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Also, Multi-Touch is such a gimmick on a computer, ...
Aren't all laptops using this multi-touch "gimmick"?
FWIW, multi-touch is absolutely not a gimmick on macOS. I use it constantly and effortlessly, it's just second nature (two finger scrolling, three fingers to swipe between spaces, three-finger-and-thumb unpinch/pinch to show/hide the desktop, three finger swipe up to see all your windows). I'd be very unhappy without all that.
 
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FWIW, multi-touch is absolutely not a gimmick on macOS. I use it constantly and effortlessly, it's just second nature (two finger scrolling, three fingers to swipe between spaces, three-finger-and-thumb unpinch/pinch to show/hide the desktop, three finger swipe up to see all your windows). I'd be very unhappy without all that.
Oh, I 100% agree. My reply to that point was meant to be a little sarcastic, as to say, if it's such a "gimmick" why are nearly all laptops now using multi-touch. It makes the user experience, effortless, as you pointed out.
 
Apple didn't want to bring iMessage to Android, and now they're about to lose 1st place in the messaging world.

They aren’t 1st place, never where.

And then???? Apple doesn’t need to have a lot of users to data mine and sell ads, they don’t sell user data or put ads
 
Texting plans are so last decade - didn't all the carriers go to "unlimited voice, unlimited texts, just pay for data"? (In Verizon's case, it certainly looked like a reaction to iMessage, actually - if Apple was going to eat into their texting profits, Verizon was just going to bundle texting into all their plans so they could continue claim it as part of the benefit of the plan "see, you're getting texting included".) I hear there are some other countries where text plans are still a thing.
Well in my case, I still pay $20/month for unlimited texting and mobile-mobile calls. But that's because I'm still on a grandfathered unlimited data plan...
 
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LOL. What's the uptime of your infrastructure?
To be fair, consider McDonald's. Half the time the McFlurry machine is "down." I myself don't own the proper equipment to make my own McFlurry. But I know damn well that machine better be (and likely is) running.
 
A common strength of people who take pride in switching from Apple products is that they are great at sticking around these forums and telling us how far "behind" Apple is and how *insert any non-Apple company here* is better than Apple. It's almost like a religious awakening that compels them to save the rest of us unwashed heathens from the damnation of a life with Apple products.
Almost as if it’s not genuine...
 
Does the average person really use multiple message apps? I am sure it is more common with android, but IOS is probably like 99% iMessage.

Let's see... As an iOS user, I use these messaging apps daily:

- iMessage/SMS
- WhatsApp
- Hangouts

I use these messaging apps multiple times a week:

- Steam
- Facebook Messenger
- Discord
- Skype

Then there is the seldom used Snapchat. So, I guess my point is that I consider myself to be an average person (and below-average social media user) and yet I still have to contend with many of these messaging apps on a daily basis.
 
iClone.

Messages-App-Icon.png Untitled.png
 
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They won't decide that a year later, it's likely on the roadmap now - get customers hooked first, then "monetize" them after they've established a sufficient base.
[doublepost=1500230692][/doublepost]The advantage I see iMessage having over most of these other services is, it semi-transparently falls back to SMS if one of the parties isn't using iOS/macOS. So I can use the standard built-in messaging app, and it uses the best-available transport, whether iMessage or SMS, and if that's iMessage, then there's bonus features (read receipts, seeing that others are typing, sharing location, etc.).

With most every other messaging service, both parties have to commit ahead of time to using that service (download/install/configure Messenger or WhatsApp or Signal or Telegram), where with iMessage, it just piggybacks on the standard Messages app, which will also do SMS to my Android-using friends without me having to specify anything special ahead of time.

Most importantly, iMessage reverts to SMS when the other person is travelling internationally and is not roaming due to the ridiculously high roaming charges (or throttles).
 
You actually didn't say much of anything aside from "Apple's doing it wrong"

No, Actually what I wrote - and intended - was more in the tune of Apple could do better. But you go ahead and believe what you want to believe I wrote if it makes you feel better -- even when the author says it's the wrong reading.
 
I never understood why iMessages needs to be on Android.

Right now if an Android users wants to message me... they send me an SMS text message. And I get it. And vice-versa.

I use the app called "Messages" on my iPhone... and if the person is another iPhone user the bubble is blue. Otherwise it's green. No extra effort required.

