4 ms·

Serious, why people use iMessage so much in the us? Nobody does in southern Europe, not even iOS users do, everybody just uses WhatsApp.

DHPersonal 3y ago
iMessage probably just came first for enough people with enough other people using it that it just stuck. I think most often in other countries the iPhone was too expensive so a cheap Android was the only option, with alternative messaging apps therefore being much more useful for those people.
- epolanski 3y ago
  That's nonsense. Even on early iPhones you still had to communicate with friends with Androids, Sybians, Windows Phones, Blackberrys. Those all had Whatsapp, but iMessage was unique to iOS.
rsanek 3y ago
You could ask the same thing -- why does everyone use WhatsApp?
- epolanski 3y ago
  It was the first messaging application that worked on every smartphone out there. Blackberry, Android, iOS, Sybian, Windows Phone. It connected everyone. The answer's obvious.
maratc 3y ago
Historically, the US had (rather expensive by the RoW standards) "unlimited" plans very early on, so most of the US users would not bother to think about the cost of SMS before sending a message. The rest of the world at the time was mostly on pay-per-SMS plans. Then WhatsApp appeared, with an offer of $1 per year for an unlimited amount of messages. As can be seen, the value proposition of that was tremendous in e.g. Europe, but non-existing in the US, as it just was $1 over what the US users already had. Most of the world got sucked into WhatsApp pretty quickly. The US never followed suit.
- Oreb 3y ago
  Most of us had unlimited free domestic SMS messages here in Norway as well long before iMessage was a thing, but it’s still rare (at least in my circles) to see anyone receive an iMessage or SMS. WhatsApp also isn’t widely used. The dominant messaging app is Facebook Messenger. I have no idea why this happened.
InCityDreams 3y ago
>Nobody does in southern Europe, not even iOS users do, everybody just uses WhatsApp. Er...not 'everybody'. *currently in S-Eu, I've never had wa, getting along fine with signal. As are several other people...maybe slowly, but surely. Can confirm nobody I've ever met has mentioned i-stuff.

DHPersonal 3y ago

iMessage probably just came first for enough people with enough other people using it that it just stuck. I think most often in other countries the iPhone was too expensive so a cheap Android was the only option, with alternative messaging apps therefore being much more useful for those people.

epolanski 3y ago
That's nonsense. Even on early iPhones you still had to communicate with friends with Androids, Sybians, Windows Phones, Blackberrys. Those all had Whatsapp, but iMessage was unique to iOS.

rsanek 3y ago

You could ask the same thing -- why does everyone use WhatsApp?

epolanski 3y ago
It was the first messaging application that worked on every smartphone out there. Blackberry, Android, iOS, Sybian, Windows Phone. It connected everyone. The answer's obvious.

maratc 3y ago

Historically, the US had (rather expensive by the RoW standards) "unlimited" plans very early on, so most of the US users would not bother to think about the cost of SMS before sending a message. The rest of the world at the time was mostly on pay-per-SMS plans. Then WhatsApp appeared, with an offer of $1 per year for an unlimited amount of messages. As can be seen, the value proposition of that was tremendous in e.g. Europe, but non-existing in the US, as it just was $1 over what the US users already had. Most of the world got sucked into WhatsApp pretty quickly. The US never followed suit.

Oreb 3y ago
Most of us had unlimited free domestic SMS messages here in Norway as well long before iMessage was a thing, but it’s still rare (at least in my circles) to see anyone receive an iMessage or SMS. WhatsApp also isn’t widely used. The dominant messaging app is Facebook Messenger. I have no idea why this happened.

InCityDreams 3y ago

>Nobody does in southern Europe, not even iOS users do, everybody just uses WhatsApp. Er...not 'everybody'. *currently in S-Eu, I've never had wa, getting along fine with signal. As are several other people...maybe slowly, but surely. Can confirm nobody I've ever met has mentioned i-stuff.