[rmadriz]

> Before they start selling chips I would rather they open iMessage to other platforms to eliminate the bubble color discrimination.

Outside of the countries where iOS is on par with Android (I think US, Canada and UK are the only ones, maybe also Australia) in terms of popularity, I don't know or have seen a single person using iMessage, of course there's a lot people using iphone outside of the mentioned countries, but absolutely nobody uses iMessage.

The whole discrimination of the color bubble seems to only happen in those countries were iOS is the same or more popular than android and people is actually using iMessage.

[InvaderFizz]

It's worse than that in the US. While iOS is a bit over 50%, it's closing in on 90% for teens[0], where such discrimination is most likely to occur. These numbers also bode well for Apple's future market share as these teens grow into adults.

0: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-i-phone-ownership-among...

[ChuckNorris89]

It's getting similar in Europe for teens. I rarely see them on public transport with anything other than an iPhone.

[pjmlp]

Go to southern countries or eastern Europe, plenty of teens with Android.

[grishka]

In Russia, people stopped sending each other SMS before smartphones even became mainstream. At the time they were becoming mainstream, ICQ was the instant messaging service to use, and of course there was an unofficial ICQ client for just about anything that had a screen, a keyboard, and a network interface. Also VKontakte, but that was easily accessible via Opera Mini.

Right now 99.9% of those Russians who use the internet can be reached via either VKontakte or Telegram. WhatsApp is also popular, but thankfully not around me so I was able to delete my account and never look back.

[rimliu]

> but absolutely nobody uses iMessage

Uhm, iMessage works transparently. I just use Messages app, if my recipient uses iPhone it get an iMessage, if they use something else, they get SMS.

[mcintyre1994]

Their point is that most people don’t use the Messages app to communicate with others. In the UK for example WhatsApp is massively dominant.

[poetaster]

Ditto. I'm the leper who prefers to not use whatsapp and only get away with it since my partner takes up the slack, so to speak.. Last weekend she and i where bemused by the inability of our 100% APPLE hosts to: 1. Use airprint (worked from my linux phone!!!) 2. Share a file with linux or android (mp3 for a ringtone) 3. Install a ringtone. Breathtaking. I still have my classic. And si. I have more proprietary apple software on diskettes than most geeks I know. But apple tanked long ago. And hardware is cheap. And foss is fun.

[lrem]

I see people using iMessage in a country where iPhone has a whopping 7% market share. And yes,