When will Apple drop suppport for iMessage?

[KOTN91]

History tells us that Apple doesn’t shy away from pulling the plug on old technology. First with the removal of disc drives from its computers, to the loss of the headphone jack and home button on recent iPhones

The world hit “peak text” in 2012, and the number of text messages sent since then has declined sharply. In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

Yes, iMessage is not the same as SMS. However it uses the same app, had the same layout, and reverts to text in areas of poor network coverage, or of course in the recipient is not using an iPhone. Whether or not the bubbles are blue or green, then, is immaterial. It is essentially a dying form of communication, much like writing letters by hand and sending them via pigeon

On this basis, when will Apple stop supporting iMessage? I personally believe it will make it to iOS 13, but then no longer be included in iOS 14 as no doubt the market share will have declined even further by this point

 

[Ifti]

I don't see why they would drop iMessage at all.
WhatsApp also has support for video calling - doesn't mean Apple will drop FaceTime any time soon.....

 

[se95dah]

I would bet on iMessage still being around long after we have abandoned Facebook messenger over privacy concerns.

 

[Ixon2001]

I don't use Whatsapp or anything else for that matter that owed by Facebook, I use Telegram & obliviously SMS or iMessage.

iMessage won't be going away anytime soon i think.

 

[Globug]

Tomorrow. At 5:59 pm.

 

[bruinsrme]

Tomorrow. At 5:59 pm.

You absolutely sure on the time?
I’ve heard conflicting information

 

[bransoj]

I'm not sure there was any basis for the "the world has stopped texting in favour of texting in 3rd party apps" line in the other thread you mentioned it in....still the same in a new thread all about it.

Loads of folk will continue to use the main messaging tool on their iphones for years to come and it wont be dropped. If anything what will probably happen is that the messaging function on the iphone will start to incorporate all the other apps into one messaging centre as such.

For what its worth i have Whatsapp but only for a couple of group messages with a large number of people such as our cricket club group and i have messenger but i'm not keen on using either of them. Where possibly i will use the messaging app on my iPhone and use iMessage or SMS depending on the contact i'm messaging.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I don’t see them dropping support for iMessage. Wether you know it or not I think iMessage is a popular means of messaging. Your post sounds like you don’t have an iPhone so you don’t know how essential it is to text someone even when still connected to WiFi.

 

[jpn]

History tells us that Apple doesn’t shy away from pulling the plug on old technology. First with the removal of disc drives from its computers, to the loss of the headphone jack and home button on recent iPhones

The world hit “peak text” in 2012, and the number of text messages sent since then has declined sharply. In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

Yes, iMessage is not the same as SMS. However it uses the same app, had the same layout, and reverts to text in areas of poor network coverage, or of course in the recipient is not using an iPhone. Whether or not the bubbles are blue or green, then, is immaterial. It is essentially a dying form of communication, much like writing letters by hand and sending them via pigeon

On this basis, when will Apple stop supporting iMessage? I personally believe it will make it to iOS 13, but then no longer be included in iOS 14 as no doubt the market share will have declined even further by this point

bizarre.

 

[Absrnd]

History tells us that Apple doesn’t shy away from pulling the plug on old technology. First with the removal of disc drives from its computers, to the loss of the headphone jack and home button on recent iPhones

The world hit “peak text” in 2012, and the number of text messages sent since then has declined sharply. In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

Yes, iMessage is not the same as SMS. However it uses the same app, had the same layout, and reverts to text in areas of poor network coverage, or of course in the recipient is not using an iPhone. Whether or not the bubbles are blue or green, then, is immaterial. It is essentially a dying form of communication, much like writing letters by hand and sending them via pigeon

On this basis, when will Apple stop supporting iMessage? I personally believe it will make it to iOS 13, but then no longer be included in iOS 14 as no doubt the market share will have declined even further by this point

NO

 

[nia820]

I don't think Apple will ever drop iMessage support. It may not be popular world wide. But it's heavily used in the US.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Baffles me as to why anyone would think that iMessage is going away.

 

[infamousnxtAir]

iMessage is one of the things that keeps me on going with iOS and Mac (besides the other benefits over Windows and Android). Apps like Viber, Whatsapp, etc - they are just sort of alternatives for Android users who prefer texting.

