Why does Apple Hate our Android Friends?

[ggibson913]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

 

[StumpyBloke]

Looks like you can’t even send a simple SMS (text). Are you sure there’s not a problem with your service provider?

 

[now i see it]

 doesn’t hate Android, it’s terrified of it.

 

[ggibson913]

Looks like you can’t even send a simple SMS (text). Are you sure there’s not a problem with your service provider?

TExt messages go through just fine, just not photos.

 

[JPack]

Seems like a carrier setting issue if that if even text isn't going through, based on your screenshot.

But Android or not, I don't know anybody that uses SMS or iMessage. It's all WhatsApp or WeChat.

 

[jetsam]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

I send and receive photos and videos via SMS with android users almost daily. And my photos are stored natively in HEIF format, as iPhone automatically converts as needed for SMS.

Your iPhone is not your problem. As others have suggested, contact your carrier for help resolving your issue.

 

[subjonas]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

OP, I think you jumped a few guns there. You should have done some (or more) troubleshooting before the rant. As others have said, you should be able to use either format setting on your iPhone and send photos to Android users. It is or was likely an issue with your or your recipient’s cellular connection.

 

[H_D]

Never had that problem with Android-users via iMessage and WhatsApp or Signal. Must be something else, it's not the photo format.

 

[seggy]

The problem might be that despite not having the typical 'oh poor person' (despite maybe even IRL conditions pointing otherwise) brand-obscured reaction to Android, you're still approaching this like a typical Apple user:

"Can't be what I'm using, and certainly can't be anything on my side"

It's almost certainly a carrier issue, a phone config issue, or your particular phone v carrier issue.

 

[StumpyBloke]

TExt messages go through just fine, just not photos.

Your photos clearly show that even a simple text message is not going through.

 

[Mike330R]

I have the same issues but only when at home. I have a weak cell signal (1-2 bars) but have full wifi signal yet most times, to android phones only, I get the same error.

 

[Wizec]

As long as your Android friends use Google Messaging on a recent Android phone, all of this goes away with the release of iOS 18 which implements RCS.

 

[toobravetosave]

because apple users do so so very much

 

[TheSl0th]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

This is a technical fault and doesn’t relate to HEIC or anything iPhone specific. It may even simply be that you have MMS disabled, or that your carrier has disabled it.

This screenshot is about the equivalent of explaining that Apple hates people using iPhones to call Android phones by showing a screenshot of the ‘call failed’ screen during a carrier outage.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Seems like a carrier setting issue if that if even text isn't going through, based on your screenshot.

But Android or not, I don't know anybody that uses SMS or iMessage. It's all WhatsApp or WeChat.

Depends on the location, I hardly know or see any one use WhatsApp in my friends group. They all tried at some point and realized what’s app is a spam magnet. Whatsapp is big in India and WeChat is big in china.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

How did you come up with Apple as problem here. I am not blaming you, just want to understand how you isolated the issue.

 

[Devyn89]

Go into settings—- messages and make sure MMS messaging is enabled on your iPhone.

 

[jaytv111]

I can also confirm that iPhone sends MMS to Android phones just fine, no changes needed to the photo storage format.

(I did learn the hard way that directly attaching photos to emails could lead to HEIC incompatibility if you don’t make sure you attach it as JPEG, but this has never happened with MMS for me).

As others say, the text message was also not delivered. So likely no messages at all are getting to that person. It might be on your side and it might be on their side, on your side you can try resetting network settings, which keeps your phone the way it is but resets network settings, sometimes that helps these kinds of issues.

Oh, also your side wouldn’t say anything about the other side not being able to open a file. It’s their side that would say it’s an incompatible format. Which means it just wasn’t able to send the photo.

 

[Böhme417]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

There’s really no need to convert them. I have no issues sending HEIF images to Android users.

Seems like a carrier setting issue if that if even text isn't going through, based on your screenshot.

But Android or not, I don't know anybody that uses SMS or iMessage. It's all WhatsApp or WeChat.

I don’t know where the OP lives, but those aren’t commonly used in the US.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

I have an iPhone and can send/receive messages and photos with Android users all day, including my own Android phone. HEIC format isn't the problem here.

 

[EugW]

Photos go through just fine for my Android friends. The problem I have sometimes is with web links.

Hopefully RCS support will solve this problem.

There’s really no need to convert them. I have no issues sending HEIF images to Android users.

I don’t know where the OP lives, but those aren’t commonly used in the US.

Just to nitpick, but in fact WhatsApp is relatively commonly used in the US, with a little over half the number of users of Messenger. WeChat is commonly used by Chinese-Americans, but generally not other ethnic groups, because WeChat is the most commonly used messaging platform in China.

I use neither though (here in Canada).

 

[TracerAnalog]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

It seems that this has nothing to do with the file format, and everything to do with how you are trying to send it. Even with Android to Android this would need an MMS message, which is horribly expensive and is usually set to ‘off’ by default.

Try any of the popular message apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, …

 

[ThailandToo]

Looks like you can’t even send a simple SMS (text). Are you sure there’s not a problem with your service provider?

OP has their APN settings wrong. Probably using a phone carrier like Google Voice or other MVNO. When I used Google Voice I had to re-enter them every time my iPhone did an update.

 

[ggibson913]

I do have MMS enabled it was one of the first things I checked. I also checked with iPhone users on Verizon and they have no issue. Could it be that T-Mobile disabled my ability to send SMS because I am on an older Magenta plan and worn't upgrade as there is no need for me to do so? If so, shouldn't they send me a message informing me?

 

[SkyBell]

Seems like a carrier setting issue if that if even text isn't going through, based on your screenshot.

But Android or not, I don't know anybody that uses SMS or iMessage. It's all WhatsApp or WeChat.

It's funny, I hear that sentiment a lot - on the internet. But I've never met anyone in person in my entire life who uses either of those services; most haven't even heard of them. I suppose it's probably a regional thing, SMS is still extremely popular in the U.S.