Reminder that Apple uses a technology literally invented in 1984 to brainwash their users into thinking anyone using a non-Apple device is poor.
This lie is rampant and reinforced by the billionaire CEO of Apple, the richest company to ever exist.
Apple intentionally makes their devices bad at communicating with other devices because it means kids without Apple devices might get bullied into giving Apple more money. Apple knows this, and plays into it.
@cassidy I am an Apple fan, but your comments are spot-on. In many ways they are innovative, but in other ways their policies are infuriating. I am frustrated that my old (but perfectly usable) MacBook Pro is no longer eligible for OS upgrades. Also, Apple claims to be eco-friendly, but they make it very difficult to replair or upgrade their products, leading to mountains of e-waste. Greed is definitely at play.
And iMessage was always designed to be a pain point to force families to spend more than they needed.
a. As early as 2013, Apple
b. Mr. Cue testified that Apple "could have made a version on Android that worked with iOS" such that there would "have been cross-compatibility with the iOS platform so that users of both platforms would have been able to exchange messages with one another seamlessly". (Cue Dep. 92:5-9; 92:11-16.)
c. However, Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering and the executive in charge of iOS, feared that "iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones". (PX407, at '122.)
Meanwhile, outside of the Apple bubble, $2k Samsung phones more powerful than most computers with 10× periscope optical zoom lenses and 7" folding screens can send 4K HDR video to a $50 Nokia burner phone, and it works fine on both sides. The burner phone can give that video a 👍 and see when the other person is typing. And their whole conversation is end-to-end encrypted, even if they create a new group with a third person who has a midrange Google phone.
Today I had an iPhone user send me a video and the format was just hilariously broken, like I haven’t seen from an Android user in a decade. Actively worse than even a normal MMS video!
Apple still pillboxes vertical video inside a 320×240 pixel file, and sends that. This is not even a limitation of MMS or Android—it is Apple intentionally sabotaging your video when you send it.
Remember this when you praise Apple for interoperating with other companies—and remember the only reason iPhone will use USB-C is because Apple was forced to by European legislation.
@evolved_robonaut I mean, my goal is not to be “anti-Apple,” but to be based in reality. The richest company on the planet has successfully convinced their users of things that are just 100% incorrect—it’s healthy to combat that IMHO.
@cassidy I would agree! I can't imagine using an iphone myself for a lot of the reasons you mentioned. (Not that Google is much better these days, but I digrese)
@cassidy The most galling aspect of this whole ridiculous "blue bubble" phenomenon, now Apple is purposing delivering a less secure messaging experience to their paying customers. That when a conversation falls back on SMS instead of RCS, the user loses encryption.
Apple customers are always the first hurt by Apple business practices, but the marketing department is REALLY good at blaming the competition for Apple's greedy decisions.
@ti@SomeGadgetGuy RCS is an open standard. The Signal protocol that Google's Messages app uses is an open standard. If Apple cared about messaging security, they could work together—they've done it before with COVID exposure notifications and Bluetooth tracker alerts. But Apple refuses.
Google is also actively working on e2ee interoperability w/other messaging apps using the Message Layer Security spec (IETF RFC 9420).
They've been working—and delivering—on their promises here. Apple has not.
@cassidy And my family thinks _we're _ the weirdos for using Android and not being able to see their chat properly. They can't accept that they bought into an exclusionary ecosystem designed to make others feel left out... and they're feeding into that "you should feel left out" story.
@amd SMS. Apple iMessage falls back to SMS if the recipient is not using an Apple device, which sends your message entirely unencrypted and doesn’t support any of the nice features that every Android phone supports these days, like typing indicators, high quality photos and video, reactions, and encryption.
@cassidy@amd in Ukraine, SMS is only ever used to send marketing spam, or verification codes. But that's kinda historical — even now, our tariffs offer limited number of SMS/month. Basically, Viber is the new SMS in Ukraine, despite being total garbage. And Telegram is very close second — especially after the war broke out, as many joined for official air raid alert channels, and low connectivity requirements (worked in a basement). Nobody really uses iMessage or RCS, AFAIK.
@cassidy I do not want to defend iMessage or anything but RCS in Europe is the worst. It doesn't even work for every carrier. And if it works, it is wonky - couldn't register my number in 20 attempts and then after a month or so it registered on its own. And when it registered I had literally no one to 'chat' with. Only SMS.
@cassidy And because they market themselves as the exceptional altruistic corporation, they have a fan base that sees their Apple purchase as both a luxury fashion item and as an object of virtue. Just such a shitty combination.
@cassidy How are you feeling about shilling so hard for google’s ad campaign about this whole thing?
If RCS was that great, why hasn’t Google released their messaging app for iOS yet?
@cassidy thanks for this post - I kept noticing my texts from IOS to android won't send. I get an alert, i have to click multi times, media no goes. thanks again for calling hot garbage #HotGarbage
@sesivany I mean it’s about 50% in the US, but even so it is really segmented by family/friend groups in my experience. I know literally three people I occasionally talk to who have iPhones. The vast majority of folks around me have Android phones, and we’re living in a nice RCS future until one of the iPhones joins a group text. 😅
Apple have just successfully reverse-green-bubbled themselves for tons of people by belligerently continuing to use the 80s and 90s messaging stack.
@cassidy Here online communications are centered around platform agnostic services such as Messenger, WhatsApp, or Telegram. Maybe some iPhone-only communities use iMessage, but the standard is to use iMessage/SMS app as a fallback if the other person is not on services mentioned above.
Those services have their downsides, but at least they're more inclusive than iMessage.
@sesivany yeah, I’m also burnt out on third party messaging services so will always just default to texting (RCS/SMS) if possible. I don’t really want an app from Facebook or a Russian tech company always running in the background on my phone…
The one exception for me is Signal, but even so, if the person on the other end is on Android, I get end-to-end encryption with the app that just comes with our phones. So it is basically my messaging app for iPhone users.
I proudly use half-broken random stuff I pull out of rubbish bins and refurbish myself as a badge of honour that I feel places me in a position where I'd be justified in bullying Apple people, if I wanted.
@cassidy Well said! Apple devices are such a style accessory nowadays, just like big-brand clothes, and it's easy to feel superior to others if you have one.
Add comment