in the crib?
    - giantrobot 5y ago
      Yeah that WhatsApp was strang...nope. Well maybe poor Signal...nope not them either. So what "competitive upstarts" were strangled in the crib?
      - dmitriid 5y ago
        Telegram, Viber, Line are also doing just fine.
        giantrobot 5y ago
        Don't tell them that! Obviously they were strangled in the crib by...competition? I don't know. I don't understand some people's arguments anymore. HN: Look at my startup that will compete with and dominate some segment of a market. Also HN: Startups are impossible because big players exist!
      - paulryanrogers 5y ago
        I was thinking more about alternative mobile platforms, i.e. IOS and Android
colinmhayes 5y ago
It doesn't matter whose fault it is. I mean its really users fault for not using messaging apps, but that's clearly by design. Apple crafted iMessage to be good enough that iPhone users overwhelmingly use it and it provides a much worse experience when texting non iPhone users.
pkulak 5y ago
That's a limitation of iMessage, the only chat system I've ever heard of limited to a single company's hardware.

Zircom 5y ago

>videos sent are reduced in quality by a significant degree What is the purpose of this? It's an issue solely with apple phones, people sending me videos from Android phones come through fine in full quality but anything from an apple device comes in looking like a Minecraft video. >can't receive replies to specific comments Apple actually started having their phones start sending texts with the reaction a few years ago, see this from my girlfriend earlier today https://imgur.com/a/ttEhdN0 https://imgur.com/a/ttEhdN0

dagmx 5y ago
Apple sticks with the more conservative MMS compliant video format. Google do some runarounds instead
- LexGray 5y ago
  MMS video and picture sizes are size constrained by the carrier in the profile. As many carriers already allow 4MB or even unlimited sizes it is purely an issue of carriers being cheap and lazy and leaving old limits on MMS. It would probably even be profitable for carriers as MMS already counts against data and RCS allows the larger sizes anyway. Yet Google prefers to roll yet another new protocol and complain instead of getting the carriers to just fix MMS configuration issues to solve the biggest ongoing complaints.
  - ephimetheus 5y ago
    Just as a data point from outside the US: a 4MB MMS is about 5$ in Germany, even on a 30+$/mo base price package. Sending that to a group call multiplies the cost with the number of recipients. MMS (and in all likelihood RCS) is a complete non-starter for this market.
- NicoJuicy 5y ago
  RCS is an official standard. Eg. In Belgium it was implemented in 2020, 2 years ago.
colinmhayes 5y ago