Other how popular is iMessage in your home country?

[Bodhitree]

I know this topic has been beaten to death but I'm amazed how iMessage can be so popular in North America and Australia and yet be non existent in Europe.

How did the divide happen?

You have to keep in mind that Android has a 85% market share in smartphones here in most of Europe. There are just three Apple stores in the whole of the Netherlands. Also sms texts used to cost like 10 cents each, which adds up when you send 600 texts a month, so using an app which just used data would save you significant money.

Which means that when you go to message people, it is vastly more convenient to have a cross-platform app. Usually when I add a new number to my contacts, I can just look in WhatsApp and they are there. Phone calls to family quite often go through there as well now.

Nowadays unlimited calls and texts added onto my mobile plan cost like 1 euro a month (together) so there’s no point in not having it for the rare cases when someone isn’t on whatsapp. But mostly it is data you end up paying for.

 

[aevan]

I prefer iMessage and Telegram. Sadly, most people use Viber here, but my friends and family are all iMessage. Business partners are on Telegram.

 

[aevan]

You have to keep in mind that Android has a 85% market share in smartphones here in most of Europe.

It’s 66% in Europe since 2021, with iPhone reaching record 33%. Apple is actually the market leader if you look at companies individually.

 

[Shanghaichica]

You have to keep in mind that Android has a 85% market share in smartphones here in most of Europe. There are just three Apple stores in the whole of the Netherlands. Also sms texts used to cost like 10 cents each, which adds up when you send 600 texts a month, so using an app which just used data would save you significant money.

Which means that when you go to message people, it is vastly more convenient to have a cross-platform app. Usually when I add a new number to my contacts, I can just look in WhatsApp and they are there. Phone calls to family quite often go through there as well now.

Nowadays unlimited calls and texts added onto my mobile plan cost like 1 euro a month (together) so there’s no point in not having it for the rare cases when someone isn’t on whatsapp. But mostly it is data you end up paying for.

iPhone usage is quite high in the UK, just over 50%. However, still what’sapp is still the favoured messaging app.

 

[Bodhitree]

It’s 66% in Europe since 2021, with iPhone reaching record 33%. Apple is actually the market leader if you look at companies individually.

It seems to be somewhat less, if you check your sources, and the share of the installed base will be lower still.

Apple's market share gets biggest iPhone 13 boost in Europe 9to5Mac

Early iPhone 13 sales saw Apple's market share of the smartphone market climb in both the US and Europe, but growth was reportedly much ...

9to5mac.com

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

iPhone usage is quite high in the UK, just over 50%. However, still what’sapp is still the favoured messaging app.

I think when I look through my WhatsApp group messages, nearly everybody bar one or two are iPhone users. I think WhatsApp is just a better platform for group messaging and it rare to find someone who doesn’t use it. Group messaging on iMessage is ok, but not brilliant in my experience.

 

[circatee]

When I used WhatsApp, I actually liked it. HOWEVER, now that they are owned by Facebook, oops, I mean META, I just can't. Nope, I just can't...

 

[ian87w]

You have to keep in mind that Android has a 85% market share in smartphones here in most of Europe. There are just three Apple stores in the whole of the Netherlands. Also sms texts used to cost like 10 cents each, which adds up when you send 600 texts a month, so using an app which just used data would save you significant money.

Which means that when you go to message people, it is vastly more convenient to have a cross-platform app. Usually when I add a new number to my contacts, I can just look in WhatsApp and they are there. Phone calls to family quite often go through there as well now.

Nowadays unlimited calls and texts added onto my mobile plan cost like 1 euro a month (together) so there’s no point in not having it for the rare cases when someone isn’t on whatsapp. But mostly it is data you end up paying for.

Yup. In the end, cross platform is the key here, as unlike in the US, many countries don’t have unlimited SMS. In my country, carriers charge you extra for calling/texting people that are on different carriers. Pretty much no iPhone users here use iMessage. WhatsApp is the dominant force due to cross platform and really low barrier of entry (all you need is a phone number).

Apple should really be thinking in their iMessage strategy. They really should make it available on Android. Plus, Android allows users to change the default SMS app, so Apple can still provide the unified experience. They can even charge a small fee for stickers and effects, or even the service, and I’m sure many would still bite.

 

[TinyMito]

It's annoying that every person I know runs on different social platforms. I just outright don't bother to install any of them except Telegram (due to family elders don't have SMS service). If they need to reach me, just call or SMS/iMessage.

