Who’s all-in the Google hardware/software ecosystem?

[Zazoh]

@TTTedP 100%. They have a habit of just getting bored with a technology and stop providing it. The most egregious was Picasa Photo App. Google Photo is a good app, and some of their AI finding pic and enhancing them, are awesome, but I like the full control I had with Picasa.

The times I was Android, Nexus 5 and Pixel 4. I loved the experience. But in the US and in my family of 4, the sheer amount of time I spend in iMessage was enough to lure me back. Despite the 17 or so ways to send a Text on Android, none of them compete with iMessage AND, I was finding myself being left out of conversations because when in a group text, if one person is not iMessage, many of the features of iMessage don't work.

I still use Google Photos, Open up a screen shot, and you can copy the text from the screen shot. Get out of here! Watch any video and have it transcribed. Talk to Google Assistant continually without saying hey Siri for every command.

iphone is smooth, but Google wins AI hands down.

 

[Tig Bitties]

iMessage is still a thing? I mean I know it's Apple's big deal for the iPhone, but people in Europe and Asia, or pretty much anywhere outside of the U.S. never use iMessage, they all use WhatsApp, or Signal, or Telegram.

I'm more of an Android guy, my family circle is probably 60% iPhone and 40% Android, and to text and communicate with each other we all use WhatsApp for texting and sending pics and videos, and then we all use Google Duo for video chat between us.

Totally works fine doing this, and zero need for iMessage. I am surprised to read that in 2020 iMessage is still a big deal? What features does iMessage offer over other text apps, that you lose out on the communication? I mean not just those grade school animal emojis or silly balloon things you can do? That's just for kids.

And I live in the U.S.

Thank god my grade school kids never once asked for an iPhone, they know Pixel is the way. "This is the way" And if everyone says use iMessage or lose out, ok, guess I'm out then, I will never be forced into buying an Apple product for the freaking text app LOL. If anything that drives me more away from an iPhone, such a turnoff that you need iMessage to communicate with your family, hell no. If everyone's on iMessage but me, ok, I'm the lucky one not having to waste my time with that Fisher Price BS, more time for myself and less on some lame iMessage.

This Summer I gave my two kiddies their first smartphones, a Pixel 2 XL and a Pixel 3 XL, and they LOVE them, they've had their buddies download and install Google Hangouts and Duo on their iPhone's and have zero issues communicating with each other.

 

[TTTedP]

I'd say you spend too much time worrying about it and you are over thinking things.
A little OCD perhaps?

Yeah maybe, but I've done the mental exercise of breaking from Apple a few times in 13 years. I always conclude its best/easier/simpler to stay either 100% in or get 100% out.

I just don't like iOS. Simple, eliminates any other worry's.

I hear you. Once you're in Apple's system, it's very sticky. Might be best to never go there.

I mean really, how can you let a messaging app drive you nuts? It's a message app.

Explaining to a parent or non-techie > Hangouts, Allo, Duo, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, iMessage and what works where when, comes to mind.

 

[Zazoh]

iMessage is still a thing?

Q2 earnings report for 2020, in US, 125 million monthly users sending roughly 40 billion messages a day.
Still a thing. I've never used a sticker, or cutesy feature. But for secure fast communications, if you are part of a large network of iPhone users, its the best, I've been on both sides of the fence.

 

[sracer]

Q2 earnings report for 2020, in US, 125 million monthly users sending roughly 40 billion messages a day.
Still a thing. I've never used a sticker, or cutesy feature. But for secure fast communications, if you are part of a large network of iPhone users, its the best, I've been on both sides of the fence.

The pain of using Android and not using iMessage in a mix of iPhone users is not has bad as it once was (and yes it was bad). For basic SMS and MMS messages, I haven't experienced problems since returning to Android (from the iPhone SE). Things improved even more when I upgraded my LG phone to a Samsung Galaxy A20.

 

[Tig Bitties]

WhatsApp works so well for me on Android communicating with iPhone users. Zero issues. It just works. So I don't need iMessage whatsoever, not missing out on anything.

