The iPhone from an Android Perspective

[Tig Bitties]

I use the app Telegram for texting my Brother who lives in Europe, so the 4 siblings have Telegram installed on our phones, 2 use iPhone, and 2 use Android.

I have 3 phones I've bounced around using; iPhone 12 Pro Max, Pixel 4 XL, and Pixel 5a. I installed Telegram on all three phones, and even the phones just using WiFi connection no SIM card, they all show the latest texts and have all the chat history up to date, all the time. So switching between the three phones, my Telegram chats are all there just like on the other phones.

My iPhone 12 PM is my only Apple device, I don't own any other iOS devices, so couldn't tell you how that works. But no on RCS Google Messages, it only stays on the phone with your SIM card.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

The difference is that iMessage is connected to your iCloud account, so any iDevices using the same iCloud account will receive the texts.

Google RCS is connected to the phone number. So a different phone cannot get the texts because it's not the same phone number. Think RCS as SMS 2.0.

No, what I meant to say and I didn't explain it well enough is. If I turn off my Pixel 4a, pull out the Sim card and place it in my Pixel 4a 5G, the messages stay on the P4a. Different phones, same Sim card and same phone number. It would be great if my messages that were on my P4a showed up on my P4a 5G when I turned on the phone with the "same" Sim card.

 

[ian87w]

No, what I meant to say and I didn't explain it well enough is. If I turn off my Pixel 4a, pull out the Sim card and place it in my Pixel 4a 5G, the messages stay on the P4a. Different phones, same Sim card and same phone number. It would be great if my messages that were on my P4a showed up on my P4a 5G when I turned on the phone with the "same" Sim card.

I didn't realize RCS behaves that way. I'm guessing that you need to turn it (chat features) off first on the older phone, and enable it on the new phone.

 

[tbayrgs]

I love that I can copy text from my iPhone and then paste it when I’m back on the Mac. It’s just a seamless experience.

Agreed. Didn’t thing I’d use that feature very often when it was announced a few years ago but I actually use it fairly often.

 

[tbayrgs]

No, what I meant to say and I didn't explain it well enough is. If I turn off my Pixel 4a, pull out the Sim card and place it in my Pixel 4a 5G, the messages stay on the P4a. Different phones, same Sim card and same phone number. It would be great if my messages that were on my P4a showed up on my P4a 5G when I turned on the phone with the "same" Sim card.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve used an Android as my daily but I believe you’d have to restore your new P4a from a Google backup of your old phone for that to occur. Would be nice if Google did a real-time cloud sync with your Google account the same way iCloud can do it for Apple Messages.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve used an Android as my daily but I believe you’d have to restore your new P4a from a Google backup of your old phone for that to occur. Would be nice if Google did a real-time cloud sync with your Google account the same way iCloud can do it for Apple Messages.

Nah that won't work for me as it's too much work, lol. I'm just temporarily switching phones between my P4a and P4a 5G and back again.

 

[Awesomesince86]

The difference is that iMessage is connected to your iCloud account, so any iDevices using the same iCloud account will receive the texts.

Google RCS is connected to the phone number. So a different phone cannot get the texts because it's not the same phone number. Think RCS as SMS 2.0.

That's not entirely true. You can get RCS on any device with a browser as well, as you can link your Google Messages app with the browser. It works similar to iMessage on ipad or MacBooks but it isn't limited to just Apple devices.

 

[Zaft]

That's not entirely true. You can get RCS on any device with a browser as well, as you can link your Google Messages app with the browser. It works similar to iMessage on ipad or MacBooks but it isn't limited to just Apple devices.

That’s just pros and cons of both. With apple you get nice integration, I don’t have to think about what messaging app to use.

downside is it’s closed and limited to apple devices.

If I text an Android user it automatically switches to sms.

 

[Awesomesince86]

That’s just pros and cons of both. With apple you get nice integration, I don’t have to think about what messaging app to use.

downside is it’s closed and limited to apple devices.

