Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Left the Apple Ecosystem, now having second thoughts.
- Thread starter xxray
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The reason I don't trust banking, i have some hacked apps side loaded on my phone.
If someone wants to send me a pic, txt or email.
They can and did. The issue is not having something like iMessage. There are dozens of messaging apps that do essentially the same thing, from Google and others. In fact, outside the US I don't think most Apple users even use iMessage... they use WhatsApp more in some countries.
The issue is interoperability. Once you introduce someone in the conversation that isn't using the same as the others, it all drops back to SMS/MMS. Still works fine, but images become lower quality and videos become literally unusable. The only solution to this is the industry implementing a replacement for SMS/MMS that is able to support 2018 requirements for messaging. Then the question will be whether Apple will support that as a drop back for the green bubble. It will ultimately be up to Apple because most others I would expect to support it... if the carriers ever get their act together on it. Today they mostly all have proprietary alternatives, and Apple doesn't support them.
Apple won't implement MST because Samsung owns the technology and patents on it, via an acquisition.
I have a Gear S3 and it is definitely a contributing factor to me having no interest in going back to Apple at this point. I wore an Apple Watch every day for 2 years, and was shocked that I like the Gear S3 as well (and better in many use cases).
[doublepost=1528922514][/doublepost]
Curious what brings you into a thread about alternatives to iOS, given your account of your current situation?
[doublepost=1528922586][/doublepost]
Sounds more like you don't trust "hacked apps side loaded on your phone" than you don't trust "banking".
Or maybe more like Apple won’t implement MST because it’s on its way out. The last time I used MST was years ago unless I forget about a single instance of bumping into some odd ancient terminal in the recent years. It’s been NFC and chip for me for years now.
you're right for the most part. I read somewhere that Android has security problems because of the permissions in the apps, even those in the play store. Hacked apps are even worse.
I think they still use magnetic strip readers in the US, but like Finland we haven’t used strip readers for more than 10 years in the UK. Maybe there are some other places in the world that still use the technology to make it worthwhile for samsung?
[doublepost=1528924640][/doublepost]
I don’t think there is an equivalent in terms of software support. Just look at android wear, that’s almost dead and the gear watches fall prey to the usual samsung attitude to abandoning older devices for their current flagship.
There are some terminals that don't take chips but most of the places I frequent do take the chips. Although I think it is a violation of merchant agreements to not accept cards that only have a magnetic stripe. It seems I have read that somewhere.
So it's either buy an agnostic one like FitBit or go with an Apple Watch? Damn, I hope Google can make a strong comeback. I don't' like Samsung's lack of support and their hardware gives me issues. I'll pass on the Gears. Might force me to use an iPhone if I want true comfort for the next few years.
I have an Apple Watch Series 3 that I wear daily and it works great. But it won't keep me with apple in the future if I decide to go to another brand.
Phone: I switched to Android in 2014 and I've been super happy with that decision.
Tablet: I tried switching to Android, and went back to an iPad Pro 12.9. The OS is fine but the apps are not, and the hardware is crap compared to Apple. Also, Apple Pencil.
Desktop: I've been mostly using macOS for a decade. Tried to switch to Windows for my main machine and compared to macOS the ecosystem is terrible. Scaling is still unsupported on many apps, and there is a surprising amount of Win32 crap stuff out there. Also the amount of small developers making quality apps in windows is non existent compared to macOS where there are a lot of "boutique" devs.
Tablet: I tried switching to Android, and went back to an iPad Pro 12.9. The OS is fine but the apps are not, and the hardware is crap compared to Apple. Also, Apple Pencil.
Desktop: I've been mostly using macOS for a decade. Tried to switch to Windows for my main machine and compared to macOS the ecosystem is terrible. Scaling is still unsupported on many apps, and there is a surprising amount of Win32 crap stuff out there. Also the amount of small developers making quality apps in windows is non existent compared to macOS where there are a lot of "boutique" devs.
I’m probably going to get the next Pixel after being with the iPhone since the first iPhone. But not sure. All my family have iMessage. iMessage is light years ahead of what Android has to offer.
As far as pads and desktops, I honestly hardly ever use our Mac and iPad. I do most of my tasks on my iPhone. I only use our Mac if a task needs to be done that can’t be done on my iPhone which isn’t much.
I work in IT, you would be surprised at the amount that don’t..I think the average person in year 2018 know how to attach files in an email
[doublepost=1528930921][/doublepost]The main advantage of iMessage is the integration with SMS. You can message anyone no matter what phone. I don’t get why other apps don’t integrate SMS.
You are probably in the US, right?
It's the only country where SMS is still used regularly and is one of the main reasons I've seen people don't want to leave iMessages.
The rest of the world is using Whatsapp since Android is so much more prevalent.
My wife has family in France and whenever we visit I don’t know anyone who uses iMessage. Everyone seems to use WhatsApp even if they have iPhones.
Last edited:
Yep, outside of the US not even iOS users use iMessage.
Strange it's so hyped in the US isn't it. I only used iMessage for SMS, I didn't trust it not to rip me off with charges for sending photos to non-iPhones. I couldn't be doing with looking out for blue bubbles all the time. Whatsapp all the way.
Why? Simple. iMessage is good only for isolated country like US.
If I am an android user, I'll be pissed when I incur expensive roaming SMS cost when I receive SMSes from iPhone users.
I'll be more pissed as an iPhone user, when I am charged expensive roaming charges when Imessage unknowing to me send SMSes.
It is not that no one can program something like imessage, but just that others are not as blind as apple which thinks the rest of the world operates the same way as US.
Last edited:
I think it's tied to low data costs but surprisingly high SMS costs outside of the US. I could be wrong, though.
Well at least in Finland many subscriptions come with unlimited SMS/MMS, so cost isn’t that much of an issue. People use WhatsApp as it’s just more convenient when you can have working group chats and send images in good quality without having to care if the other person is running iOS or Android (or Windows Phone back when it was still a thing).
If you have unlimited data you don’t need to worry about data charges etc.
What’s good about iMessage especially if you have kids is you know that the message was delivered and read. You can also set up where they’re located. It’s also nice to know when someone is responding to your text.
A lot of carriers still charge a per message price when you send using MMS to non-iPhone users, and this is different and separate charge to unlimited data and unlimited texts. It's why iOS has an option to disable sending MMS messages to devices not on Apple Messages.