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Gjwilly

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 1, 2011
3,216
701
SF Bay Area
Any families out there using both iPhone and Android?
I’m considering an Android for my son because of the larger screens available and the oh-so-important (to him anyway) headphone jack.
Also the extra storage which seems to be double the iPhones, on average, and the SD card support.
My wife and I both use iPhones so my worries are losing the ability to use Find my iPhone, and iMessage on his phone.
 

kuroe

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2013
27
15
My wife and I both use iPhones so my worries are losing the ability to use Find my iPhone, and iMessage on his phone.

Find my iPhone has equivalents on Android. Google has an offering, as does Samsung. Not sure about other manufacturers.

iMessage though, there's no iMessage on Android. You'll have to either use regular text messaging, or use another messaging app like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, etc.

If you'd prefer to have your family stay fully in the iOS ecosystem, why not get an iPhone + lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter/dongle?
 

Bro KV

macrumors regular
Apr 10, 2011
113
175
Find my iPhone has equivalents on Android. Google has an offering, as does Samsung. Not sure about other manufacturers.

iMessage though, there's no iMessage on Android. You'll have to either use regular text messaging, or use another messaging app like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, etc.

If you'd prefer to have your family stay fully in the iOS ecosystem, why not get an iPhone + lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter/dongle?

Google Messages has RCS, although not everyone uses it and of course it doesn’t work with iMessages. Samsung Messages has RCS but it wasn’t support by Verizon on my Samsung.
 

ratdog07067

macrumors newbie
Jun 17, 2020
17
10
I have an Android phone and an iPad, my son (11 years old) has an iPad and my wife is all in on the Apple ecosystem. The messaging part isn't a big deal (we got my son a Facebook kids messenger account) but monitoring his account from my phone is not possible. This is total first world problem stuff, but if he requests screen time, or wants to buy an app and needs me to approve it I can't do it from my phone. Other than that it's not a big deal.
 

hallux

macrumors 68040
Apr 25, 2012
3,437
1,005
I think we are in the minority on MR (people who don’t use WhatsApp and other social media messaging apps).
I have Whatsapp on my phone, the last messaging I did with it was... March 12 this year, because I wanted to send a message to someone over airplane WiFi and that's the only messaging I had that they said would be free (the message didn't go through until I landed at home and got on cellular so fail there). The next message prior to that was 3 years ago.

I don't use FB Messenger on my phone or tablet, I only do that from a browser on my computer.

My cross-platform messaging app of choice for family (of phones the adults use - 3 iPhones, 4 Android) is Hangouts, and we'll be riding that until the day the servers shut down (if ever).

As for Google's RCS - I thought I caught a headline recently that a recent beta of Messages had end-to-end encryption possible (obviously the clients at both ends need to support it).
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
34,288
49,530
In the middle of several books.
I have Whatsapp on my phone, the last messaging I did with it was... March 12 this year, because I wanted to send a message to someone over airplane WiFi and that's the only messaging I had that they said would be free (the message didn't go through until I landed at home and got on cellular so fail there). The next message prior to that was 3 years ago.

I don't use FB Messenger on my phone or tablet, I only do that from a browser on my computer.

My cross-platform messaging app of choice for family (of phones the adults use - 3 iPhones, 4 Android) is Hangouts, and we'll be riding that until the day the servers shut down (if ever).

As for Google's RCS - I thought I caught a headline recently that a recent beta of Messages had end-to-end encryption possible (obviously the clients at both ends need to support it).

If you like cross platform, take a look at Signal. It has encrypted text and video and has the best privacy policy I have seen outside of Apple.
 

Steven-iphone

macrumors 68000
Apr 25, 2020
1,953
16,490
United States
Get him the Android. He and you can use the standard messaging service - not too hard. It won't be integrated with your Apple eco-system - IMO not an issue.

I message my brother and his wife, both have IPhones; I have Android (Google Pixel). It is not an issue.

Android uses Find My Device.
 

russell_314

macrumors 603
Feb 10, 2019
6,012
8,915
USA
Any families out there using both iPhone and Android?
I’m considering an Android for my son because of the larger screens available and the oh-so-important (to him anyway) headphone jack.
Also the extra storage which seems to be double the iPhones, on average, and the SD card support.
My wife and I both use iPhones so my worries are losing the ability to use Find my iPhone, and iMessage on his phone.
The headphone jack is going to be history soon. The most popular brand of android phones, Samsung no longer has it on their flagship phones. As to screen size unless you’re getting a folding phone it’s not going to be much larger than the 12 Pro Max. I think the Note 20 Ultra is 6.9” vs 6.7” so maybe that 0.2” is a thing?

To be honest it sounds like he wants an Android phone because he wants Android or maybe just to be different and there’s nothing wrong with that


I don’t see why people get hung up with iMessage vs text message because what’s the difference between a green bubble and a blue bubble. Sure there are more features with iMessage but in the end the person received a message. I don’t have people in my household with Android phones but I have good friends that I text on a daily basis with Android phones. I’ve had family members switch back from iOS to Android and back to iOS again. I don’t think there was any big communication barrier because of them not having an iPhone. I’ll admit there’s some weird thing with those blue bubbles that makes it seem better. Maybe I like the ability to tell if the person is typing a reply right away but that’s only a minor thing. If you find that bothering you there are many messaging apps that do the things iMessage does.

