[asclepi]

> Nobody was going to switch to an entirely different mode of communication just for my sake

Please elaborate. No iPhone user has to switch from the "iMessage" app to the "SMS" app to reach an Android user or include an Android user in a group chat. While it does indeed involve a different mode of communication, it's all handled seamlessly in the background from the same app.

In fact, if it wasn't for the coloring, they wouldn't even have noticed, except if you exchanged other data than pure text, but I can't imagine this being a real deal-breaker for planning?

Note how the Twitter OP also explained how they were texting the Android student from iOS until they decided to abandon him and create a new group. Not because they had to switch to another app to reach him, but "because he was on Android and turned the thread green" (sic).

[Gaelan]

If you start an SMS (MMS?) group chat with >10 people, any AT&T customers (and possibly others—I'm not sure) attempting to reply will end up replying to 10 arbitrary members, leading to a huge pile of separate chats, each missing a few people. Even under 10 people, SMS/MMS group chats don't support features like adding/removing group members, among others. It's a substantially worse UX.

[jdminhbg]

> In fact, if it wasn't for the coloring, they wouldn't even have noticed, except if you exchanged other data than pure text, but I can't imagine this being a real deal-breaker for planning?

People very frequently exchange data other than pure text when event planning: GIFs, map pins, tapbacks to express [dis]agreement, etc.

[jjeaff]

I get gifs and likes just fine on my Android from iMessage groups I am in. I can't tell anything is missing.

[mandelbrotwurst]

We can't _send_ the tapbacks though

[jjeaff]

Seems to work fine. I get gifs and "likes" off messages all the time.

[jdminhbg]

The likes being sent as separate message completely defeats the point of the tapback, which is to register a reaction without spamming the screen with extra messages.

[jancsika]

From that same twitter thread:

> The SMS protocol makes "tap backs" and stickers and other stuff work differently (and worse).

[lotsofpulp]

>In fact, if it wasn't for the coloring, they wouldn't even have noticed

I have. MMS always has problems, and can result in extra charges from mobile network if it’s an international number. iMessage or whatsapp gives me confidence that it’s using data only and I won’t experience any charges, I can use it via WiFi without a mobile network, it’s not tied to my phone number for when I leave the country and change SIM, and delivery of messages is confirmed.

I also prefer iMessage due to Apple’s stances on privacy, and integration with macOS.

[saagarjha]

> In fact, if it wasn't for the coloring, they wouldn't even have noticed, except if you exchanged other data than pure text, but I can't imagine this being a real deal-breaker for planning?

There are a number of things that iMessage does that SMS doesn’t support.

[grawprog]

>Not because they had to switch to another app to reach him, but "because he was on Android and turned the thread green" (sic).

That's a sneaky odd bit of social engineering. Wonder how many iphone sales they've actually gotten because of this.

[asclepi]

83% of US teens have an iPhone according to Piper Jaffray in April 2019 [1].

That number is biased, however, as 1) it's solely based on a survey done in high schools, and not every teen will feel comfortable admitting they have something else than an iPhone 2) the surveys are performed by DECA Inc. which is more affiliated with private schools and public high schools in affluent neighborhoods.

Still, I estimate that about 3 in 4 teens (and increasing) have an iPhone, either new or a model that was previously used by a parent who bought a new one. That's huge, and iMessage plays a very big role in that.

[1] https://www.ped30.com/2019/04/08/apple-piper-jaffray-genz/

[rootusrootus]

I can't speak for anyone else, but my kids are likely to end up with iPhones at some point (the oldest is 9, so not anytime soon) because Apple's child/family controls for iOS, while far from perfect, are miles ahead of anything I can find on any Android devices. So now they have iPads, and the ecosystem just works for us so it will be natural for them to stay within it when they graduate to phones.

[viraptor]

What's available in iOS but not Android? From my experience they're pretty close, but I may be missing something.

[rootusrootus]

Purchase controls for TV, movies, apps, etc, which all actually work, screen time controls, time-of-day control, web site limits, etc. Along with reporting functionality and integration with parents' phones for ad hoc approvals and time extensions.

I haven't found anything on Android that allowed me age-appropriate fine-grain controls that didn't require exceptions like turning the entire rule off just to allow a single purchase, or having the same functionality controlled in two or three different overlapping spots, etc.

If you really want to see how bad it can possibly get, take a peek at Amazon's Fire Tablet parental controls. Those take the cake for opaque settings that sometimes do what they say, sometimes much more, sometimes nothing.

[tomatocracy]

The most infuriating thing about Android/Google Play from this perspective is that there's no way to prevent a child from installing literally any and every free app which has the lowest rating.

On iOS you can disable installing apps, uninstalling apps, updating apps or disable the app store completely using Screen Time and before that you could (and still can) require a password/fingerprint/face ID for any app install including free.

It would take almost no effort from Google's part to replicate the last of these (add an option requiring a password to install any app, even free with lowest rating) but they seem to be unwilling to do so.

[Mirioron]

What are the numbers like in the rest of the world though?