And explaining to someone they need to download and install WhatsApp on their iPhone, uh, that's super easy, any human being that can walk into a room and flip a light switch on, can install an app and set it up in 30 seconds. Especially kids and millennials, they can easily do that in a blink of an eye. Sure for grandparents I just do it for them, or walk them through it step by step, or if they live far away you have a friend do it for them. It's very easy and fast to install Google Duo and WhatsApp on non techie iPhone users. At least in my case it was with dozens of iPhone users, and everyone did it no problem.

I would never go back to an iPhone just because my friends or family like iMessage and want me on it too, LOL ok have fun, I'll stay on Android.

 

[Vegastouch]

Yeah maybe, but I've done the mental exercise of breaking from Apple a few times in 13 years. I always conclude its best/easier/simpler to stay either 100% in or get 100% out.

I hear you. Once you're in Apple's system, it's very sticky. Might be best to never go there.

Explaining to a parent or non-techie > Hangouts, Allo, Duo, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, iMessage and what works where when, comes to mind.

This is what i dont get. Explain what? You can message anybody with any message app. But yes a few of them, both parties need to have them like Hangouts, Telegram or WhatsApp. I only use Hangouts with my Wife since we occasionally video chat.

My Daughter has iMessage of course on her iPhone and our messages go back and forth just fine. She never says its different or annoying as i have read that some people say its annoying to get a blue text...or something like that, lol.

Thats just weird to me. A text is a text imo. No reason to overthink it.

 

[Tig Bitties]

My daughter is in Junior High, she uses a Pixel 3 XL, and she had all her iPhone friends download and install Google Hangouts, she said they all did, and use it to text each other, zero issues.

She told me she never wants an iPhone, she likes the Google phone. Her words.

iMessage in 2020 offers nothing special. Sure maybe in 2015 it was a different scene, but not today.

 

[michael9891]

Pretty sure nobody buys an iPhone purely for iMessage. But if I have an iPhone and I want to message someone with an iPhone, I'll always use iMessage. Does everything I want it to and its right there ready to go & the same messaging app I'll use to sms a non iPhone.

I personally don't like WhatsApp or any messaging service that lets others know when I'm online.

 

[jdlindsey7]

I think the fact that iOS vs Android often circles back to living without iMessage and FaceTime shows just how dominant those apps are in the US. I would also venture a bet that most everyone that craps on iMessage would download day one if Apple made it available on Android.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I think the fact that iOS vs Android often circles back to living without iMessage and FaceTime shows just how dominant those apps are in the US. I would also venture a bet that most everyone that craps on iMessage would download day one if Apple made it available on Android.

That's a fair point, and if iMessage was on the Play Store, and I could download and install it on my Pixel 5, I probably would. But I'm sure not going to buy a new iPhone just because of iMessage. I agree it's a feature packed cool text app for sure, but not enough to get me to switch away from stock Android and go iOS.

FaceTime vs Google Duo or other video chat apps, I really don't video chat much at all honestly to care

 

[Vegastouch]

Pretty sure nobody buys an iPhone purely for iMessage. But if I have an iPhone and I want to message someone with an iPhone, I'll always use iMessage. Does everything I want it to and its right there ready to go & the same messaging app I'll use to sms a non iPhone.

I personally don't like WhatsApp or any messaging service that lets others know when I'm online.

Just because they see you are online don't mean they got something to say to you lol. I don't message everyone I see online on FB Messenger.

Now I agree, if I had an iPhone I'd probably use iMessage for messaging anyone, iOS or Android. Do they even have another message app? I don't care what message app I use. The end result is the same.

I don't have WhatsApp on my phone. I do have Telegram but only because it was required to use for support chat for my IPTV service.

 

[michael9891]

Just because they see you are online don't mean they got something to say to you lol. I don't message everyone I see online on FB Messenger.

Not the point for me. I don't like apps/services that make me visible online.

 

[Vegastouch]

I think the fact that iOS vs Android often circles back to living without iMessage and FaceTime shows just how dominant those apps are in the US. I would also venture a bet that most everyone that craps on iMessage would download day one if Apple made it available on Android.