Good luck with the phone purchase and let us know how it works
 

yui4

macrumors 65816
May 26, 2011
1,207
971
Signal is the best for privacy and security and works across iPhone and Android. If you use WhatsApp or some of the other social media focused messaging, you aren’t safe or secure.
Really? I was always led to believe WhatsApp messages are encrypted end to end.

I know of some dubious characters who conduct their, cough, “Business” via WhatsApp for that very reason.

I should add I don’t know them personally of course, lol
 

snipr125

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2015
1,779
2,812
UK
Really? I was always led to believe WhatsApp messages are encrypted end to end.

I know of some dubious characters who conduct their, cough, “Business” via WhatsApp for that very reason.

I should add I don’t know them personally of course, lol
Yes i thought whatsapp was secure with encrypted end to end chat also. I need to use it as my wife prefers android phones and uses a galaxy s20 plus and had the S10 and original Pixel before that. My parents all use android and my brother and his family. Im the only Apple person, so kinda the odd one out lol. I got nothing against Android phones though, just prefer Apple devices for the seamless eco system and simplicity.
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
34,288
49,530
In the middle of several books.
Really? I was always led to believe WhatsApp messages are encrypted end to end.

I know of some dubious characters who conduct their, cough, “Business” via WhatsApp for that very reason.

I should add I don’t know them personally of course, lol
I don’t use WhatsApp because FaceBook is behind it. And as most of us here know, Facebook cannot and should not be trusted in any way, shape or form. FB scrapes every bit of data from the app and anywhere else it can find information about you, and then uses that data folder to sell to the highest bidder. This puts people at higher risk for identity theft, scams, burglary, and other headaches. WhatsApp has tracker whereas Signal does not. WhatsApp stores user information and chats on their servers (if need be) longer than 30 days. It also stores photos and other personal information used on the platform for further use and there is no mention of deletion in their privacy policy. Encryption can be turned off on WhatsApp. Don’t be fooled. All WhatsApp is is another data mining tool for Facebook under the guise of privacy, which is a joke when it comes to Facebook. It is in that context, i said WhatsApps is not safe or secure.
 
Last edited:

Geoff777

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2020
199
114
My family's been Apple for ages but I recently dropped iPhone (after the 8's battery gave up and touch screen started going odd) and bought a Huawei P40 Pro, solely because of the Leica camera, which is stunning (and knocks the stuffing out of the latest iPhone 12 a family member recently bought).
However, the Huawei part of the phone (i.e. most of it) is a long way behind Apple, but that's another story.
I am additionally "hampered' by not having access to google stuff.

In a nutshell, we still manage to co-exist by using third party apps instead of built-in stuff.
We use Telegram for chats, video calls, audio calls and it's great. Far better than WhatsApp, which, being part of facebook, is a no-no because of the lack of privacy and data-mining.
Messages from my phone reach all iPhones, no sweat.
My wife uses Instagram (or maybe Snapchat???) to keep tabs on where other family members are.....

So, in short, having a mixed iOS and Android family doesn't have any negative effects whatsoever. So far! ;)
 
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Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,617
13,107
UK
I have Whatsapp on my phone, the last messaging I did with it was... March 12 this year, because I wanted to send a message to someone over airplane WiFi and that's the only messaging I had that they said would be free (the message didn't go through until I landed at home and got on cellular so fail there). The next message prior to that was 3 years ago.

I don't use FB Messenger on my phone or tablet, I only do that from a browser on my computer.

My cross-platform messaging app of choice for family (of phones the adults use - 3 iPhones, 4 Android) is Hangouts, and we'll be riding that until the day the servers shut down (if ever).

As for Google's RCS - I thought I caught a headline recently that a recent beta of Messages had end-to-end encryption possible (obviously the clients at both ends need to support it).
I still use hangouts. I’ll also be using it until it’s dying breath. However I use WhatsApp all the time. I’ve been using it since 2010. I started with it on the iPhone 4, carried on using it when I switched to android and then continued using it again when I switched back to the iPhone in 2014. It’s really popular here in the U.K., even amongst iPhone users. I rarely use iMessage.
 

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,617
13,107
UK
The headphone jack is going to be history soon. The most popular brand of android phones, Samsung no longer has it on their flagship phones. As to screen size unless you’re getting a folding phone it’s not going to be much larger than the 12 Pro Max. I think the Note 20 Ultra is 6.9” vs 6.7” so maybe that 0.2” is a thing?

To be honest it sounds like he wants an Android phone because he wants Android or maybe just to be different and there’s nothing wrong with that


I don’t see why people get hung up with iMessage vs text message because what’s the difference between a green bubble and a blue bubble. Sure there are more features with iMessage but in the end the person received a message. I don’t have people in my household with Android phones but I have good friends that I text on a daily basis with Android phones. I’ve had family members switch back from iOS to Android and back to iOS again. I don’t think there was any big communication barrier because of them not having an iPhone. I’ll admit there’s some weird thing with those blue bubbles that makes it seem better. Maybe I like the ability to tell if the person is typing a reply right away but that’s only a minor thing. If you find that bothering you there are many messaging apps that do the things iMessage does.

Good luck with the phone purchase and let us know how it works
Completely agree. My husband uses a Samsung phone. We just use what’sapp. There are no barriers. We still send each other messages and media.
 
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