Even more Pro tip: use a cross platform app to chat with the world. I'm sorry, but it's 2026. There's a reason most of the world doesn't use iMessage. I'm the biggest Appel fan, but in many countries, iMessage has zero market share and most people think Messages is just an SMS app.
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Sunbird's iMessage for Android App Returns to the Google Play Store
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Amazing Iceman
macrumors 603
Last I checked, RCS is supported by Android and iOS alike. My green bubble homies are right there in Messages next to my blue bubble homies. And I don’t have to install yet another g-d app.
Do I understand it correctly that recipients of Sunbird's iMessages show an email address and not a phone number? That would mean you'd have to have an email address for all your contacts for it to not look ridiculous on the receivers phone. It's annoying to get a text message from an email address (which I do get every once in a while from people without a clue).
nateo200
macrumors 68030
Isn’t this how it is in Europe? I do a lot of messaging on apps other than iMessage but I also field text messages directly from people who have my number and vice versa. Text messages tend to be important and priority over apps tho and I think it’s important to note that. Reminders for appointments, 2 factor, etc. I think using SMS signals that it’s important but idk maybe I’m crazy
So, reading the linked security info, it says: "Each user's iMessage connection runs in its own private space [emphasis mine] that's never shared with anyone else. When you disconnect or delete your account, that space is torn down completely, and nothing of yours carries over to anyone else" and "Your ongoing iMessage session is managed by Apple's own Messages software, the same way it works on a personal Mac." That reads like a shared server to me—spinning up a Mac VM (or, more likely, a Docker-like instance) per user. You're adding a new "device" to your Apple account to pull this off, but you have to rely on their assurances that their staff can't access those instances.
I get why this might be attractive to some, but this app isn't the answer.
I get why this might be attractive to some, but this app isn't the answer.
Octavius8
macrumors 65816
Most of the planet uses WhatsApp and others, just USA keeps using that simplistic default tool.
Rafagon
macrumors 68000
True, but for those of us who communicate with others around the world or with immigrant communities (I do both), SMS (and to a lesser extent, RCS; RCS has been growing, but it's not as big as SMS yet) and iMessage simply aren't considered for anything, so we need to install another app. That's one of the reasons you can change the default messaging app on iOS to WhatsApp, for example. When it's vital to communicate with family and friends across the globe, WhatsApp (in particular) has captured that audience (2 billion a day; 3 billion a month). The question of the bubble color is really only in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the UK, so Sunbird is aimed at a small user segment (Android users in those countries who really want to use iMessage).
Yep. It has. And “when in Rome” you have to use what other people are using.
Fortunately Whatsapp hasn’t penetrated my day-to-day experience much here in the US, and the default for people I meet is SMS/RCS/iMessage, which all happen in one app that Zuckerberg does not control. I begrudgingly installed it for the few situations (group chats, mostly) where it’s needed, but it gets no access to my contacts, location or much of anything else.
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boswald
macrumors 68040
A lot of people in the US don't trust Meta and refuse to use WhatsCrap in any capacity. I won't touch it if you paid me, but my girlfriend swears by it.
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I don't think it's refusal—71% of US adults use Facebook and 50% use Instagram. I think most people in the US just don't know about WhatsApp.
I could not care less what “most of the planet” is using. Day to day, I use what my friends and family are using and since they’re all here and 95% of them are using iPhones, with the remaining 5% reachable by RCS, I am thankfully able to avoid Whatsapp/Meta almost entirely.
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joshwithachance
macrumors 68030
This cat and mouse game gotta stop… It ain’t gonna happen until Apple wants it to happen. And it’s a security NIGHTMARE anyway.
This is such a 1st World problem 😂 I’ve been living the World’s 2 most-populous regions in Europe & India, and for everybody especially Gen-Zs, we use an app called ‘Snapchat’ in both Europe & India for everything from texting, video calls, group chats, studies, videos, etc. that works well regardless of which phone you use - to the point it’s even kinda our ‘default’ app for clicking photos & videos here lol!
What bubbles? I use an app called textra, I would not really call what it uses bubbles as such,
I use SMS, Iphones can use SMS, so what is the problem?
I use SMS, Iphones can use SMS, so what is the problem?
As long as your network supports it, as far as i know Apple RCS need the network to support it.
My Android phone, if i wanted to use RCS uses Google as my network, don't support RCS.
Steve Adams
macrumors 68020
For the shallow douchebags that care about what fecking color their message bubbles are. SMDH.