11 ms·

I think Apple already has claimed the "friends and family network" via iMessage. Did Facebook go to a groups/influencer algorithm by choice or is it the result

by pkamb 2y ago

I think Apple already has claimed the "friends and family network" via iMessage. Did Facebook go to a groups/influencer algorithm by choice or is it the result of IRL friend posters all moving to private chats once everyone got iPhones?

john2x 2y ago
I'm still waiting for iMessage to work with Android phones.
- thesuitonym 2y ago
  iMessage has been compatible with RCS for months now.
  - 42772827 2y ago
    Except if you’re on Google Fi, right? https://isgooglefircsyet.com/ https://isgooglefircsyet.com/
    - whimsicalism 2y ago
      yeah and that is apple's fault, they need to carrier enable
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - ninkendo 2y ago
      That is ironic, given how the whole push to get Apple to support RCS came from google in the first place. They had that website with the open letter to try and tell Apple that supporting RCS was in everyone’s best interest and would enable Apple and Android users to be on even footing, etc etc. But then oops, turns out Google’s on wireless service doesn’t even support it. Maybe google didn’t think Apple would call their bluff?
      - PaulHoule 2y ago
        Google stole Microsoft's position of "arrogant company that just doesn't get it". What I found about Google comms product was that they worked the worst on slow internet connections of any product. Back when I had 2 Mbps or worse DSL, I could get on meetings with anything that wasn't Google Hangouts, Google Talk, Google Meet, etc. It's like it was with Docker Hub, which had low timeouts that made it impossible for me to actually download images to install anything substantial. That, plus other little slights like only buying high-quality aerial photos of upstate NY years after Microsoft did left me feeling that Google saw me as a non-person because I didn't live in the bay area, NYC, LA or DC.
  - john2x 2y ago
    A quick search suggests the Android user end needs to install 3rd party apps for it to work? Has that changed recently?
    - Melatonic 2y ago
      Usually you actually need to not use third party apps. RCS on Android is usually restricted to Google Messages (or maybe Samsungs built in messages app). Everyone else got the boot You also sometimes have to enable in the settings for Android Messages (and have a supported carrier). iMessage also has an option to enable RCS but I believe its on by default in the newer versions of iOS
      - john2x 2y ago
        Hmm ok so it doesn't actually work :( Even if it worked with 3rd party apps, at that point why not install something like Signal.
    - thesuitonym 2y ago
      I don't know, I haven't used Android in quite a few years, but it was my understanding that it was in Google's default SMS app. When I got iOS 18, all of my texts to Android users switched automatically to RCS, so they didn't have to do anything.
    - pohuing 2y ago
      I wrote an "SMS" to the previous tenant of my new flat recently and it got seamlessly upgraded to rcs. With me on an android and them on an iPhone. This was using Google messages, which was the default on my zenfone for sms
      - phatskat 2y ago
        My friend group chat was suddenly RCS after updating iOS today and it’s great - no more “So and so liked ‘the entire message body’” messages, we all just see the thumbs up reaction
skissane 2y ago
> I think Apple already has claimed the "friends and family network" via iMessage. All the family/friends group chats I am in are WhatsApp. I use iMessage every day for 1-to-1 messaging but I don’t really view it as distinct from SMS. For international communication, even 1-on-1 tends to be WhatsApp.
eknkc 2y ago
Everytime iMessage is mentioned, I do a double take because it is almost non existent here in Turkey. And from what I hear, seems like most Europeans do not use it too. WhatsApp has like 99.9% market share here and I assume it is a lot bigger than anything else in the EU too. I wonder why is that though. Everyone around me has an iPhone basically and I haven’t received a blue bubble in years. The messages app is not even on my home screen.
- stevage 2y ago
  Can also report WhatsApp has 100% of the backpackers meeting each other market.
- pkamb 2y ago
  As I understand it, many Americans (and all iPhones?) had unlimited-SMS phone plans circa 2009. So the pay-per-message economic conditions that caused many Europeans, etc., to switch to WhatsApp back in the day didn't do anything in the USA. Then when the same iPhone app seamlessly started sending iMessages (blue bubbles) to other iPhones rather than SMS (green bubbles), people just kept using that.
  - basisword 2y ago
    >> So the pay-per-message economic conditions that caused many Europeans, etc., to switch to WhatsApp back in the day didn't do anything in the USA. I see this listed as the reason often but I had unlimited SMS then too. In fact I remember visiting the US in 2009 and I was charged to send AND receive an SMS which was a shock. I think the actual reason is that communication across borders in Europe is very common and those SMS's were not included in the unlimited plans as they were messages abroad. So they were subject to fees (usually high ones). I think this is the reason it was common - especially given how common it is for students to study 'abroad' in other European countries. There were a few competing apps for this at the time (Vibr I think was another but was more call focussed) but WhatsApp won in the end.
    - yurishimo 2y ago
stevage 2y ago
Nobody I know uses iMessage.
- ghaff 2y ago
  In the US, using iMessage involves flipping a switch in some Messages setting--and everyone I know in the US just texts, except for texting with international folks.
  - dboreham 2y ago
    Quick note that I'm in the US and my experience is: most random people use SMS; closer friends and family some use Signal, some Discord, some email; colleagues use Slack; overseas taxi drivers etc. use WhatsApp.
    - pkamb 2y ago
      By "use SMS" you surely mean "use iMessage" much of the time.
      - spunker540 2y ago
        If op is on android they wont know who uses imessage
  - Auracle 2y ago
    No switch flipping needed, if you send a text to another iPhone it’ll just do an iMessage instead.
    - ghaff 2y ago
      It may be on by default but there is a switch in Settings/Apps/Messages.
Zak 2y ago
That's only true if everyone in the group has an Apple phone, which has decreasing probability with every additional member. Excluding people from a conversation because they don't have the right brand of phone would be pretty antisocial.
- pkamb 2y ago
  In the USA, someone insisting on using an Android when everyone else in their social circle has an iPhone (and they do!) is what's seen as anti-social. No one wants to use the degraded green bubble SMS experience so they simply exclude the Android user and continue using blue bubble iMessage.
  - wrfrmers 2y ago
    I'll do you one better: in this specific situation, the antisocial buck stops at the friend group who doesn't all chip in and buy their Android friend a "keep in touch" iPhone. But the point remains that a cynical UX/technical/business decision that does not need to be so is rending real relationships between actual people. If Tim Cook had the power to render anyone who didn't pay him $400+ mute to their friends and family through some sort of black magic, we'd call him a comic book supervillain.
    - ryandrake 2y ago
      Honestly, if your "friend" group is willing to exclude you because you're not using a particular brand of cell phone, then I have some bad news for you: They might not really be great friends.
    - satvikpendem 2y ago
      I bought an Android specifically so I don't have to use an iPhone, speaking as a former iPhone user. "Friends" chipping in to buy me an iPhone isn't something I'd actually want.
  - Zak 2y ago
    It surprises me people who actually have this problem don't just switch to a different messaging app. There are many, and the effort required is minimal.
addicted 2y ago
iMessage is dead/dying. WhatsApp is killing it. At this point even my American groups have become largely WhatsApp because Android exists.
create-username 2y ago
Nobody uses iMessage in Spain. People swear by Zuck's spyware