 

[Barbareren]

Yup. In the end, cross platform is the key here, as unlike in the US, many countries don’t have unlimited SMS. In my country, carriers charge you extra for calling/texting people that are on different carriers. Pretty much no iPhone users here use iMessage. WhatsApp is the dominant force due to cross platform and really low barrier of entry (all you need is a phone number).

Even here in Mexico we have unlimited calls and sms. Everyone still uses WhatsApp, though, no matter if you are an individual or a company, and no matter whether you’re sporting an iPhone or an Android. Personally I’d take WhatsApp over iMessage any day. I just don’t like the interface in Messages.

 

[ukms]

Horses for courses (or should I say markets) ….. as many of us know the world does exist outside the US and WhatsApp is the go to in many countries. Here in the UAE there are also many other apps used determined by the home country of the large expat population for people to communicate with family back home . There is also thrown into the mix that VOIP calling is largely blocked on many apps (including WhatsApp and FaceTime) whilst the messaging works.

 

[ManuCH]

Unfortunately most people seem to use WhatsApp in Switzerland. iMessage never really picked up because the Apple market share is a bit shy of 50% (which is a lot, but still), so you end up having half your friends you can't talk to if you use iMessage (except with SMS fallback but honestly I don't want use such an outdated technology with no features).

I ended up migrating most of my friends to Telegram, which I prefer because of the advanced features it has. iMessage still is missing the "coolness factor" somehow. Writing with friends in groups is supposed to be fun, and iMessage is just... too business-y, somehow. At the end of the day it's a matter of personal preference.

Oh, and then there are the super-privacy sensitive people who use Threema or Signal (mainly Threema in Switzerland because it's a Swiss product). But those look ugly as hell in my eyes, and the end to end encryption is just a big pain to deal with, and one way or the other you always end up losing your chat history.

 

[ian87w]

I don't know about the US or western Europe, but we in Asia are already installing multiple messaging services as needed. Most people in my country will already have at least two or three (Whatsapp, Line, and maybe Telegram or WeChat or FB). It's not an issue to have multiple messaging services on the device to communicate with people from multiple countries. So I find it strange many westerners are stubbornly only using one service (eg iMessage only or Whatsapp only).

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Unfortunately most people seem to use WhatsApp in Switzerland.

That shouldn’t be unfortunate as it’s a decent messaging platform and does the job well.

 

[saber32au]

I don't know about the US or western Europe, but we in Asia are already installing multiple messaging services as needed. Most people in my country will already have at least two or three (Whatsapp, Line, and maybe Telegram or WeChat or FB). It's not an issue to have multiple messaging services on the device to communicate with people from multiple countries. So I find it strange many westerners are stubbornly only using one service (eg iMessage only or Whatsapp only).

Can't speak for the US, but (IMHO) many europeans (north, south, east and west)) use multiple messaging services (and have done so for several years) as there is lots of cross-boarder communication. Whatsapp will be the most common messaging app, but many will use a second/third messaging app (ie FB messenger, Viber, Signal, telegram etc). Basically people will use whatever messaging service is needed to communicate.

 

[ManuCH]

That shouldn’t be unfortunate as it’s a decent messaging platform and does the job well.

I find it unfortunate. I do 99% of my messaging from the Mac, and the WhatsApp client is light years back compared to the Telegram Mac app look and feel.

Also I have many long-term chats where I keep years of history. With Telegram that all works in a snap. With WhatsApp it's a huge mess and you either save it all locally on your phone and keep it forever (which adds up to dozens of GB for me) or you're pretty much screwed.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I find it unfortunate. I do 99% of my messaging from the Mac, and the WhatsApp client is light years back compared to the Telegram Mac app look and feel.

Also I have many long-term chats where I keep years of history. With Telegram that all works in a snap. With WhatsApp it's a huge mess and you either save it all locally on your phone and keep it forever (which adds up to dozens of GB for me) or you're pretty much screwed.

I’m not a Mac user so don’t know anything about that, I only use it on iPhone and occasionally on a PC. The contents of my WhatsApp chats aren’t worth keeping or getting sentimental about lol.

 

[deuxani]

In Europa WhatsApp makes so much sense from a historic perspective. Back in the early days of the App Store iMessage didn’t exist and local text messages cost 10 cents. Text messages abroad would cost 30 cents or even more! And as you know, Europa is made up of more than 40 countries. Imagine sending a message from New York to Chicago and it costing 30 cents per 144 characters, madness! 😄

When the App Store came out two internet messaging apps were popular, PingChat and Whatsapp. I preferred PingChat however Whatsapp sadly became the most popular one. Everybody stopped sending text messages and basically everyone switched to WhatsApp because it was free instead of costing between 10 and 30 cents per message. Very obvious.

