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I also use WhatsApp and Signal as a daily driver. iMessage is legitimately superior to all other messaging platforms I've used, and it isn't close. iMessage is

I also use WhatsApp and Signal as a daily driver. iMessage is legitimately superior to all other messaging platforms I've used, and it isn't close. iMessage isn't just a text messaging app, it also serves as a shared application fabric. The many iOS objects and apps are integrated into iMessage as first-class things that can be securely shared and seamlessly collaborated on between groups of people over the iMessage backbone. It isn't just group chats but also group content. If you have non-iMessage users in the group then all of this is disabled and it reverts to being a text message app. I know many average people that live in those collaboration features without even really thinking about it because they work so much more seamlessly than the alternatives.

elevatedastalt 3y ago
In short, all the things Google or Microsoft are criticized for are Okay when Apple does it.
- jandrewrogers 3y ago
  No, it has rather obvious technical implications that people like to pretend do not exist. Those features people use are effectively not portable to other platforms short of making iOS run on other people's hardware. Sure, the messaging might be portable, ignoring the security concerns, but iMessage is used for a lot more than that. In short, any portable version would still be nerfed, just slightly less nerfed than the current situation. The green bubbles would still be there to indicate that their platform can't support core functionality of iOS inside of iMessage.
  - hpeter 3y ago
    The green bubbles will remain to coerce people to message IOS users over android as people favor blue over ugly green.. It's a marketing gimmick designed to lock users in using network effects. These psychological tricks work the best on teenagers and apple have been targeting kids to make them customers for life.
  - soundnote 3y ago
    What wouldn't work cross-platform?
    - jandrewrogers 3y ago
      Because it has substantive features that don't exist on Android or any other mobile OS. Those features aren't trivial, would be difficult or impossible to replicate, and people use them for serious things. I don't have a dog in this fight but no one complaining ever really addresses this. iMessage is not just a chat app, even though many people like to pretend it is. It only looks like a chat app if you are not on iOS.

elevatedastalt 3y ago

In short, all the things Google or Microsoft are criticized for are Okay when Apple does it.

jandrewrogers 3y ago
No, it has rather obvious technical implications that people like to pretend do not exist. Those features people use are effectively not portable to other platforms short of making iOS run on other people's hardware. Sure, the messaging might be portable, ignoring the security concerns, but iMessage is used for a lot more than that. In short, any portable version would still be nerfed, just slightly less nerfed than the current situation. The green bubbles would still be there to indicate that their platform can't support core functionality of iOS inside of iMessage.
- hpeter 3y ago
  The green bubbles will remain to coerce people to message IOS users over android as people favor blue over ugly green.. It's a marketing gimmick designed to lock users in using network effects. These psychological tricks work the best on teenagers and apple have been targeting kids to make them customers for life.
- soundnote 3y ago
  What wouldn't work cross-platform?
  - jandrewrogers 3y ago
    Because it has substantive features that don't exist on Android or any other mobile OS. Those features aren't trivial, would be difficult or impossible to replicate, and people use them for serious things. I don't have a dog in this fight but no one complaining ever really addresses this. iMessage is not just a chat app, even though many people like to pretend it is. It only looks like a chat app if you are not on iOS.