by pkamb 2y ago

john2x 2y ago

I'm still waiting for iMessage to work with Android phones.

thesuitonym 2y ago
iMessage has been compatible with RCS for months now.
- 42772827 2y ago
  Except if you’re on Google Fi, right? https://isgooglefircsyet.com/ https://isgooglefircsyet.com/
  - whimsicalism 2y ago
    yeah and that is apple's fault, they need to carrier enable
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - ninkendo 2y ago
    That is ironic, given how the whole push to get Apple to support RCS came from google in the first place. They had that website with the open letter to try and tell Apple that supporting RCS was in everyone’s best interest and would enable Apple and Android users to be on even footing, etc etc. But then oops, turns out Google’s on wireless service doesn’t even support it. Maybe google didn’t think Apple would call their bluff?
    - PaulHoule 2y ago
      Google stole Microsoft's position of "arrogant company that just doesn't get it". What I found about Google comms product was that they worked the worst on slow internet connections of any product. Back when I had 2 Mbps or worse DSL, I could get on meetings with anything that wasn't Google Hangouts, Google Talk, Google Meet, etc. It's like it was with Docker Hub, which had low timeouts that made it impossible for me to actually download images to install anything substantial. That, plus other little slights like only buying high-quality aerial photos of upstate NY years after Microsoft did left me feeling that Google saw me as a non-person because I didn't live in the bay area, NYC, LA or DC.
- john2x 2y ago
  A quick search suggests the Android user end needs to install 3rd party apps for it to work? Has that changed recently?
  - Melatonic 2y ago
    Usually you actually need to not use third party apps. RCS on Android is usually restricted to Google Messages (or maybe Samsungs built in messages app). Everyone else got the boot You also sometimes have to enable in the settings for Android Messages (and have a supported carrier). iMessage also has an option to enable RCS but I believe its on by default in the newer versions of iOS
    - john2x 2y ago
      Hmm ok so it doesn't actually work :( Even if it worked with 3rd party apps, at that point why not install something like Signal.
  - thesuitonym 2y ago
    I don't know, I haven't used Android in quite a few years, but it was my understanding that it was in Google's default SMS app. When I got iOS 18, all of my texts to Android users switched automatically to RCS, so they didn't have to do anything.
  - pohuing 2y ago
    I wrote an "SMS" to the previous tenant of my new flat recently and it got seamlessly upgraded to rcs. With me on an android and them on an iPhone. This was using Google messages, which was the default on my zenfone for sms
    - phatskat 2y ago
      My friend group chat was suddenly RCS after updating iOS today and it’s great - no more “So and so liked ‘the entire message body’” messages, we all just see the thumbs up reaction

