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Out of curiosity why does this matter? Do iPhone users not use WhatsApp or Messenger? Is this a USA specific thing? As a UK Android user I've never used iMessag
by ck425 3y ago
Out of curiosity why does this matter? Do iPhone users not use WhatsApp or Messenger? Is this a USA specific thing? As a UK Android user I've never used iMessage and don't see any reason why I'd need or want to.
- infotainment 3y agoUSA specific — Americans pretty much universally use SMS messages, which ends up being iMessage for Apple devices.
- ck425 3y agoHuh. How does that work with multimedia? Do US carriers not differentiate between SMS and MMS?
- jacobgkau 3y agoCarriers typically charge the actual media portion of MMS (e.g. the photo or video) as data.
- rezonant 3y agoI'm not sure how universal that is, but it doesn't really matter when data plans are almost always unlimited. After all, iMessage also goes through cellular data.
- infotainment 3y agoThey don’t, it “just works” (to the degree MMS can work at all) — which means iMessage is perfectly positioned.
- ck425 3y agoAh so do "free texts" in the USA include MMS? That might explain the continued usage. In the UK MMS often aren't included, if anything they're charged stupidly high, so you'd never send a pic via text message.
- rimunroe 3y agoyes
- wrboyce 3y agoTo give you another perspective, I’m UK based too and use iMessage daily to stay in touch with my family and close friends. Every now and then I’ll have bad signal (or maybe the recipient does? I’m not entirely sure…) and whatever I’m sending will be sent as an MMS. It happens so rarely it doesn’t really register, and I’d wager it costs me less than a quid a year (on EE, but I assume most MMOs have similar MMS pricing).
- rezonant 3y agoOn most plans in the US, unlimited texting is the only option, and there is no differentiation between SMS and MMS. It's all free with your plan.
- danaris 3y agoTo clarify: On the iPhone, the Messages app handles SMS. It also handles iMessage. They are two completely different protocols, with iMessage's featureset being a superset of SMS's. If you are conversing with someone else with iMessage (either through an iPhone or another Apple device), Messages will automatically use iMessage; otherwise, it will use SMS. (If you prefer to use SMS, you are welcome to disable iMessage on your phone or other Apple device.) iMessage goes over the IP network, not a side-channel in the cellular system the way SMS does—so you have to have either Wifi coverage or cellular data available; if you don't, as a matter of fact, it falls back to SMS within the same conversation, provided you are conversing with someone else who is identified by a phone number, and not just an Apple ID.
- prmoustache 3y agoI guess egoism is so entrenched in the USA that choosing a platform that all your friends and relatives can use to communicate to is just too much for them.