[esolyt]

> iMessage still feels leagues above how SMS and texting works on andriod

iMessage is a messaging app that uses internet. It should be compared to WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, WeChat, FB Messenger.

It doesn't make sense to compare iMessage to SMS. Because nobody uses SMS as their main communication method. The only people who ever use SMS are iPhone users when they text Android users.

All this confusion comes from the fact that Apple merged their messaging app with the SMS app. This creates the illusion that iMessaging isn't just a messaging app but it is actually something built on top of SMS. It's just a messaging app that is not cross-platform.

> I don't want to go through other means to simply shoot my friend a quick video of something.

By "other means", do you mean installing a new messaging app? I'm guessing this isn't about the effort of downloading an app but rather it's about getting used to a new app and convincing your friends to switch to it.

[OkGoDoIt]

“convincing your friends to switch to it” is the real issue. Or remembering which platform various friends use and keeping that straight. And when you have multiple friends who prefer different platforms, figuring out the intersection of messaging platforms that they all use. Or when you have a friend on Facebook messenger but you don’t know their phone number, or a friend who can’t have WeChat installed on their corporate phone, or any number of other situations.