How is she forcing you to use iMessage? It's not like you won't be able to message her on an Android. You just won't get full res images and videos or the reacts to chat.
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Getting out of the ecosystem
- Thread starter 2chance1
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I sometimes use an Android device (Tab S7+) and have found AirMessage to work for me.. https://airmessage.org/ -- I have an older Mac mini that I use as a Plex server that forwards the iMessages to the Android device. If you have a similar setup or are willing to buy an older Mac, this could be an option.
I also have cellular iPad and such. However, you can see the reply above your this particular comment, there are issues with SMS while trying to work with having an android device. At best those solutions are considered as “workaround” rather than real solution. Works, but with lots of caveats.
The ultimate solution is to continue pressure Apple to adopt to a more interoperable standard for SMS, which allows people from different platforms to communicate with each other without worry.
“In theory”, sadly.
Take a look at other parts of this thread and you will know why.
Now this particular comment was discussing to get their SMS number deregistered from iMessage... correct? Because Apple provided a website to deregister iMessage... if someone is facing issues, contact Apple. I'm sure the issue will get resolved. But I for one, have used the website before... it has worked.
So, I'm guessing we should have the same energy for Meta with Messenger and WhatsApp? What about Slack or Microsoft Teams... lets even bring up Skype or Google Chat too.
My wife and I both use Apple. I truly think our lives are better for it due to the superiority Apple has in regards to family device management. Purchases can be shared with her and the kids, I can easily keep certain aspects of their devices locked at school. My brother won’t touch Apple anything but his wife loves her iPhone. They manage just fine with it though. If I wanted to go back to Android it would suck for maybe a week then we would figure it out and all would be fine. Tinkering is fun. If you want to try different things have a respectful adult conversation and make it happen but in my experience Android is far inferior to iOS with the one exception of file management.
If more than one person faces issue at deregistering their iMessage number, then Apple is probably doing something wrong. Yes, they should contact Apple and I believe they have. The point is, such deregistration should’ve never existed in the first place if Apple is to make iMessage interoperable.
also I don’t know why you even bring up messenger and WhatsApp and slack and Microsoft team. None of them not having compatible iOS apps, and feature wise they are almost identical across platforms.
Your last part is a bit slanted. No Android is not far inferior to iOS.
They are different. Both have strengths and weaknesses.
But Android gives the user far more freedom and OS update support has dramatically improved over the last couple of years.
So in the end it is more about what you prioritize and what is more important to you.
You can lock down kids phones on Android just as easily as iOS.
The pervasive opinion that one OS is vastly superior to another is pretty played out and just isn't true anymore.
I get what you’re saying. There was a lot to like about Android early on and still there is but obviously considering I was writing it it is my opinion. One that stems from experience using both but still an opinion. Other people will vary and that is fine. I don’t scoff at my brother and his nice Samsung its a nice device and can do some cool stuff. Android has iOS beat in file management and ability to side load apps if one chooses. Aside from that iOS blows everything else out of the water.
In my ”pervasive” opinion. 😉
In the U.S., only iPhone 6 and up works on data now, since they shut down the 3G network.
There's a process with deregistering an iMessage number... I'm sure you are aware and there's an Apple support page to help an individual with it. It's not as bad as you make it out to be and deregistering exist because you have to register for iMessage.
Because you are dead set on having iMessage interoperable when iPhone users are able to exchanges messages with non-iPhones. And regardless, if these apps are cross platform... they should be interoperable where I wouldn't have to sign up for Slack and Microsoft Teams, I should be able to sign up Slack and still be able to message Microsoft Teams users within the Slack app.
I only commented because it is not just your opinion. I hear it all the time on both sides and it just gets annoying when both OS do pretty much the same thing and have the same functionality and Apple steals features from Android all the time.
There is a lot more than just file management that is superior on Android. Notifications, theming and widgets are also better. Granular control of the OS is better on Android.
iOS has better animations, better update support, better SOC, anti reflective coating under the display, better privacy etc.
