I asked if people chose iPhone for the blue bubbles elsewhere a couple days ago, and while there was some good discourse on that post, the blue bubbles definitely also came up as a reason.
In my experience, when people find out my texts are green, they oftentimes would rather switch to a different platform altogether like Instagram or just not text at all.
Is this actually a deal-breaker in friendships out there?
Yes, but it’s a feature, not a bug.
It’s a super low investment and quick way to identify people you should avoid.
I think this must be a cultural thing because no one in the UK sends SMS messages. Everyone just uses WhatsApp or signal or telegram. I’m android and have literally never had anyone mention the colour of my bubble. I didn’t know this was a thing!
I think it’s mostly an US thing. The rest of the world has moved away from SMS.
It’s mostly a US thing because Android is the standard pretty much everywhere except the US.
Lol not true
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that’s because other countries have affordable data & available wifi…
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this is definitely not true.
Android makes up over 70% of the global phone market, what’s not true?
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I use SMS in Denmark with people I don’t know personally. Apps like Telegram or WhatsApp aren’t common here (yet) unfortunately.
Everyone has Facebook and uses Messenger. The absolute worst of all the choices…
I would never install any of the Meta shit apps no matter what. I quit FB in 2017 and never looked back
I’ve tried many times to convert my non-techy friends but it’s impossible.
It’s hard to argue with “literally everyone I know uses Messenger”.
Well i went the hard route of just uninstalling Whatsapp and FB, they know how to reach me and can call if need to be.
A big advantage is i can get excited when they show me their vacation pics again and its not the i have already seen those pics on insta/fb.
Its a bold move and you may feel a bit left out ( i felt like that) but over time you get used to it and it feels kinda relaxing
US haven’t moved away from Imperial either 😂
Americans please
SMS is also basically free in several places, so there’s that.
also the case here. but why bother with old crappy sms wen you got 3g,4g and 5g?
Yeah, this is definitely a US-centric thing. Almost nobody I know (UK) uses SMS as their default, it’s usually the last resort before just ringing the person.
I think the only SMS messages I get are from the Doctor.
Mine are just for 2FA.
My mam sends me them sometimes but shes just old lol
Damn, the fact I remember mobile phones before they could even send text messages makes me feel ancient now.
Wait, this is over SMS!?!? How quaint! I haven’t seen anybody use an SMS for anything outside of spam in years!
I’m from the US and people are using SMS less and less I feel like (though again, I’m biased because Android). Even most of my networking for work is done on Instagram, which to me is incredibly bizarre.
Canada too, but at least we don’t rely on whatsapp/meta
Apart from SMS Auth and occasionally a “NEW FIRE BUD 10/10 stardawg smoke ring me” messages, apart from those SMS is dead…
You’re right on the money with this comment, what a strange country they have over there…
no one in the UK sends SMS messages
I do, I use stuff like WhatsApp and Discord too mainly of course, but an SMS is fast and reliable, as opposed to the others that require a decent data signal on both the sender and receiver (which is often lacking on my network unfortunately).
Plus, I can schedule SMS messages for a particular time so as to not wake the recipient up if I want to send them a message in the middle of the night, very handy!
Plus, I can theme my SMS app however I want, changing colours, fonts, etc, to be exactly what I like, as well as picking out an SMS app that has the features I’m looking for in the first place (I recommend Chomp). I find applications like WhatsApp to be extremely limited in this regard. Not a deal breaker, but I do love customisability and choice.
I certainly don’t use SMS anywhere near as much as Discord, but it’s wonderful to have it, and I use it regularly :-D
P.S I’ve wanted to use Signal for years but nobody I meet uses it :-( Such a shame, it seems neat!
P.P.S Telegram looks neat too, unfortunately again the adoption with people I know is strangely just 100% furries and nobody else, so I stick to the client that everybody uses rather than having a bunch of them installed (Discord & occasionally WhatsApp).
Fair enough! Maybe it depends on where you live, too. My parents live in rural Cornwall so if I send an SMS they might not get it for a few days (no signal where they live) but their WiFi is good so they’ll definitely get a WhatsApp (or other) message.
