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There’s a new iMessage for Android app — and it actually works (www.theverge.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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• A new Android app called Beeper Mini allows users to send iMessages as blue bubbles from non-Apple devices.

• Beeper Mini bypasses traditional iMessage hacks by directly sending iMessages from Android devices.

• The app has been praised for its smooth functionality, sending messages seamlessly between Android and iPhone users.

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[–] 10 points 2 years ago (6 children)

The fact that people are using iMessage for group chats is which a weird concept to me.

That’s what discord, WhatsApp and Facebook messenger are for.

If anyone adds my primary text message service number to a group chat they are being blocked. Gross.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Facebook Messenger? Dawg... That shit will cripple your phone

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    can you elaborate?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    https://www.androidpolice.com/messenger-wasting-battery-background-tests/

    https://www.lifewire.com/how-facebook-messenger-apps-drains-battery-3880043

    The app is constantly doing shit in the background (god knows what. You give permission to access your shit when you install it) to the point where there is significant noticeable battery drain. No thanks.

    Now, maybe they've fixed that issue since, but we know that the "fix" would be focused on hiding it better rather than stopping the activity.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    1. It's primarily not an active choice. For most iPhone users, it's just what's installed, so it's what they use. The idea that there might be other options doesn't really occur to them; iMessage came out before any of the other options really became popular, it worked well enough, and it was preinstalled, so that's what people learned to use.

    2. I don't know what sort of people you are getting into group chats with, but for me it's not exactly people I can just decide to block on a whim. Family groups, employer groups, friends I was already friends with and would lose contact with if I blocked. I'm not going to torpedo my job and all of those relationships by making a big deal over what messaging service we use, even if their use of iMessage makes my experience worse.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I wouldn’t block them, but I’d be leaving the group chat.

    As if i want my default sms texting app to be getting spammed by a big group chat.

    Also the default at least here in Australia is pretty much Facebook messenger or maybe WhatsApp not because anyone likes it, but because everyone already has a Facebook account even if they don’t use it much.

    Also it means you can easily have group chats with people who you need to communicate with but you don’t really want to have your number.

    What a ridiculous notion to be using a platform specific service for a group chat, unless you are deciding your friends group or work colleagues based on the phone they use which again seems unfathomable.

    I am an iPhone user, in Australia and i have seen precisely zero iMessage chat groups even attempt to be created. Because everyone knows it’s a shitty pain in the ass service if someone doesn’t have an iPhone.

    We all blame apple for that as we should not the android user. How it ended up inverted in the US is beyond me but it’s backwards af.

    This whole thing is a non issue being caused by lack of thought and logic of the users apparently almost exclusively in the USA

    Personally i wish the default here was discord or signal but messenger is still far better than iMessage at least from a cross platform usability standpoint.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    I wouldn’t block them, but I’d be leaving the group chat.

    That still means losing out on a lot of general life stuff. Just, overall.

    As if i want my default sms texting app to be getting spammed by a big group chat.

    I guess I don't see how that's made any different by the group chat being in a different app. I can turn notifications off or make them silent in either case.

    Also the default at least here in Australia is pretty much Facebook messenger or maybe WhatsApp not because anyone likes it, but because everyone already has a Facebook account even if they don’t use it much.

    Right. But everyone who has a phone has a phone number for texting.

    Also it means you can easily have group chats with people who you need to communicate with but you don’t really want to have your number.

    Yep, that's definitely an advantage. I'm not trying to sell you on SMS or iMessage, I'm just trying to explain why it's popular over here.

    What a ridiculous notion to be using a platform specific service for a group chat, unless you are deciding your friends group or work colleagues based on the phone they use which again seems unfathomable.

    Uh...wait. I don't see how that's different from Facebook or WhatsApp. Especially since iMessage does send messages to users on other devices, it's just a worse experience for the recipient. Meta is still a platform, it's just one you access by way of a username connected to your web activity instead of one you access by way of purchasing a specific device.

    I am an iPhone user, in Australia and i have seen precisely zero iMessage chat groups even attempt to be created. Because everyone knows it’s a shitty pain in the ass service if someone doesn’t have an iPhone.

    I'm glad people are so aware over there, but over here it's very uncommon for people to even be conscious of what phones their friends use. So an app that works well enough, as far as they can tell, is going to be the accepted default.

    We all blame apple for that as we should not the android user. How it ended up inverted in the US is beyond me but it’s backwards af.

    Because marketing.

    This whole thing is a non issue being caused by lack of thought and logic of the users apparently almost exclusively in the USA

    No, it's caused intentionally by Apple. They spent billions of dollars cultivating that perception in America, and it's paid off for them.

    Personally i wish the default here was discord or signal but messenger is still far better than iMessage at least from a cross platform usability standpoint.

    Yeah, and I wish the default here was pretty much anything else too. Like I said, I'm not trying to convince you. Just explaining the situation.

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