There are things to like and dislike about both which is why I wish Microsoft never pulled out of the mobile space. More competition the better. Integration is better between Apple devices but it also serves to lock the consumer in.
I think Apple is pretty evil in a lot of ways and they try to act as though they care about the environment and people when time and time again they show through their actions that profit is all they care about. Same could be said for Google or Samsung but at least Google and Samsung are a bit less elitist.
You have your opinion and I respect it. I just don’t care for blanket statements about certain things.
You’re comparing things that are completely unrelated.
As far as iMessage is concerned you shouldn’t have to deregister anything nor fill out a form or whatever on Apples website.
As a cross platform user I should be able to pick up my iPhone and use then switch my sim to my Samsung and use it and be able to have continuity between devices when it comes to certain applications like the phone app and messaging. Everything else can be proprietary and whatever but the basic functionality of the phone such as calling and texting should be seamless and allow a user to use any device and be able to communicate with any other device without going through hoops to register or deregister in order to have basic functionality.
Those two apps should be standard across platforms for safety and communications for normal use and in case of emergency.
Reason why I’m comparing those things is because they are messaging platform... same thing as iMessage.
Well, that’s the way it works. Once a user register for iMessage using their cellular number.. they have to deregister unfortunately due to Apple protocols. But it’s as painless as registering…. It’s not as if the user has to jump through hoops.
Yes, a user can. They can pick up an iPhone and then switch their SIM to Android easily… just refrain from registering for iMessage.
What two apps are you referring to? Android and the iPhone can exchanges messages through SMS.
Yes they are 3rd party messaging apps you have to install and figure out how they work which is different from 1st party messaging apps that should work the same basically on any phone.
But why does it work in a way that only makes things complicated for people switching from an iPhone to an android phone and not the other way around?
I had been an android user since before Samsung galaxy s4. My first iPhone was an 11. Since I got the iPhone 11 I never registered iMessage. I just started using the app. Maybe it was part of the automatic setup process when you get a new iPhone but no where was I ever told that I needed to register for iMessage.
I have always kept an android device and often switched back and forth and only recently on my newest Samsung was. I even aware I had to turn iMessage off to receive texts without problems.
Had I not received a prompt from Samsung I would have never known that I had to turn iMessage off and I just learned in your previous post about registering as I have never even heard about it before.
I am not a novice user of mobile devices but I started out with Android and with Android I can easily switch my sim and use an iPhone or any Android device and I don’t have to register or turn Google messages on or off. It just works and sends and receives messages.
Apple is purposefully adding steps without explicitly notifying users of registration and turning iMessage off in order to use an android phone when switching from an iPhone. It is a process that might be easy and uncomplicated if you are aware of it and it is really something that is completely unnecessary and only hampers users ability to switch easily.
What if I bought a different Android phone and it didn’t tell me to turn iMessage off and I had no idea about registration and then I had problems sending or receiving texts? I would likely think there is something wrong with my Android phone. If I went back to my iPhone I bet everything would work fine again. So I would have an erroneous idea that Android texting doesn’t work when I had to take additional steps that I don’t need to take on Android to get texts to work when switching from an iPhone to Android but if I were to switch from Android to iPhone I would not encounter such issues.
Not to mention people use WhatsApp outside of the US right?
I know there's other messaging apps too but that's the predominant one from what I understand.
That's at least how it is in Finland and also the rest of Europe as far as I know. I'm not sure if WeChat or something similar is more popular around China, but iMessage as a popular messaging platform is mostly a US thing.
You can send messages from your Android phone, 100% you would have no problem if you’re the one sending texts. But it’s possible to stop receiving messages from your iPhone friends to your Android phone, the iPhones will think you’re on iMessage and attempt to send that first. However, what should happen, maybe not always, is that the phone says the message was not delivered, and it’s supposed to offer to send as text message. So the possibility is there if your contacts are pretty careless and don’t pay attention to your messages not going through, if you didn’t deregister. Also if you keep your SIM card out of your iPhone for a few days it will sign you out of iMessage automatically. I went camping out of cellular range for a few days and coming back the iPhone said it was signed out of iMessage, but it was one click to get it back. So I assume it’s no different if you’re just switching to Android, unless you’re switching every few days between iPhone and Android.