How old are you? When I studied in Scotland 2016-2020, the preferred messaging app was messenger (i.e. facebook), and I’m curious whether that has changed in the last 3 years or whether it’s a different demographic.
I don’t understand the apple cult. I’ve tried their phones. I prefer Android phones.
I have heard of some people who think non apple users are subpar, but those are the ones you want to avoid.
I worked for Apple for about 4 years and few people had Apple devices, despite the discount. I was supplied an iMac and MacBook Pro, but also a Windows PC and notebook that most work was done on because of software support. Most employees were obviously into their tech, so Android was by far the most popular for mobile devices. I remember a guy with a Windows phone.
No one judged, though. Having obviously used a lot of gadgets extensively, people understood that people land on what they like the most and there’s no right or wrong with personal opinion.
This is the key. Different products are intuitive for different people. Some people prefer less customizability with less barrier to entry. I recommend Apple products for a lot of users even though I strongly prefer Android/Linux/Widows. I also strongly prefer the Mac trackpad and gesture support. I use a Mac laptop for anything not work related because I hate the way trackpads work on Windows (even using the superior Mac trackpad).
All that said, if someone else prefers iOS, or Windows trackpads (or even likes those awful little buttons on Lenovos), then they should use them! Use what works for you!
This works both ways. Best advice is to stop caring.
I’ve had (have) iPhones supplied by work and I just can’t get away with them. To the point it just sits there on my desk and never get touched unless I need to 2FA or something through it.
And even that takes me an unreasonable amount of time to figure out every time. A lot of that is down to lack of experience, but I’m sure most is down to it just being unintuitive vs an android. And I’m a Pixel user, and before that a HTC user so always been a very pure Android experience.
If you live anywhere outside of the US, the question is irrelevant, because everyone uses whatsapp etc.
Within the US, if you are over the age of 30, it probably doesn’t matter.
if you are under the age of 30 AND in the US, I mean, if someone does judge you for it, you at least have a great way to filter shitty people out of your life lol.
In some social circles, yes. Teenagers tend to cling into anything that could potentially be interpreted as a social status symbol or group identity - in the US, for some bizarre reason, people still use the default messaging app and SMS so iMessage and it’s “green vs blue bubble” design immediately fills this space. This can also show up in very shallow dating scenes, like someone using Tinder and just looking for a random hook up with a nice dinner beforehand - they could see the iPhone as a sign of wealth and available money to spend.
But for most adults, living normal lives… I don’t think so. At least, never have been an issue with any of my friends, family members, academic peers, coworkers…
in the US, for some bizarre reason
Is it really that bizarre to use the default messaging app that uses the most widespread protocol(s)?
Yes? SMS is ancient, limited, and Apple’s added proprietary layer on top of it isn’t interoperable so “most widespread protocol” doesn’t even make sense.
There’s a reason Asia, Europe and South America aren’t using SMS in 2023.
And you know, it’s a smartphone, installing apps is kinda the whole point.
Right, the rest of the world uses…. other proprietary messaging apps that have no interoperability between them. You can’t talk from signal to WhatsApp, or WhatsApp to telegram, or telegram to signal. You all need to be using the same messaging app.
The reason why the rest of the world never really got on with SMS in general is because most providers elsewhere in the world still charge for SMS messages while they’ve been free in the US for over a decade. When you have to pay for texts, you tend to look for an alternative real quick.
The thing is the interaction between Apple and Android phones is shit through SMS, and that’s entirely Apple’s fault. I’m pretty sure everyone would be more happy using an app that works for everyone. If you take India for example, almost everyone uses WhatsApp. There’s just straight up no concept of not having WhatsApp. It works the same for both operating systems. So the myth that it’ll be difficult to unite with one app isn’t really true. I don’t like Meta any more than the next person, but the messages are end to end encrypted and lets iPhones and Androids communicate as equals. I’ll definitely take that over one group having a superior experience and the other having a subpar one. I doubt you can really refute that, as there isn’t really another solution due to Apple’s pigheadedness. Sure, you could use Signal to not use a Meta app. But SMS with an uncooperative giant company isn’t the way.