I've never used iMessage so I wouldn't. What for? My message app works fine while texting everyone.

 

[Vegastouch]

Not the point for me. I don't like apps/services that make me visible online.

I can't speak for WhatsApp but you can turn that off on Telegram. Doesn't iMessage show you as online, or can you turn it off? I'd suspect they all give the option.

 

[Blue Quark]

I know this discussion thread specifies going "all in" with Google hardware; however, I think that is something of a misnomer because Google does not necessarily make all of the most common hardware associated with people exclusively using either Google's or the Android OS platform.

Personally, I have owned two actual Google phones: the Nexus 4, and the Nexus 6. I really enjoyed each one of them back when I owned them, and each one had been a significant upgrade from what I had owned previously. However, the problem with buying Google phones is that they are all flagship phones, and as time has gone on, their prices have gone up because they are no longer being sold as "oriented towards developers" phone models.

I strongly agree with the comment above that Samsung's Android offerings are significantly nicer and sleeker and all around qualitatively probably better than Google's more plebeian ones. That said, I have never been a fan of Samsung's Sense UI environment. I have always found Google's own user interface — notwithstanding their change to Material Design, which I strongly dislike — to be far superior to anyone else's efforts on Android.

I own a ROAV Bolt by Anker, and while it does have its little issues here and there, it is a great way to bring the Google Assistant into one's car for older vehicles which do not include a modern head unit.

My primary computer platform of choice is GNU+Linux, and so clearly one of the major advantages of using an Android-based device is the ability to plug it into any of the major platforms and have full support for moving files onto and off of it. Also, until relatively recently, you could not really use your own custom sound files as ringtones and notifications in iOS. Doing so on Android has always been possible and is so incredibly simple to accomplish that it really does not show off Apple in a particularly good light. All of mine are custom things I've made myself, 95% of which I guarantee I'm the only one on the planet who has them.

 

[jdlindsey7]

That's a fair point, and if iMessage was on the Play Store, and I could download and install it on my Pixel 5, I probably would. But I'm sure not going to buy a new iPhone just because of iMessage. I agree it's a feature packed cool text app for sure, but not enough to get me to switch away from stock Android and go iOS.

FaceTime vs Google Duo or other video chat apps, I really don't video chat much at all honestly to care

I’ll give you that it’s not a feature worthy of buying a new phone. However, it is something that could get someone to switch to iOS when upgrading. I think the iOS ecosystem thing is real.

 

[Blue Quark]

All of my European friends (nearly all German) use WhatsApp, since evidently outside of America it's pretty much the most ubiquitous messaging app. They all think we live in the dark ages with SMS.

If I had my druthers, I'd prefer to use Signal. However, it's pointless unless pretty much everyone else uses it, and because at my company group text messages are a regular and important thing, Signal is unusable because it only supports Signal group messages. Also, this while Rich Messaging thing that Google is trying to push does not work very well at all.

So, given all that, I too would rather use iMessage than straight SMS. C'est la vie...

 

[jdlindsey7]

I've never used iMessage so I wouldn't. What for? My message app works fine while texting everyone.

I won’t argue which apps are better or what does or doesn’t work “fine”. I do know that iMessage is the second most used messaging app in the world, a fair bit behind WhatsApp and ever so slightly ahead of Facebook Messenger and WeChat. It’s remarkable considering it’s the lone app that is only available on a single platform. I think that shows how many people like the app and how important it is to many.

Edit: I should add that I wish that WhatsApp or any of the Google attempts (Allo or Hangouts) took off better in the US. I much prefer apps that are platform agnostic but it’s hard to ignore iMessages popularity.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I’ll give you that it’s not a feature worthy of buying a new phone. However, it is something that could get someone to switch to iOS when upgrading. I think the iOS ecosystem thing is real.

Never understood the whole ecosystem thing? I use so many different products not one is the same brand.