I don't really see the difference. The messages get sent and received.

I know iMessage offers extra features... but they're hardly necessary.

And like many other people said in this thread... there are plenty of other ways to message people. FaceBook Messenger, WhatsApp, even email.

There's no shortage of ways to talk to people. This is the easiest time in history to reach someone. :)

I never hear, "Bob isn't using XYZ Messenger... therefore he is unreachable!"


I'll second that! iMessage is GREAT on the  platforms but totally unnecessary elsewhere. Let those other companies take care of themselves then use SMS as the lowest-common-denominator between platforms.

That said, there are a couple of great reasons for having an iMessage - or iMessage-like - app on other platforms.

1. I can read/send messages from my Mac. My SO uses Windows and it would be really nice if she could have the same net capabilities. Doesn't have to be iMessage... but it should be SomeMessagingApp. The link between ONLINE messaging apps and SMS is key here.

2. Long iMessages are send between  users so that the message is displayed in logical order. Converting to SMS frequently results in a set of smaller messages requiring the reader to figure out what order to read them. Annoying... and yet another great reason for a smarter local app.

I suggest that what we need is not so much another platform but a different lowest-common-denominator standard that is more robust than SMS.
 
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Agreed. And everybody has Facebook messenger. But it's really just to get in touch with people that you only talk to once every 5 years

What are you talking about... I use it like, every day, to send my wife links on Facebook. Then "yell" at her to stop replying to me in it (ie, I ignore her and reply to her replies in iMessage).
 
I really want to know why so many companies are fighting over messaging apps. They give them out for free and there are no ads. Facebook bought WhatsApp for $20B and the service is free with no ads.

Something fishy here.
 
Great. Just what we all need. ANOTHER messaging app.

I use iMessage for 99% of my texting with friends/family. I have WhatsApp as well, but I really only use that for large group chats where there are a mix of iOS and Android users.
 
Interesting. I'm wondering what the specifics are for security. I think I'd rather just pay a dollar a year for a cross platform (iOS/android/macOS/Windows/Linux) service that is not Facebook or rely on a phone number.
 
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This is just gonna be another failed attempt. The messaging game is over and iMessage and WhatsApp have won it.
 
Does anyone remember using "Adium" for all your chat needs. AIM, Google, ICQ, Jabber, VK, FB and others all in one program? I only had to keep one application to communicate with all my friends. Too bad this can't happen today on iOS.

Finally, I've met someone else who actually used this! I am not alone! For Windows I used Pidgin a lot for all my messengers. I thought it was going to become "the thing" - nope. Now very few people I know have heard of either. :(

I really want to know why so many companies are fighting over messaging apps. They give them out for free and there are no ads. Facebook bought WhatsApp for $20B and the service is free with no ads.

Something fishy here.

Yeah they're making billions selling personal info for $ is my guess. If Google can make billions having bots read our emails and our browsing habits... think about mining chats. I don't really know tho... if that was the case why did Google abandon Hangouts and go for Allo/Duo?

Another complaint I have - why is there no support for desktop apps? I use a Windows machine for most of the day. It would be nice not to have to pick up my phone every time my wife, friend, family, etc... contact me. So we use Telegram.
[doublepost=1500325670][/doublepost]
Let's see... As an iOS user, I use these messaging apps daily:

- iMessage/SMS
- WhatsApp
- Hangouts

I use these messaging apps multiple times a week:

- Steam
- Facebook Messenger
- Discord
- Skype

Then there is the seldom used Snapchat. So, I guess my point is that I consider myself to be an average person (and below-average social media user) and yet I still have to contend with many of these messaging apps on a daily basis.

Yeah that about summarizes it for me. I use Hangouts, Whatsapp, iMessage, Telegram, and sometimes FB Messenger. School uses Discord.

Kinda sick of it but grown used to it.
 
Does anyone remember using "Adium" for all your chat needs. AIM, Google, ICQ, Jabber, VK, FB and others all in one program? I only had to keep one application to communicate with all my friends. Too bad this can't happen today on iOS.

There was a website called meebo.com that you login and you had a messenger as a tab in the browser and you can communicate with all other IM's. It was bought by Google.
 
There was a website called meebo.com that you login and you had a messenger as a tab in the browser and you can communicate with all other IM's. It was bought by Google.

I used meebo back in the days.
 
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