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You write a lot about how much better iM is. In what way? What makes it better than WhatsApp (besides WA being Meta)? WA is the gold standard for messaging apps

You write a lot about how much better iM is. In what way? What makes it better than WhatsApp (besides WA being Meta)? WA is the gold standard for messaging apps and Signal is playing catch up, qualitywise, over here (Germany).

jandrewrogers 4y ago
Aside from the features and implementation, WhatsApp is forbidden for some purposes in many countries with reason. Germany is such a country IIRC. For a subset of users an acceptable alternative is required, and some of those alternatives are markedly inferior e.g. Signal. If WhatsApp cannot be used for important things then it is not a realistic universal solution. (That isn't to say that iMessage is the solution, just that WhatsApp definitely is not.) From a user perspective, just about everything about the UI/UX and integration with the rest of your environment in WhatsApp is inferior to iMessage. The integration aspect is understandable; it is easy for Apple to tightly integrate iMessage into the rest of their environment because they own it. Nonetheless, this integration is slick and a lot of subtle automagic happens as a result. I appreciate that bit. The UI/UX gaps are less understandable, since that is a choice. WhatsApp is better than many other messaging apps but in my experience the UI/UX is noticeably inferior to iMessage in some ways. I think some of this just attempts to optimize engagement metrics or similar, because Facebook, sacrificing good design. That aside, WhatsApp has distasteful behaviors that are just Facebook-isms that don't need to exist in a messaging app. I don't appreciate its aggressive attempts to scrape my life, for example. Every Facebook property has this characteristic.
- woojoo666 4y ago
  Any examples of how imessage integrates with the rest of iOS? And any examples of the UI/UX advantages of imessage over WhatsApp?
- Fatnino 4y ago
  Telegram, at least from a UX perspective, is better than whatsapp in every way. I use both a lot and whenever I switch back to whatsapp I accidentally try to do telegram swipes because they are so much better and intuitive. When I switch to tg from wa this never happens because wa has trash UX.
- Arnt 4y ago
  Upstream you wrote that iMessage is better than … in multiple dimensions. I've never used iMessage and am chronically curious. I understand from your comments and those of others that the UI is one such dimension, even if opinions vary (don't they always). Could you elaborate on what makes iMessage better other than the user interface?
danaris 4y ago
> (besides WA being Meta) I mean....does it need more than this? Meta is a malicious entity, deliberately seeking to vacuum up as much of our private data as it can possibly get access to and use it for its own purposes, which are demonstrably hostile to human dignity and at best indifferent to human life.

jandrewrogers 4y ago

Aside from the features and implementation, WhatsApp is forbidden for some purposes in many countries with reason. Germany is such a country IIRC. For a subset of users an acceptable alternative is required, and some of those alternatives are markedly inferior e.g. Signal. If WhatsApp cannot be used for important things then it is not a realistic universal solution. (That isn't to say that iMessage is the solution, just that WhatsApp definitely is not.) From a user perspective, just about everything about the UI/UX and integration with the rest of your environment in WhatsApp is inferior to iMessage. The integration aspect is understandable; it is easy for Apple to tightly integrate iMessage into the rest of their environment because they own it. Nonetheless, this integration is slick and a lot of subtle automagic happens as a result. I appreciate that bit. The UI/UX gaps are less understandable, since that is a choice. WhatsApp is better than many other messaging apps but in my experience the UI/UX is noticeably inferior to iMessage in some ways. I think some of this just attempts to optimize engagement metrics or similar, because Facebook, sacrificing good design. That aside, WhatsApp has distasteful behaviors that are just Facebook-isms that don't need to exist in a messaging app. I don't appreciate its aggressive attempts to scrape my life, for example. Every Facebook property has this characteristic.

woojoo666 4y ago
Any examples of how imessage integrates with the rest of iOS? And any examples of the UI/UX advantages of imessage over WhatsApp?
Fatnino 4y ago
Telegram, at least from a UX perspective, is better than whatsapp in every way. I use both a lot and whenever I switch back to whatsapp I accidentally try to do telegram swipes because they are so much better and intuitive. When I switch to tg from wa this never happens because wa has trash UX.
Arnt 4y ago
Upstream you wrote that iMessage is better than … in multiple dimensions. I've never used iMessage and am chronically curious. I understand from your comments and those of others that the UI is one such dimension, even if opinions vary (don't they always). Could you elaborate on what makes iMessage better other than the user interface?

danaris 4y ago

> (besides WA being Meta) I mean....does it need more than this? Meta is a malicious entity, deliberately seeking to vacuum up as much of our private data as it can possibly get access to and use it for its own purposes, which are demonstrably hostile to human dignity and at best indifferent to human life.