If I text an Android user it automatically switches to sms.

Again, what I'm saying is RCS does the exact same thing. If the user you're texting also uses Android messages, it'll send as RCS. If they don't or they have an iPhone, it'll fall back to sms. It works exactly like iMessage, just using different methods.

 

[flybub]

Again, what I'm saying is RCS does the exact same thing. If the user you're texting also uses Android messages, it'll send as RCS. If they don't or they have an iPhone, it'll fall back to sms. It works exactly like iMessage, just using different methods.

Keywords there are the other person needs to use Google messages. At this point that is still a very small number of people.

iPhone sending a message to iPhone through messages will be sent as iMessage, easy peasy. Android sending a message to Android is a hot mess (if you want to send video or other media). The other user could be using Textra, the OEM messaging app, etc. therefore RCS is still a long ways away. Until RCS is implemented in all 3rd party messaging apps and OEMs force Google Messages out of the box, RCS is still spinning it's wheels in the mud. I think it's getting better, but still a long ways to go.

 

[Awesomesince86]

Keywords there are the other person needs to use Google messages. At this point that is still a very small number of people.

iPhone sending a message to iPhone through messages will be sent as iMessage, easy peasy. Android sending a message to Android is a hot mess (if you want to send video or other media). The other user could be using Textra, the OEM messaging app, etc. therefore RCS is still a long ways away. Until RCS is implemented in all 3rd party messaging apps and OEMs force Google Messages out of the box, RCS is still spinning it's wheels in the mud. I think it's getting better, but still a long ways to go.

Lol. So you think Android messages is used by a small number of people but then mention Textra? I don't think I've heard of anyone using that in 5 years. Google's version of RCS is fairly new, but with Samsung agreeing to start using Google Messages by default from now on, it will catch on quick.

You say Android sending to Android is a hot mess, but if both have Google Messages it is functionally exactly the same as iMessages. As long as Google and Samsung are on board, that's all that really matters. They're a huge majority of the Android market share, especially in the US.

 

[flybub]

Lol. So you think Android messages is used by a small number of people but then mention Textra? I don't think I've heard of anyone using that in 5 years. Google's version of RCS is fairly new, but with Samsung agreeing to start using Google Messages by default from now on, it will catch on quick.

You say Android sending to Android is a hot mess, but if both have Google Messages it is functionally exactly the same as iMessages. As long as Google and Samsung are on board, that's all that really matters. They're a huge majority of the Android market share, especially in the US.

I don't disagree with anything you said. And you're right, things could move along nicely with Samsung pushing chat. I thought Samsung was supposed to start using Google Messages as the default app?

Thanks to the iPhone 13, I don't have many friends with Android anymore, but the ones that are still on it use Textra or Verizon's messaging app. A few family members on my wife's side use Verizon's messaging app as well.

 

[ian87w]

That's not entirely true. You can get RCS on any device with a browser as well, as you can link your Google Messages app with the browser. It works similar to iMessage on ipad or MacBooks but it isn't limited to just Apple devices.

Yes, but if I have two Android phones, each will have a different "account." Compared to Apple iMessage where two iPhones can use one iMessage account if both use the same iCloud account.

 

[ian87w]

Lol. So you think Android messages is used by a small number of people but then mention Textra? I don't think I've heard of anyone using that in 5 years. Google's version of RCS is fairly new, but with Samsung agreeing to start using Google Messages by default from now on, it will catch on quick.

You say Android sending to Android is a hot mess, but if both have Google Messages it is functionally exactly the same as iMessages. As long as Google and Samsung are on board, that's all that really matters. They're a huge majority of the Android market share, especially in the US.