WhatsApp is great at marketing their e2ee, but nobody talks about the fact that they have so many backdoors out in the wild - they’re found annually. See: How Jeff Bezos’s photos were hacked.
That’s fair. I’ll be honest when I say that I’m ok with sacrificing some privacy for convenience. Many people on this platform wouldn’t agree with that. Not using WhatsApp in my country basically isn’t an option unless you just want to be a loner that doesn’t contact anyone, and I’m not the type to call people all the time.
Apple didn’t add anything on top of SMS. iMessage users data and has all the ‘cool’ features. If it cant reach someone via iMessage it falls back to plain old SMS.
Yes. It falls back to the protocol that doesn’t have any of the last 20 years worth of added features. How amazing.
I think you are misunderstanding what the average person does with their phone. The vast majority of people have phones and the vast majority of them are not tech literate enough to go into the app store looking for how to message people. They just use defaults.
Yes they are, they are… Everyone in Europe. I don’t know a single person, including those in their 70s and 80s, without WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
Yes, because that’s socially forced on us. I don’t want to have multiple different messaging apps (2 of which from the same fucking megacorp) to have to navigate around.
Person A like to message via app A, but person B likes to message via app B, and person C messages via both app A and B so it’s impossible to keep a fucking unbroken line of conversation going etc etc.
Not to mention that means that I HAVE to have these apps on my phone as a result. No matter how strict you set up your privacy controls to restrict their access, there’s inevitably shit that they still scrape from you, even stuff you’ve specifically rejected access to.
And then on top of all that, you’re giving them all of your conversaions with people. They may tell you it’s all encrypted and all that shit, but I don’t entirely believe it.
It drives me up the wall. Let me have one messaging app. Let it be the default app on the phone.
Well… If the entire world except one region manages to install a third party messaging app, I’d say I’m not misunderstanding anything and the average person is more than capable of doing so. WhatsApp is installed in over 92% of Brazilian smartphones - this includes grandmas, tech illiterate people, and all other examples you couldn think of.
Maybe not bizarre, but I think the regional differences are just intereting. I am living in central europe and I honestly don’t know anyone who used SMS in the last 5-10 years. The only reason to use it is when your data ran out.
Yeah my last 52 texts are all from companies about my orders or my bills etc. No actual humans use SMS anymore
As someone who had visited Europe a ton , I know why you guys use Whatsapp. It’s because you all have so many weird phone numbers lol
No, it’s because WhatsApp was free at a time where SMS were not (you might have a few included in your plan, but you couldn’t rely on that)
That’s actually great insight that I didn’t have. Thank you
I think it is, especially when the default doesn’t communicate well with a different ecosystem (Android vs iOS). So installing a app that gives you more features than plain text and works with all relevant mobile os worlds absolutely makes sense.
If your “friends” make so much fuss over text bubbles, probably the best course of action is to find better friends.
If you think you’re better than me because you have an iPhone and I run an Android, I don’t want to talk to you anyway.
People are so fucking petty and elitist over the dumbest fucking things.
You can have a preference, even a strong one. You can also discuss it with people. But shutting people out because of their phone? That’s a major personality red flag anyway.
Let me guess, you are from the United States? Every time I heard about this is only from the US, never see anyone outside giving a single fuck about that.
Also, do you really wanna be friend with someone that choose friendship by the phone their friend uses? WtfIts only a dealbreaker if you are dealing with someone who is exceedingly vapid and worthless as a human being, and you should be grateful for it, because it lets you know real quick not to waste another ounce of effort on their dumb asses.
People that buy Apple are some of the most superficial beings on this planet.
Who gives a fuck about text bubbles?
Find friends that aren’t so shallow.
This is so American…
“Let me send an SMS, while I ride my horse to go to my bank and do other things that people used to do in 1870.”
“Oh, their SMS color is different! I dislike people with a different color than me.”
Are you 14? In that case maybe.
It’s bewildering to me how this continues to be an issue only in the US, the rest of the world figured out this problem around 2010, and I’m not kidding. It’s like you guys are still arguing about Beta vs VHS in 2023
I’m an Android user and I have no idea what any of this means.