I see. You treat iMessage as a "platform" rather than an app, thus putting them at the same level as Microsoft Team, WhatsApp and whatnot. Thing is, iMessage has been so tightly integrated with iOS, that even basic SMS functionality can be impacted just because Apple decides to lock your number in. There are posts in this thread which people talking about how difficult it is sometimes to get SMS working after switching to Android while also trying to maintain iMessage via phone number (not through email btw).
No, I don't care if iMessage itself is interoperable or not. What I do care is Apple should not kidnap customer's phone number in such a way that in order for people to receive SMS on non-iPhone, they need to jump hoops and fill a form to deregister before moving on. iMessage can have all the fancy features Apple want and operate just like Microsoft Team, Slack, Discord etc, where you register with phone number or email. What Apple is doing, unlike Microsoft Team, Slack and others, is once registration is completed, that phone number is tied to iOS devices. Much like IE days when Microsoft bundled it with Windows, Apple bundles SMS with iMessage and iOS.
Regardless, bottom line is, when user pops SIM out of their phone and put it in another phone, SMS and phone call should work right off the bat. No string attached.
WeChat not just popular in China, it is mandatory for pretty much every single aspect of life you can think of.
And yeah, region difference pushes iMessage into relative obscurity outside of US.
There is a similar issue with the calendar. When I switched back to Android I started noticing that I would no longer get calendar invitations from a project colleague working at a different company. She was/is using an iPhone to send these, but I was expecting to at least get an automated email like I did years earlier with my previous Android phone, before my iPhone days. Turns out that once you have an iPhone, the iCloud calendar app will take over receiving invitations and disable the email notifications, and this behavior will persist when you stop using the iPhone. Took me weeks to understand what was actually going on, and then I had to dig out my old iPhone to sign into the iCloud calendar and disable this behavior somewhere in the settings.
I’m curious—in the apparently many parts of the world where WhatsApp is dominant, how do people feel about WhatsApp’s corporate parent Meta?
At least more tech-oriented people including me aren't happy with them and there have been attempts to move elsewhere, but it's hard to get the critical mass to move. If iMessage actually had been available cross-platform during the latest discomfort with Meta, it would've most likely seen quite an adoption spike. However, when iMessage is tied to an increasingly outrageously expensive (iPhone 14 series prices went up around 170€ here thanks to exchange rates) hardware dongle, it's dead in the water when it comes to a commonly used messaging service.
This was perfectly stated! 🎯 Each product and their respective brands all have their pros and cons. My preference by far is Apple, but the lack of a proper file management system—especially with photos—drives me batsh*t insane!! I have the worst time trying to sort 50k plus of photos because I don’t see them move from the general camera roll to the folder I want them in. I have a crap ton of pics just lumped altogether with no quick access to them. I need this fixed, so if anyone has some good advice or a workaround to share, please let me (us) know. As of now, I’ll let Slither roll continue to grow 🥴
The other thing that slightly annoys me is the lack of risqué gifs that Android and Social Media apps provide. Sometimes Apple can be a bit too PC for me, like I’m Ned Flanders behind the keyboard. That’s just not me.
And group chat with Android users can get somewhat wonky when using links, vids, gifs and the likes button. Honestly, I’d like to see that fixed. But it’s pretty minor to me.
These are the only issues I have with Apple. I highly value my privacy, which is paramoun, and the products like Mr Steve Jobs said, “they just work.” But lawd have mercy, that Photos issue is pretty major right now. Even the Apple chat rep didn’t have an answer for me tonight, who also has the same problem. There’s got to be a solution somewhere!