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If you don't want to communicate with other Apple owners over iMessage, then there is no issue. What Beeper set out to do was to solve the opposite problem, pe

If you don't want to communicate with other Apple owners over iMessage, then there is no issue. What Beeper set out to do was to solve the opposite problem, people who don't have Apple devices, but want to use iMessage. And the poster above did have an Apple device, and wanted to use iMessage, but didn't seem to realise that iMessage works on Macs too.

rezonant 3y ago
Only via email address. You need an iPhone to receive iMessage via phone number, and in a country where texting is dominant, you're going to be texted via that phone number, even by your iPhone friends.
- OJFord 3y ago
  If you set it up on an iPhone once, is the number then linked somehow? Since fully Apple users do get phone number iMessages pop up on macOS too right? Or is that only locally synchronised by Bluetooth or something?
  - rezonant 3y ago
    Yes, you can receive iMessages to the phone number on linked devices when the phone is off. You cannot receive SMS when the phone is off.
fauigerzigerk 3y ago
>If you don't want to communicate with other Apple owners over iMessage, then there is no issue. The issue is that I as an Apple user want to be able to use iMessage to communicate with Android users.
- photonerd 3y ago
  Given Android users don’t have iMessage that’s kind of not an issue then.
  - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
    This _is_ the issue and it's what this whole debate is about.
    - ToucanLoucan 3y ago
      It isn't a debate. You're demanding access to a walled garden on the grounds that you don't think the wall should be there. You're entitled to use or not use iMessage per your preference. You are not entitled to use of iMessage on a platform of your choosing. Where do we stop this? Is Apple then required to create iMessage clients for Windows Phone as well? Perhaps a Blackberry client too? Maybe a website? If you want to share an iMessage account and all the rest of the ecosystem benefits Apple provides, then get an iPhone. That's how you do that. And you can still absolutely talk to Android users once you have an iPhone, because the iPhone provides the essential middle-agent between iMessage and SMS that enables you to do that. Apple has done this forever and has designed Messages to degrade gracefully: you are not barred from texting anyone who doesn't have an iPhone, instead your message is converted to SMS completely seamlessly and sent from your phone even if you actually sent it from a Mac or iPad. The endless moaning and whining from people not in their ecosystem about iMessage is so, so fucking tired at this point: from the accusations of platform lockout to the bitching about the fact that SMS messages are green instead of blue, on and on. If you guys are SO HARD UP for that iMessage goodness then just pony up for an iPhone, holy shit. Or at the very least, go bitch up Google's tree so they'll develop a decent messaging client that won't be abandonware within 6 months.
      - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
        Quoting myself from this very thread: "I own a Mac an iPhone and an iPad but iMessage and FaceTime are entirely useless to me because no one I communicate with on a regular basis uses Apple devices" and "The issue is that I as an Apple user want to be able to use iMessage to communicate with Android users." To sum it up for you as succinctly as I can: I am an Apple customer expressing unhappiness about some aspects of the product and the product strategy.
- stanleydrew 3y ago
  But that's not within your control. To use iMessage with Android users you'd need to convince them to use an iMessage client. Usually that means buying an Apple device, but with Beeper Mini the burden was reduced to an app install. But you still need Android users to take affirmative action for you to use iMessage with them.
Melatonic 3y ago
The poster does - he was claiming that since he bought one Mac device capable of iMessage that he should then he allowed to use it also in his android device (where it would be far more useful) since he already paid the apple "tax" or what have you for iMessage access.

rezonant 3y ago

Only via email address. You need an iPhone to receive iMessage via phone number, and in a country where texting is dominant, you're going to be texted via that phone number, even by your iPhone friends.

OJFord 3y ago
If you set it up on an iPhone once, is the number then linked somehow? Since fully Apple users do get phone number iMessages pop up on macOS too right? Or is that only locally synchronised by Bluetooth or something?
- rezonant 3y ago
  Yes, you can receive iMessages to the phone number on linked devices when the phone is off. You cannot receive SMS when the phone is off.

fauigerzigerk 3y ago

>If you don't want to communicate with other Apple owners over iMessage, then there is no issue. The issue is that I as an Apple user want to be able to use iMessage to communicate with Android users.

photonerd 3y ago
Given Android users don’t have iMessage that’s kind of not an issue then.
- fauigerzigerk 3y ago
  This _is_ the issue and it's what this whole debate is about.
  - ToucanLoucan 3y ago
    It isn't a debate. You're demanding access to a walled garden on the grounds that you don't think the wall should be there. You're entitled to use or not use iMessage per your preference. You are not entitled to use of iMessage on a platform of your choosing. Where do we stop this? Is Apple then required to create iMessage clients for Windows Phone as well? Perhaps a Blackberry client too? Maybe a website? If you want to share an iMessage account and all the rest of the ecosystem benefits Apple provides, then get an iPhone. That's how you do that. And you can still absolutely talk to Android users once you have an iPhone, because the iPhone provides the essential middle-agent between iMessage and SMS that enables you to do that. Apple has done this forever and has designed Messages to degrade gracefully: you are not barred from texting anyone who doesn't have an iPhone, instead your message is converted to SMS completely seamlessly and sent from your phone even if you actually sent it from a Mac or iPad. The endless moaning and whining from people not in their ecosystem about iMessage is so, so fucking tired at this point: from the accusations of platform lockout to the bitching about the fact that SMS messages are green instead of blue, on and on. If you guys are SO HARD UP for that iMessage goodness then just pony up for an iPhone, holy shit. Or at the very least, go bitch up Google's tree so they'll develop a decent messaging client that won't be abandonware within 6 months.
    - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
      Quoting myself from this very thread: "I own a Mac an iPhone and an iPad but iMessage and FaceTime are entirely useless to me because no one I communicate with on a regular basis uses Apple devices" and "The issue is that I as an Apple user want to be able to use iMessage to communicate with Android users." To sum it up for you as succinctly as I can: I am an Apple customer expressing unhappiness about some aspects of the product and the product strategy.
stanleydrew 3y ago
But that's not within your control. To use iMessage with Android users you'd need to convince them to use an iMessage client. Usually that means buying an Apple device, but with Beeper Mini the burden was reduced to an app install. But you still need Android users to take affirmative action for you to use iMessage with them.

Melatonic 3y ago

The poster does - he was claiming that since he bought one Mac device capable of iMessage that he should then he allowed to use it also in his android device (where it would be far more useful) since he already paid the apple "tax" or what have you for iMessage access.