Phones Samsung Galaxy S8

[mjschabow]

I don't really get it. iMessage just converts to texting. And for FaceTime, use Duo, which is free and is basically FaceTime.

Group messages are a real pain on Android when all your friends have iMessage. I'd be in the same room as my fiancé and she'd get a reply sometimes up to a minute before me. Plus trying to get your friends to all download Duo is easier said than done. Lol

 

[Zaft]

I don't really get it. iMessage just converts to texting. And for FaceTime, use Duo, which is free and is basically FaceTime.

Good luck getting everyone to switch because of you.. Its not happening.

 

[co.ag.2005]

What messaging app is good where I can replace the Samsung messaging one? Samsung one is too clunky and adds too many unnecessary steps here and there.

And @MRU Is the LG G6 software experience better than the S8 despite the 821 processor? The Samsung Experience is better than last year and the past, but the inevitable bog down will come in soon on the Snapdragon side.

I prefer Textra, hands down, over all the other messaging options (for SMS/MMS, that is). Lots of great theme customization too

 

[tbayrgs]

Group messages are a real pain on Android when all your friends have iMessage. I'd be in the same room as my fiancé and she'd get a reply sometimes up to a minute before me. Plus trying to get your friends to all download Duo is easier said than done. Lol

Sadly, this pretty much covers it for many people. I have enough experience dealing with everyday smart phone consumers to know that anything beyond the native solution on a phone basically doesn't exist or is more effort than they are willing to put forward. This reasoning is truly at the core (in addition to the actual features and simplicity) why Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime are so successful.

 

[Zaft]

Sadly, this pretty much covers it for many people. I have enough experience dealing with everyday smart phone consumers to know that anything beyond the native solution on a phone basically doesn't exist or is more effort than they are willing to put forward. This reasoning is truly at the core (in addition to the actual features and simplicity) why Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime are so successful.

Yup 100% this. For some they don't even know that they are using Apple maps and think its google maps, they just assume.

 

[mjschabow]

Sadly, this pretty much covers it for many people. I have enough experience dealing with everyday smart phone consumers to know that anything beyond the native solution on a phone basically doesn't exist or is more effort than they are willing to put forward. This reasoning is truly at the core (in addition to the actual features and simplicity) why Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime are so successful.

Exactly. The biggest driver for me to finally switch back was because of a night where my fiancé was not available and her mom wanted to FaceTime with me so she could see our baby and I told her I couldn't unless she downloaded a different app.

 

[soulreaver99]

Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus prices are just plummeting here in the US. Samsung has been offering BOGO deals on their website. The unlocked version for the Galaxy S8 is $624 new or $549 open box (practically new condition) at Best Buy. It's insane. One Plus 5 is going to cost $499-$549. More choices on that price range

 

[Zaft]

Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus prices are just plummeting here in the US. Samsung has been offering BOGO deals on their website. The unlocked version for the Galaxy S8 is $624 new or $549 open box (practically new condition) at Best Buy. It's insane. One Plus 5 is going to cost $499-$549. More choices on that price range

Wow awesome

 

[mib1800]

Sadly, this pretty much covers it for many people. I have enough experience dealing with everyday smart phone consumers to know that anything beyond the native solution on a phone basically doesn't exist or is more effort than they are willing to put forward. This reasoning is truly at the core (in addition to the actual features and simplicity) why Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime are so successful.

I think this phenomenon only occurs in US. In other countries where there are substantial non iPhone users, most iPhone users are forced to use other messaging systems or they will be left out.

It is quite strange me. I thought in US there are also substantial android users. Some of you seem to be so dependent on Imessage that it gives me the impression that your society is segregated into iPhone and non iPhone users and both groups never mix.

 

[macjunk(ie)]

I think this phenomenon only occurs in US. In other countries where there are substantial non iPhone users, most iPhone users are forced to use other messaging systems or they will be left out.

It is quite strange me. I thought in US there are also substantial android users. Some of you seem to be so dependent on Imessage that it gives me the impression that your society is segregated into iPhone and non iPhone users and both groups never mix.

many of my friends and family use iPhones but not iMessage. WhatsApp is where I thought everybody was at

 

[mib1800]

many of my friends and family use iPhones but not iMessage. WhatsApp is where I thought everybody was at

This should be the norm. Whether it is whatsapp or another, iPhone users should be using one of these already.

 

[torana355]

I think this phenomenon only occurs in US. In other countries where there are substantial non iPhone users, most iPhone users are forced to use other messaging systems or they will be left out.

It is quite strange me. I thought in US there are also substantial android users. Some of you seem to be so dependent on Imessage that it gives me the impression that your society is segregated into iPhone and non iPhone users and both groups never mix.

Very good post. It blows my mind when i see so many posts about iMessage and how people cant live without it. Here in Australia everyone uses Whatapp inc iPhone users. Why lock your self down to a messaging service that can't message cross platform.