Samsung using Google Messages as the default should help. However, that's only part of the picture. The next largest OEMs in many countries, like Xiaomi and the BBK group, don't support RCS in their default SMS app. And even if everybody used Samsung phones, another the big problem is, RCS is not turned on by default. So even if there are a lot of people have compatible clients, they are most likely don't know about it. Worse, in some countries like mine, when I enabled RCS, one of the carriers actually blocked my data temporarily. Google used their servers as a workaround to enable RCS in countries where the carriers don't care about it, but clearly not all carriers were happy about it. So as you can see, there are already a lot of barriers for even RCS to even be "on" on a person's phone. Then you have to convince the person to actually use it. In my country, whatsapp has become de-factor standard. Nobody uses SMS anymore for their personal communications since the spammers have taken over, and by extension, RCS will be forgotten.

In contrast, iMessage is turned on by default whenever you sign in your iCloud account on an iPhone regardless of carrier (there are exceptions, of course). People usually won't steer away too far from default settings.

Imo RCS won't go anywhere. I mean how many years have it been actually on the market? Some carriers even stopped supporting it.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I don’t even think about whether any of my friends have iPhones or not as WhatsApp is the most dominant messaging platform here in Europe anyway. I use iMessage for a handful of family members but even then group messaging is done through WhatsApp. It makes life a lot simpler rather than arguing over iMessage not being available beyond iOS in my experience.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I don’t even think about whether any of my friends have iPhones or not as WhatsApp is the most dominant messaging platform here in Europe anyway. I use iMessage for a handful of family members but even then group messaging is done through WhatsApp. It makes life a lot simpler rather than arguing over iMessage not being available beyond iOS in my experience.

A legit question since I have never used WhatsApp. How is WhatsApp on privacy? I see that it's part of Facebook and FB doesn't have a good track record when it comes to privacy.

 

[Expos of 1969]

A legit question since I have never used WhatsApp. How is WhatsApp on privacy? I see that it's part of Facebook and FB doesn't have a good track record when it comes to privacy.

Probably poor but I don't care if Zuck knows I will be having lunch with Tina tomorrow at 13:00. I don't use it to discuss sensitive issues.

 

[Awesomesince86]

Samsung using Google Messages as the default should help. However, that's only part of the picture. The next largest OEMs in many countries, like Xiaomi and the BBK group, don't support RCS in their default SMS app. And even if everybody used Samsung phones, another the big problem is, RCS is not turned on by default. So even if there are a lot of people have compatible clients, they are most likely don't know about it. Worse, in some countries like mine, when I enabled RCS, one of the carriers actually blocked my data temporarily. Google used their servers as a workaround to enable RCS in countries where the carriers don't care about it, but clearly not all carriers were happy about it. So as you can see, there are already a lot of barriers for even RCS to even be "on" on a person's phone. Then you have to convince the person to actually use it. In my country, whatsapp has become de-factor standard. Nobody uses SMS anymore for their personal communications since the spammers have taken over, and by extension, RCS will be forgotten.

In contrast, iMessage is turned on by default whenever you sign in your iCloud account on an iPhone regardless of carrier (there are exceptions, of course). People usually won't steer away too far from default settings.

Imo RCS won't go anywhere. I mean how many years have it been actually on the market? Some carriers even stopped supporting it.

I was only speaking about the US because overseas everyone that I've spoken to uses Whatsapp. But I find it interesting that you mention iMessage working overseas as a benefit of iMessage but also acknowledge that nobody uses it because everyone uses Whatsapp.

Also, you are wrong that RCS isn't enabled by default. When you use it the first time, you are prompted and asked if you want to enable chat features (ala RCS).

In regards to iMessage on other devices and using multiple phones, which of these scenarios do you think is more likely....

A person has multiple iPhones as well as iPads/MacBook or a person has one iPhone and no other Apple devices? I would say the latter, which then makes it impossible to get messages on another device. So, there's some tradeoff to the iMessage restriction vs Android allowing anyone with a browser to view/reply to their messages.

I'm not trying to say iMessage is bad, quite the opposite. But I am saying that the feature parity between iMessage and RCS is very small and most people have no idea.