I don't own any Apple products, never had an iPad or MacBook, or Apple computer. I'm not a watch guy, I hate anything on my wrists, don't like watches.

My PC's in my house are all custom built gaming rigs, running the latest Windows, with high end [H]ardware components, and curved screen monitors.

My wife and kids all use Google phones.

We have a couple Google Nests in the house, but not big into them.

4K TV is just an OLED with Dinan sound system and Klipsch speakers, nothing Android or Apple connected to it. Just hooked up to my WiFi to connect to streaming.

I don't own a console gaming system, and don't plan on getting one. We're PC gamers.

I don't own an Android or Apple TV box. No point.

So that's it, really no ecosystem for myself, just various pieces of different tech.

 

[Vegastouch]

I won’t argue which apps are better or what does or doesn’t work “fine”. I do know that iMessage is the second most used messaging app in the world, a fair bit behind WhatsApp and ever so slightly ahead of Facebook Messenger and WeChat. It’s remarkable considering it’s the lone app that is only available on a single platform. I think that shows how many people like the app and how important it is to many.

Edit: I should add that I wish that WhatsApp or any of the Google attempts (Allo or Hangouts) took off better in the US. I much prefer apps that are platform agnostic but it’s hard to ignore iMessages popularity.

Samsung has their own message app. Pixel uses the Google message app.

I'm sure other Android phones have a message app so it's not that surprising. That's more because there are choices than popularity. Apple fans keep forgetting that when mentioning these things. I'm sure FaceTime is up there as well but FT is all Apple has while Android has Hangouts, Duo and you can download others that work with Android while Apple doesn't.

There are a ton of different phone makers that may have their own message app and you can use other message apps in the playstore if you want.

Isn't iMessage the only choice for iOS? I really don't know because we don't have iPhones in our household. We have an iPad but it doesn't have a data service from our carrier.

 

[jdlindsey7]

Never understood the whole ecosystem thing? I use so many different products not one is the same brand.

I think the ecosystem fits two groups of people.
1. People that want the Apple Watch, iPad and/or MacBook. It makes sense to use a phone that syncs with those other devices.
2. People that are not good with technology but have used iOS for years. My dad is a great example. I got him a new iPhone 12 because his iPhone 7 was falling apart and would no longer hold much of a charge. He wants to return it because the phone doesn’t have a home button. He’s an ecosystem person in that he would never, for any reason, consider Android because it’s different than what he’s always known. Even though I’ve tried to get him on a 3aXL or 4a to save money.

 

[Blue Quark]

Samsung has their own message app. Pixel uses the Google message app.

I'm sure other Android phones have a message app so it's not that surprising.

There are a ton of different phone makers that may have their own message app and you can use other message apps in the playstore if you want.

Isn't iMessage the only choice for iOS? I really don't know because we don't have iPhones in our household. We have an iPad but it doesn't have a data service from our carrier.

There are a number of non-Google branded phones which ship with Google's Messages, or for which it is available. However, that's also dependent upon your phone maker or carrier for carrier-branded models not being stupid and a control freak and not letting you have access to it. (Platform fragmentation, anybody?)

Both my Moto G7 and Moto G Power use Google's Messaging app.

My supervisor and one of my co-workers have Samsung phones, and each of them of course uses Samsung's messaging app. Everyone else on the team has a random smattering of different hardware types, to say nothing of price ranges of phone.

 

[Vegastouch]

Well Apple products work with nothing else while Android does, so there's that and why I don't use their phones and other products. Too expensive to buy all their stuff.

 

[Vegastouch]

There are a number of non-Google branded phones which ship with Google's Messages, or for which it is available. However, that's also dependent upon your phone maker or carrier for carrier-branded models not being stupid and a control freak and not letting you have access to it. (Platform fragmentation, anybody?)

Both my Moto G7 and Moto G Power use Google's Messaging app.

My supervisor and one of my co-workers have Samsung phones, and each of them of course uses Samsung's messaging app. Everyone else on the team has a random smattering of different hardware types, to say nothing of price ranges of phone.

Motorola runs stock Android doesn't it?