Would you pay for Apple's iCloud/Continuity services if it was available on Android?

[LIVEFRMNYC]

As the title says ... For me, I would. iPhone's connection to MacOS is unmatched, when it comes to calls and texts/iMessages.

I love Samsung Pay for in person transactions, there is nothing better. But Apple Pay is so much better with online transactions.

So if you can have ... iMessage, Facetime, Apple Pay, and Call/Message continuity with MacOS/iOS devices ... on your Android Phone, how much would you be willing to pay? I would personally pay no more than $150 yearly for those services.


I know this is unlikely to happen, but would be awesome if Apple decided to do such.

 

[AustinIllini]

Maybe iMessage, otherwise noti would pay more than $20 a year for iMessage and FaceTime

 

[sracer]

No.

I find Apple's services to be inferior to the competition and only use them because of my current Apple devices. The more I transition away from Appleland, the more flexibility and stability I'm experiencing.

 

[SteveJUAE]

I'm not sure what you think many people are missing

Whilst the prevalence of Imassage is restricted to just a few countries there are probably far more that solely use WhatsApp or Line for example exclusively for all their calls and messages that are synch'ed and cross platform

I think you would also be surprised how many countries do not have compulsory bundled unlimited sms so Apple apps would incur additional charges for many users, especially where Iphones etc are far less common devices

Facetime is not even on the grid and Apple pay and others have far less appeal given many banking cards with tap and pay and/or other incentives make them far more appealing to bargain hunters and points collectors.

For sure a few may be willing to pay if it was a $1 app in the Play Store or MS store but otherwise I can't see it given MS continuing to make more things cross compatible and other new sms/mms standards are imminent

 

[mrex]

no, i dont even use them now with apple devices. i only use the tiny 5gb space apple offers for free to sync apps.

- imessage? nobody uses it here - everyone has whatsapp/skype.
- facetime - looks above.
- icloud? no, gdrive is much better and faster. dont know why icloud is so slow because google stores apple icloud..

 

[tbayrgs]

I'm in the US and use both iPads and Macs so I'd personally love to have all of these features on an Android phone. though not sure what I'd pay--would depend on what services/features are available. I think anything beyond Messages/Facetime and iCloud syncing (contacts/calendar/mail, etc) would be quite difficult to add to the platform.

One you didn't mention that I wish Apple would add to Google Play is Apple Photos. I use both Apple's iCloud Photos and Google Photos. I think Google Photos is great--terrific features, sharing, awesome AI, but I don't like how it basically just accessible via the web outside of the Android/iPhone app. I love having native integration with my Mac and the very easy ability to have a full copy of my photos/videos always saved/synced locally to my iMac. Now that I think about it, a Google Photos Mac app would also go towards remedying this issue for me.

I'd also welcome an Android version of Safari (yeah, I know I'm in the severe minority here) with content blocking capabilities. Chrome's features on desktop are terrific but it a huge resource/battery hog on Mac and its mobile versions on any platform are subpar.

So assuming Messages/FaceTime/iCloud integration, I'd probably be OK with something like $2.99/mo.

 

[mi7chy]

Why pay for worse?

Google Voice # with Hangouts works cross platform and via desktop browser, supports multi-line capability without need for multi-SIM device, don't need to shop for device with VoLTE and WIFI calling support since they're redundant and it's free for calls/SMS/MMS within North American.

For cloud storage already have free Google Drive (20GB x 2), Microsoft OneDrive (30GB) and Dropbox (5GB). And, they all seamlessly work cross platform.

Plus, have to consider security and how likely the company will be around in the future with my online backups. Apple was nearly BK once and have a tarnished record with major iCloud security breach so have more peace of mind with Google, Microsoft and Amazon.

 

[Vegastouch]

I wouldn't pay for it. I don't feel im missing anything.

 

[AustinIllini]

I care less and less about iMessage by the day. It just doesn't matter.

 

[Nilhum]

I don't see the benefit of iMessage in the US. Everyone has unlimited SMS. I have office 365 and it is a much better deal than Apple's icloud, has much better functionality, is at a better price, and is usable on every platform.

 

[AustinIllini]

I don't see the benefit of iMessage in the US. Everyone has unlimited SMS. I have office 365 and it is a much better deal than Apple's icloud, has much better functionality, is at a better price, and is usable on every platform.

There are some serious benefits. For example, iMessage is the best way to send videos or pictures and because they're made of data (not texts) there are no real file size limitations.

 

[Vegastouch]

There are some serious benefits. For example, iMessage is the best way to send videos or pictures and because they're made of data (not texts) there are no real file size limitations.

I've never had a problem sending either using Hangouts or just a message app.

 

[kazmac]

No. I do not use any Apple services except Apple care and buying movies and music from iTunes.

Won’t need either of those on Android

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

To clear things up .... I'm not speaking about iCloud for storage options. I'm speaking about iCloud continuity services.

