this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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Apple

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (6 children)

i really just do not get it, nor the fascination with it here of all places-- for a community that's so focused and energized by FOSS and FOSS platforms and FOSS projects, why does this community want to break into Apple's closed-source, walled-garden, proprietary ecosystem so badly, especially after maligning it every chance you people get? Practically every post about Apple here just trashes Apple for how terrible they are for being closed-source and proprietary with their ecosystem-- except when it comes to iMessage and their precious "blue bubbles" which, apparently, nobody can live without and must be accessed at all costs.

why not just make your own FOSS "blue bubble" chat app, but with blackjack and hookers that doesn't use Apple's servers or ecosystem? Why is iMessage the one white whale that the Android community (and people here on Lemmy) simply can't seem to get over?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The best argument I’ve heard is that it is the one halfway decent messaging app that a lot of non-tech people use.

So either you need to explain to grandma what a discord or telegram is or you get iMessage to work on the device you want to use.

The green bubble thing is also more than just the color of the bubbles. Many of the features of iMessage don’t work if the other person is on android.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

ok, i get that android users want to use iMessage, but that seems fundamentally incompatible (or at least paradoxical) with the constant Apple-hate and closed-source-hate that is rampant here and with android users in general.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I don't want to use iMessage but I'm almost tired enough of 12 kb pictures and insanely poor quality videos from iPhones to try it.

A big part of the problem is that no other options for SMS/MMS even exist on iOS, so all those communications default to iMessage (and it's fairly terrible at some of it.)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

I find myself thinking the same thing every time this comes up. The level of obsession is absurd.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I can tell all my friends to use the open source replacement, but network effects entrench a monopoly and Grandma is only going to use the stuff that’s preinstalled.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

if your argument is that FOSS alternative aren't worth pursuing because it's difficult, that's not a great argument. if i had to choose fighting a stubborn grandma or Apple's lawyer's, i'd choose the stubborn grandma-- but i've never met your grandma, lol!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I’m not going to be the guy harassing all my friends to go on Signal. Get real.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

For years me and my friends have a number of group chats in iMessage, and about a year ago someone started hanging with our crew who has an android. I suggested signal and was pleasantly surprised how much support I got in the suggestion, both from the iPhone users dreading going green and from the android user worried about being left out. A couple people even already had it even though they didn’t use it, just tried it out after reading an article etc. anyway fast forward to now and all our group chats are in signal, and it’s been great. It’s a fantastic app, the transition was as simple as sending an invite link to the iMessage chat. We even use the stories function now and again. It’s great, I recommend giving it a try :)

I had less luck trying to get my family to switch to signal when we went green, but there’s a lot more tech-challenged people in that group. However most already had what’s app for international use, and moving to that was super easy - i would still prefer signal over giving my contacts list to meta, but the chats and backups are e2e so I’ll take it over sms/unencrypted rcs

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Cool, make me a fusion reactor. It’s hard but can be done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

because discussing a chat app with your friends and building a fusion reactor are totally the same.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But but but blue bubbles.

Which I also don't understand how that of all things is so super important, frankly I hadn't even really noticed it back when I had an iPhone.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Fine, you are not personally affected by it, but the social disparity that is highlighted by people's need to feel exclusive and yet part of a tribe is the reason.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

That’s like complaining about not having any other premium branded item out there. If your not doing so filters people out of your life, well you just did yourself a favor.

Who gives a shit? It’s text messaging. These people need to go outside or something.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I don't disagree, just explaining it, and recognising it is the sub 25 year old age bracket explains a lot.