[woojoo666]

If this is all there is I don't see what makes iMessage _really good_ like the top comment emphasized. Comparing iMessage with FB Messenger (my main messenger) on the points you described:

1. Seems a bit subjective, I tend to dislike carousels

2. I guess I haven't used memoji to fairly compare this, but when it comes to stickers I liked FB messenger's offering more

3. Messenger does this as well, with balloons instead of confetti iirc

4. Dynamic Islands requires iPhone 14 right? Seems like less of an iMessage feature and more of an iPhone 14 feature. As for Siri integration, I don't use Google Assistant much but I believe it can also reply on whatsapp/messenger, you just have to specify "WhatsApp" or "Messenger" in the command

5. When it comes to animations and other small UI quirks, a lot of it is subjective. I prefer Messenger's UI over iMessage, but probably because I'm used to it

[cafed00d]

1. Given that you agree this is subjective, it follows pretty indisputably that this feature qualifies as “really good”. Perhaps your pov on disliking carousels is a negligible outlier in the population of people who consider iMessage “really good” :)

2. 3. Sure. But nobody using iPhone to take group pictures is going to share it on FB messenger instead of WhatsApp or iMessage. I mean, the only reason we _don’t_ share on WhatsApp is the loss of quality and tight integration into iOS. There’s a million better Photo Album apps on iPhone. Everybody’s is definitely using the built in app more than anything else. Similarly, everybodys _prefers_ to use the “really good” feature of iMessage of being built into iOS.

One would say Messenger is at feature parity with iMessage. But those people tend to be people who say stickers on messenger are similar to Memoji on iMessage. Talk to one the user experience designers and they’ll pick out a 100 differences.

4. Yup sure does. But that’s the point. Did I say Dynamic Island? Oh, sorry, I meant the new LIDAR sensor on iPhone 12 Pro which takes better portrait mode photos at night. Oh, sorry, did I say LiDAR sensor on iPhone 12 Pro; I meant the new ultra wide lens on the iPhone 11 which takes better photos with the bokeh effect. Oh sorry did I say iPhone 11 Pro? I meant.. ultimately, as soon as a new hardware feature comes out the first messaging app that supports it is iMessage. So sharing software artifacts of that hardware (photos, Animoji, Memoji whatever) is always going to be “lossless” when done using iMessage. The real feature is: preserving iPhone users’ ability to share iPhone features with other iPhone users.

5. Sure

[woojoo666]

But when the experience is so close and subjective, surely it's not worth greatly degrading the experience of your Android friends over? Why not just use a messenger that everybody can use

[cafed00d]

Sure. That’s exactly what everybody who have an Android friend do. They use WhatsApp, or messenger or whatever else. And yes, it’s _an_ Android friend; singular; always that one guy.

Doesn’t take away from the delightful features on iMessage though :-)

The people complaining about iMessage vs. Android green bubbles are going to go the way of Betamax vs VHS. Or blu-ray vs HDDVD. We’re all going to die and our children’s children will fight over something new vs some other thing new.