skissane 2y ago

> I think Apple already has claimed the "friends and family network" via iMessage. All the family/friends group chats I am in are WhatsApp. I use iMessage every day for 1-to-1 messaging but I don’t really view it as distinct from SMS. For international communication, even 1-on-1 tends to be WhatsApp.

eknkc 2y ago

Everytime iMessage is mentioned, I do a double take because it is almost non existent here in Turkey. And from what I hear, seems like most Europeans do not use it too. WhatsApp has like 99.9% market share here and I assume it is a lot bigger than anything else in the EU too. I wonder why is that though. Everyone around me has an iPhone basically and I haven’t received a blue bubble in years. The messages app is not even on my home screen.

stevage 2y ago
Can also report WhatsApp has 100% of the backpackers meeting each other market.
pkamb 2y ago
As I understand it, many Americans (and all iPhones?) had unlimited-SMS phone plans circa 2009. So the pay-per-message economic conditions that caused many Europeans, etc., to switch to WhatsApp back in the day didn't do anything in the USA. Then when the same iPhone app seamlessly started sending iMessages (blue bubbles) to other iPhones rather than SMS (green bubbles), people just kept using that.
- basisword 2y ago
  >> So the pay-per-message economic conditions that caused many Europeans, etc., to switch to WhatsApp back in the day didn't do anything in the USA. I see this listed as the reason often but I had unlimited SMS then too. In fact I remember visiting the US in 2009 and I was charged to send AND receive an SMS which was a shock. I think the actual reason is that communication across borders in Europe is very common and those SMS's were not included in the unlimited plans as they were messages abroad. So they were subject to fees (usually high ones). I think this is the reason it was common - especially given how common it is for students to study 'abroad' in other European countries. There were a few competing apps for this at the time (Vibr I think was another but was more call focussed) but WhatsApp won in the end.
  - yurishimo 2y ago

stevage 2y ago

Nobody I know uses iMessage.

ghaff 2y ago
In the US, using iMessage involves flipping a switch in some Messages setting--and everyone I know in the US just texts, except for texting with international folks.
- dboreham 2y ago
  Quick note that I'm in the US and my experience is: most random people use SMS; closer friends and family some use Signal, some Discord, some email; colleagues use Slack; overseas taxi drivers etc. use WhatsApp.
  - pkamb 2y ago
    By "use SMS" you surely mean "use iMessage" much of the time.
    - spunker540 2y ago
      If op is on android they wont know who uses imessage
- Auracle 2y ago
  No switch flipping needed, if you send a text to another iPhone it’ll just do an iMessage instead.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    It may be on by default but there is a switch in Settings/Apps/Messages.

Zak 2y ago

That's only true if everyone in the group has an Apple phone, which has decreasing probability with every additional member. Excluding people from a conversation because they don't have the right brand of phone would be pretty antisocial.

pkamb 2y ago
In the USA, someone insisting on using an Android when everyone else in their social circle has an iPhone (and they do!) is what's seen as anti-social. No one wants to use the degraded green bubble SMS experience so they simply exclude the Android user and continue using blue bubble iMessage.
- wrfrmers 2y ago
  I'll do you one better: in this specific situation, the antisocial buck stops at the friend group who doesn't all chip in and buy their Android friend a "keep in touch" iPhone. But the point remains that a cynical UX/technical/business decision that does not need to be so is rending real relationships between actual people. If Tim Cook had the power to render anyone who didn't pay him $400+ mute to their friends and family through some sort of black magic, we'd call him a comic book supervillain.
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    Honestly, if your "friend" group is willing to exclude you because you're not using a particular brand of cell phone, then I have some bad news for you: They might not really be great friends.
  - satvikpendem 2y ago
    I bought an Android specifically so I don't have to use an iPhone, speaking as a former iPhone user. "Friends" chipping in to buy me an iPhone isn't something I'd actually want.
- Zak 2y ago
  It surprises me people who actually have this problem don't just switch to a different messaging app. There are many, and the effort required is minimal.

addicted 2y ago

iMessage is dead/dying. WhatsApp is killing it. At this point even my American groups have become largely WhatsApp because Android exists.

create-username 2y ago

Nobody uses iMessage in Spain. People swear by Zuck's spyware