 

[Zaft]

This should be the norm. Whether it is whatsapp or another, iPhone users should be using one of these already.

Personally I am all for open chat platforms on any OS. But at least in the US it's either iMessage or Facebook messenger. For me it's an 80/20 split with usage between iMessage and Facebook messenger.

 

[tbayrgs]

I think this phenomenon only occurs in US. In other countries where there are substantial non iPhone users, most iPhone users are forced to use other messaging systems or they will be left out.

It is quite strange me. I thought in US there are also substantial android users. Some of you seem to be so dependent on Imessage that it gives me the impression that your society is segregated into iPhone and non iPhone users and both groups never mix.

From what I've read, this certainly seems to be a larger factor here in the US. I think the dependency, or just general use, of iMessage stems from our historical usage of SMS as for many years now, most mobile users have had access to unlimited texting. Using iMessages required no differentiation from US customer's existing use cases and yes, I believe iPhones have somewhere in the neighborhood of 45-50% of the US market. People use iMessages exactly as they would for SMS yet they have a far more robust messaging platform that is likely usable with many, if not a majority of their regular contacts. Moving to Android means either losing the extra features and functionality by reverting to standard SMS or trying to convert all of your regular contacts to a third party solution.

This native ease of use extends to Facetime, to an even greater extend because of iPads. Many older customers and kids rely on iPads as their first introduction to newer tech and FaceTime as the single touch native video calling solution is a no brainer here. My kids call their grandmother all the time on her iPad.

many of my friends and family use iPhones but not iMessage. WhatsApp is where I thought everybody was at

Unfortunately, not in the US. Just checked and of all of my contacts (roughly 250), 6 have WhatsApp accounts and we all still keep in touch via iMessage or SMS.

 

[Zaft]

From what I've read, this certainly seems to be a larger factor here in the US. I think the dependency, or just general use, of iMessage stems from our historical usage of SMS as for many years now, most mobile users have had access to unlimited texting. Using iMessages required no differentiation from US customer's existing use cases and yes, I believe iPhones have somewhere in the neighborhood of 45-50% of the US market. People use iMessages exactly as they would for SMS yet they have a far more robust messaging platform that is likely usable with many, if not a majority of their regular contacts. Moving to Android means either losing the extra features and functionality by reverting to standard SMS or trying to convert all of your regular contacts to a third party solution.

This native ease of use extends to Facetime, to an even greater extend because of iPads. Many older customers and kids rely on iPads as their first introduction to newer tech and FaceTime as the single touch native video calling solution is a no brainer here. My kids call their grandmother all the time on her iPad.



Unfortunately, not in the US. Just checked and of all of my contacts (roughly 250), 6 have WhatsApp accounts and we all still keep in touch via iMessage or SMS.

Some of my contacts have WhatsApp but they don't use it/aren't active.

 

[tbayrgs]

Very good post. It blows my mind when i see so many posts about iMessage and how people cant live without it. Here in Australia everyone uses Whatapp inc iPhone users. Why lock your self down to a messaging service that can't message cross platform.

Why is this so bewildering? First, users aren't limited to only one platform and that's exactly why people love it. It requires no third party account setup/activation and enables iPhone users the ability to reach anyone with a mobile number OR an Apple device. As many subscribers as WhatsApp has, it still falls short of iMessage's reach.

And as far as their difficulty leaving iMessage, how would your usage be affected if WhatsApp suddenly wasn't available? You'd be able to find an alternate solution(s) but it would take some compromises on your part and likely some work to set it up and also convince your contacts to switch.

 

[torana355]

Why is this so bewildering? First, users aren't limited to only one platform and that's exactly why people love it. It requires no third party account setup/activation and enables iPhone users the ability to reach anyone with a mobile number OR an Apple device. As many subscribers as WhatsApp has, it still falls short of iMessage's reach.

And as far as their difficulty leaving iMessage, how would your usage be affected if WhatsApp suddenly wasn't available? You'd be able to find an alternate solution(s) but it would take some compromises on your part and likely some work to set it up and also convince your contacts to switch.

Yes, you can use iMessage cross platform but you cant message a Whatsapp user, you can only group chat with other iMessage users which makes it completely useless in any country that has any decent amount of Android users. Not requiring any third party setup is a just silly, have we really become so lazy that downloading Whatsapp and setting it up (a process that takes no longer then 5 mins btw) is too difficult?

Like i said here in Australia none of the things you have pointed out are an issue. Only in the US is this iMessage obsession such a huge thing and as other people have pointed out Apple users in the US end up in their own little world as Apple does not play nice with the competition.

If Whatsapp was not available the next best app would take over by default which would be Telegram. So yes it is bewildering to me.