 

[Tig Bitties]

WhatsApp should be avoided at all costs since Facebook bought them last year. Privacy? LOL.

Telegram and Signal are the way better options now.

We use Telegram as our main text app, and it works wonderfully. Between iPhone to Android it’s perfect. And can be used on several diff phones and it keeps everything when switching between phones. No issue whatsoever.

My brother is a big programmer he says Telegram is probably the safest most secure text app available today, he even said delete WhatsApp immediately.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

A legit question since I have never used WhatsApp. How is WhatsApp on privacy? I see that it's part of Facebook and FB doesn't have a good track record when it comes to privacy.

No idea to be honest, but then most of the conversations I have are probably of no interest to others, unless they want to know who I think is incompetent in the workplace or what time I am planning to leave the house for the pub. I don’t share pics of my naked body or have any inside knowledge of politicians up to no good either. I don’t have this perception someone is sat somewhere in middle America reading through the WhatsApp messages of someone in Wales with any level of interest to be honest.

WhatsApp is the dominant messaging app in my region and even those with iPhones seem to use it due to the ease of its interface and sharing media cross platform.

 

[Expos of 1969]

My brother is a big programmer he says Telegram is probably the safest most secure text app available today, he even said delete WhatsApp immediately.

No disrespect to our fellow Russian posters but Telegram is Russian so no thanks. No matter how big your brother is (7 feet tall, 400 lbs. ?) I will not listen to him.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

WhatsApp should be avoided at all costs since Facebook bought them last year. Privacy? LOL.

Telegram and Signal are the way better options now.

We use Telegram as our main text app, and it works wonderfully. Between iPhone to Android it’s perfect. And can be used on several diff phones and it keeps everything when switching between phones. No issue whatsoever.

My brother is a big programmer he says Telegram is probably the safest most secure text app available today, he even said delete WhatsApp immediately.

If most people used one of those in my region then I’d use it too. Unfortunately neither are overly popular and that becomes an issue as it defeats the purpose. The privacy concern topic isn’t quite as prevalent in Europe it seems, otherwise WhatsApp wouldn’t be as popular as it is.

 

[Tig Bitties]

WhatsApp became very popular overseas years before FaceBook bought them. But once FaceBook got WhatsApp millions of people already had the app installed and have been using for a long time, so they weren't going to switch away at that point.

My advice and others have said is DELETE Facebook app, DELETE Instagram app, DELETE WhatsApp app, off you're phones, if your even a little bit concerned about privacy and Big Brother stuff. Those apps are toxic bad news. Or just go the website mobile versions of those sites with an AdBlocker, and don't use the actual downloaded apps.

Signal is another great WhatsApp alternative, it's U.S. based and said to be truly secure and trustworthy.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

WhatsApp became very popular overseas years before FaceBook bought them. But once FaceBook got WhatsApp millions of people already had the app installed and have been using for a long time, so they weren't going to switch away at that point.

My advice and others have said is DELETE Facebook app, DELETE Instagram app, DELETE WhatsApp app, off you're phones, if your even a little bit concerned about privacy and Big Brother stuff. Those apps are toxic bad news. Or just go the website mobile versions of those sites with an AdBlocker, and don't use the actual downloaded apps.

Signal is another great WhatsApp alternative, it's U.S. based and said to be truly secure and trustworthy.

What social media alternatives to Facebook and Instagram are there that offer better privacy and you’re likely to find your friends and family on though? Billions of people enjoy these services and we all realise our buying habits, locations etc are being monitored. It’s the same with Amazon and Google too who are supposedly worse for privacy breaches, but services that we often use. I think if you have a device that goes on the internet at all, you have to expect to be watched by someone or a piece of software to some degree.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I will say RCS using Google Messages on our Pixel's is damn near perfect though. My immediate family being my Wife, and two kids, we all have Pixel phones; 3 XL, 4 XL, 5, and 5a. And we have RCS enabled in chat features, and it works amazingly.