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iMessage. Its already on every iphone and the default messenger. Is the best all around messenger available with just about any feature you could want wrapped up in it.
Assuming everyone you know has a iPhone
I don't know about watch, but I find iMessage to be less seamless than Hangouts, even across my iOS devices. For example, when you delete a Hangouts thread on one device, every other device will reflect that change. However with iMessage, it's possible to get different devices with different messages appearing (like right now my ipad still shows a thread I deleted from my phone yesterday).
Just the fact that you can see SMS messages on your WiFi iPad is definitely a boon though (not to mention cellular calling)
Another issue I have with iMessage is that, for me, the hand-off between SMS and iMessage is not seamless. The problem arises when the person at the other end does not have data. If you have no internet connection, iMessage knows and sends an SMS. Great. If the other person has no internet connection, iMessage does not seem to be able to determine this (though I've heard people say it can) and messages get stuck in "sending". I can't force my brother to always have data, so iMessage doesn't work so well in such instances. Of course, Hangouts etc. wouldn't work at all in this case, but it's still a pity that the seamless iMessage-SMS switching aspect doesn't work well in practice.
What makes iMessage significantly better than Hangouts, aside from SMS integration (not sure why Google went backwards with this one) and a greater user base?
Hangouts does work pretty well, it's just that no one uses it.
I use Hangouts and Facebook Messenger the most for cross-platform ubiquity, but in some ways iMessage is great... if you live in an Apple-centric household. Getting messages across your phone, computer and tablet while barely having to lift a finger? Sharing your Apple Watch activity as a message? Kinda nice.
meh, not really worth it for having to downgrade to apple devices and lose all the extra features and functionality you get with android or pc devices though.
I feel like that’s more because of a lock-in cycle than because of the actual merits. Most people don’t give a rats arse about quality when it comes to sharing photos, and I don’t see what’s so unique about that other stuff. As for the SMS fallback, that’s nowhere near as seamless and reliable in practice as it sounds on paper (as I mentioned above).
I feel like that’s more because of a lock-in cycle than because of the actual merits. Most people don’t give a rats arse about quality when it comes to sharing photos, and I don’t see what’s so unique about that other stuff. As for the SMS fallback, that’s nowhere near as seamless and reliable in practice as it sounds on paper (as I mentioned above).
I really liked hangouts, I think if Google decided to fully support it it could kill the messaging fragmentation on Android.Obviously iMessage is pretty much the best messaging platform considering that alone is what seems to keep a majority of users on iOS. That's for good reason with proper SMS fallback and integrated high quality picture/video sharing, animations, drawings, gifs, etc. That said, I've been happy with Hangouts and SMS/RMS for messaging with everyone I need to.
Maybe some day Google will consolidate all of their messaging apps into one though and somewhat compete with iMessage, but that doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight at the moment still.
It was one of the leading reasons why people chose iMessage over other messaging platforms early on. There’s quite a big difference between iMessage video/picture and typical text quality. Even on a sub 6” screen.I don't think they do. Maybe if it's MMS-quality they'll care, but I was thinking iMessage vs other proper messaging platforms. I know that I'm the only one in my family who notices the difference between images shared with Hangouts vs iMessage. The vast majority of images sent via iMessage are only ever viewed on <6" screens by people who aren't as discerning as the average denizen of [H].
If the recipient isn't registered with iMessage, or the sender has no internet connection, then it's seamless. Where problems arise is when the recipient has no internet connection, in which case it's anything but seamless in my experience (unless they've improved that with this latest update) Incdentally, I'm glad to see that the syncing improvements Aurelius mentioned are now in effect. That's made iMessage a whole lot better in my estimation, but the lack of cross-platform support is still a deal breaker for me.
I don't know about watch, but I find iMessage to be less seamless than Hangouts, even across my iOS devices. For example, when you delete a Hangouts thread on one device, every other device will reflect that change. However with iMessage, it's possible to get different devices with different messages appearing (like right now my ipad still shows a thread I deleted from my phone yesterday).
Just the fact that you can see SMS messages on your WiFi iPad is definitely a boon though (not to mention cellular calling)
Another issue I have with iMessage is that, for me, the hand-off between SMS and iMessage is not seamless. The problem arises when the person at the other end does not have data. If you have no internet connection, iMessage knows and sends an SMS. Great. If the other person has no internet connection, iMessage does not seem to be able to determine this (though I've heard people say it can) and messages get stuck in "sending". I can't force my brother to always have data, so iMessage doesn't work so well in such instances. Of course, Hangouts etc. wouldn't work at all in this case, but it's still a pity that the seamless iMessage-SMS switching aspect doesn't work well in practice.
What makes iMessage significantly better than Hangouts, aside from SMS integration (not sure why Google went backwards with this one) and a greater user base?
Hangouts does work pretty well, it's just that no one uses it.
iMessage.
- It handles group texting great.
- Every IOS and Apple device has it installed.
- Lossless picture and video messaging.
- No having to find a messaging app that everyone in your group of friends and family uses and come to an agreement to use that.
- iMessage in the cloud now backs up and syncs all of your messages across all devices.
- And the biggest one, SMS fallback. It blows my mind how google has dropped the ball on this. Hangouts used to have it and it and arguably made it better than iMessage, but in typical google fashion they discontinued the functionality. They decided to change their best messaging app to be a half assed attempt at being like slack.
I guess that's great if you only ever message a minority of all people who have phones. I mean it does fallback to SMS for non-Apple users, but then you're not getting all the features.
Everyone's contact list is different though, I guess. Mine mostly has people on Android devices.
I guess that's great if you only ever message a minority of all people who have phones. I mean it does fallback to SMS for non-Apple users, but then you're not getting all the features.
Everyone's contact list is different though, I guess. Mine mostly has people on Android devices.
Same thing here in Finland. Everyone uses WhatsApp no matter which platform. Never heard anyone using iMessage here.It would be nice if a majority picked a messaging app. I travel to England a lot for work and love how it’s pretty much an unspoken thing that pretty much everyone there uses WhatsApp. I think my biggest thing is I hate having to try and find an app that everyone I talk to uses.
iMessage works the same on Macs. It’s not phone only.
I think Apple would be smart to offer iMessage on other platforms for like a monthly subscription.