And when finally iMessage came, the iPhone market share was too low in Europa to get any traction. Also, free text messages didn’t change a thing because how primitive it was in comparison.

So everyone is on WhatsApp since day one, it’s all most people know, so no reason for many to switch. (Some use FB Messenger or Telegram too, but nowhere near the numbers of WhatsApp)

 

[kaardowiq]

Many iPhone users even do not know that iMessage is free. Therefore they stay on WhatsApp and do not consider to switch

 

[Heindijs]

WhatsApp became the standard here way before it was bought by Facebook/Meta. Back in 2011 we were already using it massively. By the time Facebook bought it, it was already ingrained in our society. No one was using SMS because it cost more and it had way less capabilities. And Android phones were especially popular with kids in school since you could buy them so cheaply. I remember in secondary school in 2013 that literally no one owned an iPhone and it was all HTC and low end Samsung phones.

 

[phrehdd]

I have been an Android users for awhile and recently switched back to iPhone (last one was a 5s). The iMessage feature on both the phone and Mac have turned out to be excellent for my purpose (work and school as well as some social). Perhaps given the percentage of Apple users in the US and the promotions (similar in Australia) has a great deal to do with early adoptors who created an Apple culture that includes iMessage.

 

[MajorFubar]

Well considering that myself, my two children and my wife are the only people I know with an iPhone...there's your answer. None of the hundreds of people I know at work, or within my friends and family circle (other than the three I've mentioned) have an iPhone. Compare that to ten years ago when pretty much everyone I knew had an iPhone.

 

[bransoj]

Well considering that myself, my two children and my wife are the only people I know with an iPhone...there's your answer. None of the hundreds of people I know at work, or within my friends and family circle (other than the three I've mentioned) have an iPhone. Compare that to ten years ago when pretty much everyone I knew had an iPhone.

As a comparison i'm in the UK and both me and my wife have iphones, both sets of parents have iphones, my brother has an iphone, my brother in law and sister in law have an iphone and my niece has an iphone. Among my friends a majority are on iphones and at work the vast majority are on iphones.

Also this suggests Apple has market share in the UK splitting by make :-

Mobile Vendor Market Share United Kingdom | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of mobile vendors in United Kingdom based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

Add up the none iphone against iphone and its only just Android in the lead not the 85% you mention.

I mainly use iMessage because of this but do have Whatsapp for some other messaging. We have a group for our cricket club which is a mix of devices so Whatsapp was used and i have mate overseas and he was already using Whatsapp so it was easier for him to use it for our chats. I think for many because Whatsapp was around first and used when there was no iMessage they have stuck with it. Changing messaging apps is not that easy because you need others to change as well, just changing yourself is all well and good but if no one else does you have no one else to communicate with!

 

[headlessmike]

I'm an American living in Sweden, and here iMessage is definitely one of the most widely used platforms. I use it to keep in touch with family back home and most people I know here in Sweden have iPhones. The other big player here is not WhatsApp (though I know some people that use it), but Facebook Messenger. A colleague of mine told me that the best way to find an apartment is through Facebook and I've even been to restaurants that only allow orders to be placed through an interface that uses Facebook Messenger (albeit while offering guest accounts for a single order).

I lived in Austria for a while and there everyone used WhatsApp. Even businesses would contact me through WhatsApp.

 

[Barbareren]

I'm an American living in Sweden, and here iMessage is definitely one of the most widely used platforms. I use it to keep in touch with family back home and most people I know here in Sweden have iPhones. The other big player here is not WhatsApp (though I know some people that use it), but Facebook Messenger. A colleague of mine told me that the best way to find an apartment is through Facebook and I've even been to restaurants that only allow orders to be placed through an interface that uses Facebook Messenger (albeit while offering guest accounts for a single order).

I lived in Austria for a while and there everyone used WhatsApp. Even businesses would contact me through WhatsApp.

Yep. I’m a Norwegian living in México. Back in Norway, Facebook Messenger was always very popular and is still widely used. In Mexico it’s all about that WhatsApp - which is also used by most businesses here. Personally I use them both. As well as Instagram (which I kinda hate) because certain people insist on using it for messaging… ? At least basically everyone I know have finally stopped using Telegram and gone back to WhatsApp ?