 

[keysofanxiety]

History tells us that Apple doesn’t shy away from pulling the plug on old technology. First with the removal of disc drives from its computers, to the loss of the headphone jack and home button on recent iPhones

The world hit “peak text” in 2012, and the number of text messages sent since then has declined sharply. In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

Your entire post is a crock but this took the cake.

iMessage is here to stay.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

Why would they? I doubt Apple is overly concerned about other countries which might prefer third party apps. My phone is littered with group texts that work seemlessly in iMessage. Texting is my primary source for communication and I find response rates far more timely via text than Facebook messenger and even more so with Snapchat. Sure, I’m only speaking from my experience, but given how many people I know who have
iMessage as a primary reason for staying iphone, I doubt my examples are limited to my circle. Apple has made updates to iMessage, whether valued or not, in every iOS update. How many other native apps can you say the same about. It’s not going anywhere and doesn’t need to.

Of my 514 contacts, 19 are registered with WhatsApp. I find no reason to use it just to cater to a few. The few Android users I know can use regular messaging.

 

[pika2000]

History tells us that Apple doesn’t shy away from pulling the plug on old technology. First with the removal of disc drives from its computers, to the loss of the headphone jack and home button on recent iPhones

The world hit “peak text” in 2012, and the number of text messages sent since then has declined sharply. In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

Yes, iMessage is not the same as SMS. However it uses the same app, had the same layout, and reverts to text in areas of poor network coverage, or of course in the recipient is not using an iPhone. Whether or not the bubbles are blue or green, then, is immaterial. It is essentially a dying form of communication, much like writing letters by hand and sending them via pigeon

On this basis, when will Apple stop supporting iMessage? I personally believe it will make it to iOS 13, but then no longer be included in iOS 14 as no doubt the market share will have declined even further by this point

That's because in many regions, especially Asia where texting caught on quite earlier than western markets, texting has become more expensive. Most carriers in Asia don't offer unlimited texting unlike western carriers. Thus the likes of Whatsapp/Line/etc gained popularity due to their usage being "free" (using data instead of the SMS quota). To me, iMessage is part of the that, not traditional SMS. So it would be unconceivable that Apple would drop iMessage, especially after they invested a lot in integrating it with iCloud.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

I know the answer to this already, but care to share a link that backs up this statement?

The fact that you need to hyperbole to the extent that you do leads me to believe you are insecure about your preference of communication method. Why is that? I can promise you not one, not a single person here, cares which platform you use.

Oh, and looky here...

 

[C DM]

History tells us that Apple doesn’t shy away from pulling the plug on old technology. First with the removal of disc drives from its computers, to the loss of the headphone jack and home button on recent iPhones

The world hit “peak text” in 2012, and the number of text messages sent since then has declined sharply. In its place, 3rd party messaging apps such as Facebook messenger and WhatsApp have prevailed as the dominant method of communication, for anybody under the age of 90 that is

Yes, iMessage is not the same as SMS. However it uses the same app, had the same layout, and reverts to text in areas of poor network coverage, or of course in the recipient is not using an iPhone. Whether or not the bubbles are blue or green, then, is immaterial. It is essentially a dying form of communication, much like writing letters by hand and sending them via pigeon

On this basis, when will Apple stop supporting iMessage? I personally believe it will make it to iOS 13, but then no longer be included in iOS 14 as no doubt the market share will have declined even further by this point

Just as soon as they drop support for voice calls, given that that technology is well over a century old.

 

[strawberriesandcream]

Of my 514 contacts, 19 are registered with WhatsApp. I find no reason to use it just to cater to a few. The few Android users I know can use regular messaging.

For me it's the other way around, most of my contacts use WhatsApp (I wouldn't be surprised if I can count the people that don't on two hands). Only 20 or maybe 30 percent of my contacts use an iPhone, that makes WhatsApp by far the most popular messenger.

I guess it's highly dependable in which region you live, whether iMessage is used a lot or if it's another messenger.

 

[Ploki]

Why are we even discussing this?

There's literally zero ground for discussion

 

[C DM]

Why are we even discussing this?

There's literally zero ground for discussion

Pretty much that. It was also simenting that was brought up by OP in another thread and similarly already discussed there as well before this thread was created.

 

[noobinator]

What?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

In the last thread I asked for a source to your information. Do you have one yet?

 

[Ploki]

I would bet on iMessage still being around long after we have abandoned Facebook messenger over privacy concerns.

or ads.
don't forget ads.

or when it becomes a paid service to turn them off.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

Your entire post is a crock but this took the cake.

iMessage is here to stay.

This exactly. I don't know a single person that uses WhatsApp while 90% of the people I communicate with regularly show as blue bubbles on my iPhone.