 

[mib1800]

Why is this so bewildering? First, users aren't limited to only one platform and that's exactly why people love it. It requires no third party account setup/activation and enables iPhone users the ability to reach anyone with a mobile number OR an Apple device. As many subscribers as WhatsApp has, it still falls short of iMessage's reach.

And as far as their difficulty leaving iMessage, how would your usage be affected if WhatsApp suddenly wasn't available? You'd be able to find an alternate solution(s) but it would take some compromises on your part and likely some work to set it up and also convince your contacts to switch.

The way you are putting it then it wouldnt matter whether you are using imessage or not as it is so seamlessly integrates with sms. Then why do all these people have problems moving to another platform?

 

[torana355]

The way you are putting it then it wouldnt matter whether you are using imessage or not as it is so seamlessly integrates with sms. Then why do all these people have problems moving to another platform?

Exactly!!!

 

[tbayrgs]

The way you are putting it then it wouldnt matter whether you are using imessage or not as it is so seamlessly integrates with sms. Then why do all these people have problems moving to another platform?

iMessage functionality with other iOS users is very different from using iMessage with an Android user (SMS). Switching off of iMessage means leaving behind all of the extra functionality.

 

[torana355]

iMessage functionality with other iOS users is very different from using iMessage with an Android user (SMS). Switching off of iMessage means leaving behind all of the extra functionality.

So you are saying that it lacks features when messaging cross platform, correct? Do you realise Whatapp brings all those features back and is true cross platform. You can also have the Whatsapp app for Mac running to get messages at your Mac.

 

[mib1800]

iMessage functionality with other iOS users is very different from using iMessage with an Android user (SMS). Switching off of iMessage means leaving behind all of the extra functionality.

Then imessage is still segregating your friends/family using Android. I just think imessage is a bad thing. It makes iphone users seclude themselves from the rest of the world.

Imessage is the only one in the world that purposely excludes others.

 

[tbayrgs]

So you are saying that it lacks features when messaging cross platform, correct? Do you realise Whatapp brings all those features back and is true cross platform. You can also have the Whatsapp app for Mac running to get messages at your Mac.

Listen, you're creating you're own argument. My original post was only to try to explain why so many Apple users like iMessages and find it difficult to leave--never once was I saying it was the best messaging solution, just that it's preferred messaging platform for iOS users in the US because of the reason I mentioned.

Second, I think you're confusing your own anecdotal experience using WhatsApp with fact. Unless the overwelming majority of Australians just converted to using WhatsApp over the last 6 months, the true number of active users is far less than 'everyone in Australia', according to this report. In reality, it appears to be barely higher that the percentage of US users.

Share of population in selected countries who are active WhatsApp users as of 4th quarter 2016

Regardless, let's not derail this thread any more with a discussion that's been had countless times in this and other forums. An awful lot of iOS users count iMessage as a signficant reason why they prefer to use iOS--no different that an Android user preferring to stay on Android because they like a particular aspect of that platform. It's OK not to understand why they do.

 

[widgeteer]

Sadly, this pretty much covers it for many people. I have enough experience dealing with everyday smart phone consumers to know that anything beyond the native solution on a phone basically doesn't exist or is more effort than they are willing to put forward. This reasoning is truly at the core (in addition to the actual features and simplicity) why Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime are so successful.

I think this is accurate, and hits to a truth a lot of folks on this sub-forum don't like to hear: most folks still just want to use their phones, they don't want to tinker.

iMessage's success is entirely based on the fact that you receive texts and iMessages in the same app. No need to get anyone else to adopt a new program to send you something. If Google made similiar it would surpass iMessage purely due to install base. I'd bet it would kill stuff like WhatsApp in the States, at least.

 

[torana355]

Listen, you're creating you're own argument. My original post was only to try to explain why so many Apple users like iMessages and find it difficult to leave--never once was I saying it was the best messaging solution, just that it's preferred messaging platform for iOS users in the US because of the reason I mentioned.

Second, I think you're confusing your own anecdotal experience using WhatsApp with fact. Unless the overwelming majority of Australians just converted to using WhatsApp over the last 6 months, the true number of active users is far less than 'everyone in Australia', according to this report. In reality, it appears to be barely higher that the percentage of US users.

Share of population in selected countries who are active WhatsApp users as of 4th quarter 2016

Regardless, let's not derail this thread any more with a discussion that's been had countless times in this and other forums. An awful lot of iOS users count iMessage as a signficant reason why they prefer to use iOS--no different that an Android user preferring to stay on Android because they like a particular aspect of that platform. It's OK not to understand why they do.

Thats fine, I've just not come across a situation where an iPhone user has not moved over to Whatsapp in my large group of friends and family. Statistics never tell the full story. The bottom line is if you want to be able to group message across platforms you have to use a third party solution. iMessage is great if everyone you know owns a iPhone, but if they don't it just does not make sense. Personally i wish Android and iOS would create a cross platform messaging solution, the fragmentation is just silly.