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Zuck won’t even filter out the foreign election propaganda on FB— I sure as hell wouldn’t trust his company with that level of access to my iPhone. HALE NO
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Many of the same people saying this is a ridiculous idea/should never be allowed were probably the same that wanted a different default Mail app.

You can not use Facebook. You can think it's a privacy threat to you. All of these are choices. And for some people, they use Facebook Messenger more than SMS/iMessage. That's a choice, too.

I don't know why people are so happy to want their devices to be less customizable, especially as it relates to another company they don't like. Don't use Messenger? Great! But when you want more customizations for your iOS device, just remember that other people want similar things too.

Granted, I'm not arguing that this choice is good - for starters, I don't even know how it'd functionally replace Messages due to the different protocols used. I am however arguing this from a larger perspective - that customizations to the device that don't globally impact users shouldn't be shunned.

I see what you’re saying, but you also have to consider this: I deleted my Facebook and want absolutely nothing to do with the company. But if this change were allowed, Facebook would have all my messages between myself and any contact who uses FB Messenger, and I would have no idea. I should also have a choice about who can see my messages.
 
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I’m confused. I get changing the default Mail app and browser, coz other apps/websites open your default browser to forward you to a website, or mail app when they want to send a mail for you.

In what instances does anything want to open your default messaging app?
 
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Honestly this is too much. Enough of these companies demanding free and open access. If Facebook wants to be the default messenger, it should build its own phone and operating system. Apple should ban Facebook just for asking. Because Apple promotes competition and this would be the least anti-monopolistic route ever.

It's like the people in my state wanting the right to repair their own cars. No. You bought it, so you should do whatever the car manufacturer says. If you don't like it, go build your own car.
 
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I wish I could change the default messaging app to WhatsApp since I use it way more than messages.
 
There is no need for this.

Apple started allowing changes to default browser and email this year with iOS 14. I can see them adding maps next year. But messages? SMS should only ever be routed by the standard device app.

Facebook just wants more data to steal
 
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I understand the reason for breaking messages into a separate app from Facebook, but I still don't like it. I definitely won't use it for SMS messages.
 
It's a ridiculous idea.
There are internet standards for email and web-browsing. For example, if you send an email to someone, their servers will get it, all you need is an email client. So, allowing one email client to be default over another makes a lot of sense. Web-browsing -- you need to render the links, and allow people to execute those links.

But there is no "standard" messaging system. FB Messenger is one, iMessage is another, Signal is yet another. None of them interoperate. It's unfortunate, but they don't. You can't just switch to "FB Messenger" and get the same messages as you did before. (like you would switching email clients). It doesn't work that way. So, if Zuck wants to put in the work, and create a whole new messaging standard, promote it, and get buy-in from various parties, etc. then maybe he'd have a case.

Also, Zuck is smart enough to know all this. So, I declare shenanigans on this whole idea as just some dumb political ploy by Zuck to make Apple look like a bad guy for not offering something that doesn't even make technical sense.
 
No way! Everyone should watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix. I trust Apple way more than I trust ANYTHING Facebook has to offer.
Facebook just had a class action lawsuit ruled against them in Illinois because of their little feature that recognizes people’s faces in group photos. Just shows the data collection these companies do without any regulations!
 
I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a humor algorithm. The dev team has it on the todo list. It’s near the end, right in front of having a soul.
Sorry I should have known a humor subroutine must be written first. Maybe Facebook is developing an emotion chip?!
 
To be honest, even if this was an option, I don’t see what changes.
Having a default web browser makes sense. When you click on a link, it will open in the web browser you want it to.
Having a default email app makes sense, when you tap on an email address, it will open the compose window in your email app of choice.
Having a default music app makes sense, when you tap the play button, or anything that needs access to your music library, it uses your default music app of choice.
Having a default maps app makes sense. When you tap an address, it uses your default maps app of choice.
But, a default messages app doesn’t make any sense. First of all, SMS text messages, which is what the default app is usually used for, all go through Apple‘s messages app. You can already turn off iMessage if you don’t want it, and you want the messages app to specifically only be used for SMS Messages. Messenger is already in the share sheet if you want it there, and they can add Siri support. Plus, messenger calls and messages come through in your notifications just like any other message. So I don’t see what would be gained by making it a default app.
To me, this is just getting ridiculous. That’s like asking for a default settings app, or a default compass app.
The only practical use I could see for this is having your Facebook contacts and your iPhone contacts match up. But even then, I have contacts in my iPhone that don’t have a Facebook account, and I have people on Facebook who I don’t have in my contacts. And as for SMS support, I highly doubt that Apple would be comfortable forwarding all your SMS messages through Facebook.
A better solution would be for Apple to allow plug-ins into the default messages app, kind of like they used to have with iChat. That way, you could connect as many services to the default messages app as you want, and all your conversations would appear in one place. However, even if they did that, Facebook probably wouldn’t enable support.
 
To be honest I’d like this, I haven’t sent an SMS in years nor an iMessage. Everything and everyone I know uses solely FB Messenger or WhatsApp.... or Snapchat.
 
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