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Apple Explains Why iMessage Hasn't Expanded to Android
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It wouldn't change anything here. You can get unlimited what's app, Facebook, etc. here for about 4.00 a month. Virtually nobody uses text messaging as virtually nobody has data plans. Pay as you go minutes.
The problem with messaging is, it's one of these services that increase their benefits along with the size of user base. Like Ebay, Facebook, Paypal, Windows etc. They are all moving towards an almost world-dominating competitor, leaving only small niches for special interests.
What Apple is trying to do is compete with a service that is inherently designed to fail in this environment because it drastically limits its potential user base and has no benefits over other services.
There's no incentive for users to buy hardware with such a useless service.
iMessage and FaceTime Audio are a revelation for doing business overseas or just contacting people overseas. It is seamless for both users without the need for a 3rd party app eating battery, collecting data or stuffing up.
The added bonus of having it also work via my computer was a game changer. Taking calls or iMessages or even SMS on my computers is fantastic.
As for all this added malarky, I think it's fairly clear why they have devoted time to it. It's about hitting markets and monetising the app. I wrote previously that I believe it's aimed at young people, women and Asians in particular and some delusional users chucked a tantrum. So I'll refrain from doing that.
Apart from the emoji insertion function I think it might be like 3D touch and 3 second photos or whatever they are called - used a little at first and then basically forgotten about by a lot of users. I don't know anybody who uses these anymore. That's not to say plenty don't use them though. That's just MY experience.
True.
However, they are going to lose more than ever this year. Android is a fine OS and you don't feel as ripped off buying an Android device these days. Apple's RAM bogarting, over the years, showed me where the company was going. It's been downhill for years now.
Mac's are underpowered and too much of a fashion statement. They choose form over function now. Except with the Apple Watch, ironically. What an ugly device.
I, for one, am kind of excited to see the new galaxy note.
Apple may be getting new customers but they are losing a lot of their faithful base. You know, the ones that got them to where they are today. Cook doesn't care. Not one bit.
Is there a Pepsi executive at the helm
Again, I don't think they are trying to compete as much as they are simply trying to provide their userbase (current and future) with a service that is useful/interesting to them. There are plenty of browsers out there that people use, but Apple has their Safari browser that they keep on enhancing and developing. There are many mail clients and mail providers out there that people use, but Apple has their own that they keep on developing and supporting. It's basically along those similar lines.
Who cares what *I* need. That was never the point of any of my posts.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Apple simply has moved on from being a niche hobby type of tech company to being a much more mainstream tech company with a much broader consumer userbase that they need to support now.True.
However, they are going to lose more than ever this year. Android is a fine OS and you don't feel as ripped off buying an Android device these days. Apple's RAM bogarting, over the years, showed me where the company was going. It's been downhill for years now.
Mac's are underpowered and too much of a fashion statement. They choose form over function now. Except with the Apple Watch, ironically. What an ugly device.
I, for one, am kind of excited to see the new galaxy note.
Apple may be getting new customers but they are losing a lot of their faithful base. You know, the ones that got them to where they are today. Cook doesn't care. Not one bit.
Is there a Pepsi executive at the helm
I don't know what gave you that idea, but MMS is supported by practically all phones and carriers. It's used automatically if you use a feature that SMS doesn't support (or exceed the 140 character limit). It's done so transparently that non-technical users don't even know whether they are using SMS or MMS.
Whatsapp has passed SMS globally, but there is still significant volume in SMS (in 2015, about 30 billion messages per day were sent via Whatsapp, versus about 20 bn via SMS). In the US, SMS is still significantly more popular than Whatsapp.
That is probably the main reason why Whatsapp is so popular in Europe, where plans without unlimited texting are still common. Of course, eventually Facebook will want to monetize Whatsapp in some way and it will stop being free (or will be full of ads).
Most smartphones can do SMS group chats.
Who on earth chooses a phone based on a proprietary messenger???
Like it could be the best thing ever if its not cross platform it will always be inferior to 3rd party apps that work on all devices.
Like it could be the best thing ever if its not cross platform it will always be inferior to 3rd party apps that work on all devices.
No it's not the comparable. Browsers and email clients work with open standards and are easily interchangable. Providing a good browsing and emailing experience is a very good and useful service.
However, nearly all messengers are closed systems, so you're forced to use a specific app. The app IS the service. An app that cannot be used in a vast amount of cases is not very useful, by definition. Especially if there's another app / service that CAN be used and is just as good or even better.
Maybe I should go back to school, as everyone can learn something new. But I was using 'everyone' in reference to his post, not yours. <reading comprehension is a wonderful thing>
Oh, snap!
Is what's app popular in Europe? I literally don't know anyone in my family or friends who uses it here in New York at least.
I can't use iMessage at all because most of my friends rely on WhatsApp
You need better friends
SMS/MMS are open standards and the Messages app has been there for those (like a Mail client), and iMessage was created as essentially a seamless service within that same all for those in the Apple ecosystem to use with additional benefits/features. There really isn't another app that could be used for regular text messaging as people will use the built-in Mesaages app and get the built-in benefit of iMessage without really needing to do anything separate/different.
In-app purchases is a probably a pretty marginal revenue stream, comparatively.
It also doesn't seem as if they get much leverage with potential Android switchers if they are already providing the advantages of iMessage on Android.
The last suggestion is very Microsoft-ian. Not that it isn't real, but cutting off the competition's air supply just doesn't seem to be the way Apple cares to do business.
Are you really trying to sell expensive, super-low-quality, terribly-implemented MMS as a decent way to share photos?! Now that's an advanced stage of living in a bubble. Literally no one has ever used MMS. Period. Phones send multiple SMS if you exceed the character limit and not MMS, btw, and you're wrong about the automatic fall-back to MMS on most phones because MMS are way too expensive for that. The option may exist but it's not enabled by default on any phone that I know of.
The reason for Whatsapp's huge success in Europe is not because of international texting, but because iPhones never had any market share above 10-20% in nearly all European countries, and Whatsapp turned out to be the first, best, biggest multi-platform messenger. If Apple had offered iMessage on Android at that time, things could have turned out very differently.
There is not a single phone that supports SMS group chats because it's impossible with the SMS protocol. You can send a text to multiple users but they won't know about the other receivers and the replies will always end up in a separate chat and go only to you and not the others. There are proprietary services that provide such a feature, but SMS by itself does not have the ability.
Well its REALLY nice when you travel overseas, a free wifi hotspot and you send iMessages for free, where as SMS costs per message. Even better it works on iPods and iPads too where they have no SMS, and it works on OSX computers, so the message comes though no matter which device I am using.
Then of course there is the fact that you have a complete record of all the conversations across those devices too, that are secure from snooping. And it turns out it is the most used App on IOS, so I guess Apple has got its priorities right.
200 million and falling. Samsung alone is 300 million and climbing. Not to mention all the other android makers.
They've already hit the iceberg. By your logic, it's not time to start shaking in their boots until they're on the seafloor.
poor little thing
Apple has a metric sheit-ton of programmers paid by a frack-ton of 16GB iPhones & 5400 RPM HDD dollah è_é !!!1
I can't use iMessage at all because most of my friends rely on WhatsApp
Your friends need some tough love, them them to shift to iOS for their own well being.