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> You say this like it is a bad thing. It has been a bad thing for me because iOS decided to get me off Whtasapp and forced me using the much worse Apple messa

> You say this like it is a bad thing. It has been a bad thing for me because iOS decided to get me off Whtasapp and forced me using the much worse Apple message system without me having any say in it. I have a SE and a relatively older iOS version on it, can't remember exactly which one. I don't have internet banking and don't have very much of a financial presence online, and, as such, I don't care that much about security on my phone (hence the older iOS version). Some time ago I had checked the "offload apps"in case of full disk" option or something like that, with the implicit understanding, from my part, that I could "reload" any of those apps once I would have made enough space available (usually by deleting some older videos and photos). One of those offloaded apps was Whatsapp. It turns out I cannot "reload" any of those offloaded apps if any one of them doesn't support my iOS version anymore. Whatsapp doesn't support my iOS version anymore, hence I cannot "reload" it, hence I cannot use it anymore. Trying to install the exact Whatsapp "version" that used to worked perfectly fine on my phone is, of course, impossible. This is very unsatisfactory for me. And back to the subject at hand, of course that Apple can't hold a candle when it comes to more mature messaging systems like Whatsapp (I haven't used Telegram and Signal). The "upload photos" experience in iMessage is day and night worse and less intuitive compared to Whatsapp. I also don't know if iMessage has any builtin groups and, even if it were to have, it would be of no use to me because more than half of my friends and acquaintances don't own an iPhone so they can't use iMessage.

skinnymuch 4y ago
I’ve been able to download apps that require newer OSes on iPhone. If I have downloaded it before, it lets me download the last compatible version. Is this not the case with WhatsApp or somethinh
- paganel 4y ago
  Yes, I have the “cloud”-y thingie close to the WhatsApp icon, meaning is offloaded. When clicking on the item to “load” it again it tries to do just that, only to give me a “Unable to download” message (or something similar) a few seconds later. I’ve tried searching for the app directly in the AppStore, I cannot find it anymore, presumably because of that older iOS I have running. Forgot to mention, the same happened to me with the Google Maps (?!) app also last year or so.
JimDabell 4y ago
> It turns out I cannot "reload" any of those offloaded apps if any one of them doesn't support my iOS version anymore. You can – unless the application publisher decides to disable this. It sounds like Facebook disabled your ability to install an older version of WhatsApp that supports the version of iOS you are running. All it would take for this to work for you is for somebody at Facebook to tick a single box that allows their users to do this.
- paganel 4y ago
  Got it. So it’s a shared blame between Apple de facto uninstalling one of the few installed apps I was using on a regular basis and FB not allowing their app to run on iOS versions that are approaching their estimated end-of-life. Not sure how that helps users like me, but had you told me 20+ years ago that this was going to be “the state of the art” when it comes to app management (by two of the biggest tech companies in the world) I would have called you crazy. And I was a Windows 2000 user back in those days. It’s also funny that, in a way, the WhatsApp app was the one that nuked itself. The “full storage” issue had been caused by some of my friends sending constant photos and videos of their cats (and one guinea pig) via WhatsApp, storage gets full, iOS decides to offload the WhatsApp app, I get left out of the app once I’m not allowed to “reload” it anymore. Again, crazy to think that this is the state of the art in app management.
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    Apple (like Google) gets to decide what the pain points are in their ecosystem, so likewise they also get to peddle the solution. "Want to sideload apps? No problem, just pay us $99/year for temporary installation privileges!" "Want to sell your app? Here, just give us 30% of your proceeds." "Running out of storage? Here's a red-dot notification in your Settings app begging you to pay for iCloud." I don't think any of these companies will (or should) get out of this antitrust litigation unscathed. The amount of control all of these platform-holders exert is unreasonable, and unless the government steps in we're helpless to stop it.

skinnymuch 4y ago

I’ve been able to download apps that require newer OSes on iPhone. If I have downloaded it before, it lets me download the last compatible version. Is this not the case with WhatsApp or somethinh

paganel 4y ago
Yes, I have the “cloud”-y thingie close to the WhatsApp icon, meaning is offloaded. When clicking on the item to “load” it again it tries to do just that, only to give me a “Unable to download” message (or something similar) a few seconds later. I’ve tried searching for the app directly in the AppStore, I cannot find it anymore, presumably because of that older iOS I have running. Forgot to mention, the same happened to me with the Google Maps (?!) app also last year or so.

JimDabell 4y ago

> It turns out I cannot "reload" any of those offloaded apps if any one of them doesn't support my iOS version anymore. You can – unless the application publisher decides to disable this. It sounds like Facebook disabled your ability to install an older version of WhatsApp that supports the version of iOS you are running. All it would take for this to work for you is for somebody at Facebook to tick a single box that allows their users to do this.

paganel 4y ago
Got it. So it’s a shared blame between Apple de facto uninstalling one of the few installed apps I was using on a regular basis and FB not allowing their app to run on iOS versions that are approaching their estimated end-of-life. Not sure how that helps users like me, but had you told me 20+ years ago that this was going to be “the state of the art” when it comes to app management (by two of the biggest tech companies in the world) I would have called you crazy. And I was a Windows 2000 user back in those days. It’s also funny that, in a way, the WhatsApp app was the one that nuked itself. The “full storage” issue had been caused by some of my friends sending constant photos and videos of their cats (and one guinea pig) via WhatsApp, storage gets full, iOS decides to offload the WhatsApp app, I get left out of the app once I’m not allowed to “reload” it anymore. Again, crazy to think that this is the state of the art in app management.
- smoldesu 4y ago
  Apple (like Google) gets to decide what the pain points are in their ecosystem, so likewise they also get to peddle the solution. "Want to sideload apps? No problem, just pay us $99/year for temporary installation privileges!" "Want to sell your app? Here, just give us 30% of your proceeds." "Running out of storage? Here's a red-dot notification in your Settings app begging you to pay for iCloud." I don't think any of these companies will (or should) get out of this antitrust litigation unscathed. The amount of control all of these platform-holders exert is unreasonable, and unless the government steps in we're helpless to stop it.