 

[SteveJUAE]

There are some serious benefits. For example, iMessage is the best way to send videos or pictures and because they're made of data (not texts) there are no real file size limitations.

Sharing via any good cloud account has trumped this and gives both the sender and the receiver greater options regardless of file type or what device your friends have or data plan or physical presence of data etc

 

[Michael Goff]

Why pay for worse?

Google Voice # with Hangouts works cross platform and via desktop browser, supports multi-line capability without need for multi-SIM device, don't need to shop for device with VoLTE and WIFI calling support since they're redundant and it's free for calls/SMS/MMS within North American.

For cloud storage already have free Google Drive (20GB x 2), Microsoft OneDrive (30GB) and Dropbox (5GB). And, they all seamlessly work cross platform.

Plus, have to consider security and how likely the company will be around in the future with my online backups. Apple was nearly BK once and have a tarnished record with major iCloud security breach so have more peace of mind with Google, Microsoft and Amazon.

Google Voice and Hangouts is great, let’s hope they’re not planning on phasing out either of those in the near future. :-D

 

[danny_w]

I would never pay for any kind of Apple cloud service. They should leave such services for those with the expertise to make it work reliably. Apple cloud services have always been junk.

 

[rbrian]

As the title says ... For me, I would. iPhone's connection to MacOS is unmatched, when it comes to calls and texts/iMessages.

True, but Skype and Facebook messenger are pretty good too, and work cross platform. The Windows 10 Your Phone app makes SMS work well too.

I love Samsung Pay for in person transactions, there is nothing better. But Apple Pay is so much better with online transactions.

Better how? I use Google pay in person, and online on my S9, or PayPal where it isn't supported, and on Windows. I've never seen an Apple Pay option online. Perhaps it's different in the US?

So if you can have ... iMessage, Facetime, Apple Pay, and Call/Message continuity with MacOS/iOS devices ... on your Android Phone, how much would you be willing to pay? I would personally pay no more than $150 yearly for those services.

Not a penny. I do pay a little for Office 365, which syncs documents across all platforms, has lots of OneDrive storage, and syncs photos cross platform. Of course you can get that free from Apple, but only when you've paid thousands more for the hardware.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Google Voice and Hangouts is great, let’s hope they’re not planning on phasing out either of those in the near future. :-D

If they get rid of Google Voice, that's going to be a huge issue for me.

I haven't used Hangouts for the longest, but I heard they are planning to shut it down for the consumer market next year.
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True, but Skype and Facebook messenger are pretty good too, and work cross platform. The Windows 10 Your Phone app makes SMS work well too.

I use Skype almost daily, but only for international calls. Don't want nothing to do with Facebook.

I give MS points for trying, but it's buggy and they move too slow to progress.

Better how? I use Google pay in person, and online on my S9, or PayPal where it isn't supported, and on Windows. I've never seen an Apple Pay option online. Perhaps it's different in the US?

There is plenty of online stores that accept Apple Pay, much more than Google Pay. So yes, in the US it must be different.

 

[Michael Goff]

If they get rid of Google Voice, that's going to be a huge issue for me.

I haven't used Hangouts for the longest, but I heard they are planning to shut it down for the consumer market next year.
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I use Skype almost daily, but only for international calls. Don't want nothing to do with Facebook.

I give MS points for trying, but it's buggy and they move too slow to progress.





There is plenty of online stores that accept Apple Pay, much more than Google Pay. So yes, in the US it must be different.

Yeah. They’re going to shut down Hangouts Classic for Meet and Chat, two separate apps. I was more making a joke because the person said that the combination was perfect.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Yeah. They’re going to shut down Hangouts Classic for Meet and Chat, two separate apps. I was more making a joke because the person said that the combination was perfect.

Meet and Chat? What the hell happened to Allo and Duo? LOL

Edit ... just seen on my Allo app. It's gone in March. Shame, cause I really liked the UI, and it worked well with Google Assistant.

 

[Michael Goff]

Meet and Chat? What the hell happened to Allo and Duo? LOL

Edit ... just seen on my Allo app. It's gone in March. Shame, cause I really liked the UI, and it worked well with Google Assistant.

Duo is staying, Allo is leaving to focus on Android Messages.

 

[MacNut]

To clear things up .... I'm not speaking about iCloud for storage options. I'm speaking about iCloud continuity services.

Why not just use Google's services?

 

[Michael Goff]

Why not just use Google's services?

I wasn’t aware that Google had continuity services. So can you copy a link on an Android phone and paste it on a Pixelbook? If so, how do you set this up? How about phone calls? Could I have been making phone calls with my Pixelbook? How do I get Handoff to work?

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Duo is staying, Allo is leaving to focus on Android Messages.

Oh yea, I forgot all about that app. Unfortunately, the reason I stopped using it is because it didn't integrate well with Gear S2 classic watch. I'm using the S3 Frontier now though, but I'm sure it's the same issue. I might give it a try again.