[Salgat]

It's an obvious abuse of their monopoly to suppress competition. Most kids use iPhone and for the general public in the US iPhone has >50% market share, so to expect most people to stop using iMessage to get better support with Android users is not happening, and it's silly to think that will change without a change in laws, so most kids end up getting iPhones so they're not left out.

Remember, this is all a very arbitrary restriction by Apple that lets them take advantage of their monopoly to suppress sales of competitive products. That's the illegal part.

[insaneirish]

> It's an obvious abuse of their monopoly to suppress competition.

Apple has a monopoly on what, exactly?

Let me answer. Apple has a monopoly on iPhones.

Just like Chevy has a monopoly on Corvettes and Ford has a monopoly on Mustangs.

> Remember, this is all a very arbitrary restriction by Apple

What are they restricting? I am still unclear. Their choosing not to do something is not restricting anything.

> that lets them take advantage of their monopoly to suppress sales of competitive products.

And we're right again back to them having a monopoly on iPhones.

[whelp_24]

You ever notice you can -use tires from arbitrary manufacturers -use oil from arbitrary manufacturers -drive to arbitrary locations (even offroad in your Corvette) -use nearly arbitrary accessories -use a universal port to get error codes (OBD-II) -make modifications and keep your warranty on unrelated parts

Ask yourself, would MacOs have all of the restrictions an iPhone has? If not even Macbooks block installation of 3rd party applications, why does it change when you add a cell radio?

Honestly,if someone were being paid to change public opinion around the case, this is what i would expect to read. Don't fall for Apple's marketing

[insaneirish]

> -use tires from arbitrary manufacturers

Just like I can put cases from arbitrary manufacturers on my iPhone.

> -use oil from arbitrary manufacturers

Just like I can use chargers from arbitrary manufacturers.

> -drive to arbitrary locations

Visit arbitrary websites...

> -use a universal port to get error codes (OBD-II)

OBD-II is actually a good analogy because it exposes only a small set of standardized data, but the more interesting data (and ability to run diagnostics) is sometimes behind a manufacturer proprietary protocol and requires something more than just the standard OBD-II interface. Similarly Apple can choose what standard interfaces and protocols to implement and which proprietary ones they would like to create.

> why does it change when you add a cell radio?

Because that's what Apple chose to build and sell. You're free to build your own phone with your own feature set and sell that.

> Don't fall for Apple's marketing

Fortunately I'm capable of my own rational thought.

[gms]

2.6 billion WhatsApp users exist. All switched from native SMS to a third-party app (WhatsApp). Clearly this expectation is fine.

[Salgat]

Part of that is that outside the US, iPhone isn't as dominant in the market, so their anticompetitive tactics don't work as well.

[gms]

Nobody uses iMessage outside the US, by choice, even in iPhone-dominated markets. So clearly it's possible to avoid it. US iPhone users have the same choice.

[Salgat]

Do you have an example of a place that has a similar rate of usage for iPhones but primarily uses WhatsApp for texting? In the US the rate is 87% for teenagers, I'm surprised it's that high elsewhere.

[nroets]

Bear in mind that WhatsApp adoption is often driven by the costs involved with SMS especially when sending to an international number.

WhatsApp also enable free international voip calls.

[gms]

iMessage and FaceTime Audio are also free.

[sirn]

iPhone has 51% market share in Japan across all age group[1] (and even as high as 84.8% in some demographic[2]). From my 5 years of living here, I’ve never seen anyone use iMessage even once. The dominant messaging app is LINE.

[1]: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP51933524

[2]: https://japantoday.com/category/tech/study-shows-iphone-the-...

[Salgat]

Seems like LINE became the predominant app way back in 2012 (it released even before iMessage did in 2011), so my guess is that it took hold before iMessage ever had a chance, unlike in the US where texting was always the main way to communicate on phones up until iMessage integrated texting to absorb all those users.

[gms]

I don’t as I don’t know the numbers, but note also the US is a rich country.