Do Brits with iPhones use iMessage (blue bubbles)? Or do they just turn it off manually and text with WhatsApp instead?

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AirlineSevere7456@reddit

Even my 80 year old dad uses WhatsApp. Don't know anyone using iMessage these days.

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Dapper-Lab-9285@reddit

I'm on Android and I rarely text people as everyone uses WhatsApp. The only text messages I get are 2FA, delivery updates and spam.

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Alternative-Land5916@reddit

this. only text messages i get are automated.

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LJA0611@reddit

iMessage is just normal texting, just that the colour is blue if you’re texting an iPhone. I don’t think any one cares about the bubble colour, or thinks of iMessage as a separate app to a normal SMS

I would say the vast majority use WhatsApp rather than normal text messaging

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SomeHSomeE@reddit

I don't know anyone who uses iMessage, or any other standard messaging apps. Everything is WhatsApp (and some younger colleagues talk on IG).

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plangant@reddit

About 90% of people I message regularly are on iMessage. Can’t think of a reason I would use WhatsApp over it.

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JasonStonier@reddit

That’s odd. I’ve got probably a hundred people I’m in contact with, and literally one is not on WhatsApp.

The only reason I ever use iMessage is him, and that’s rare because his wife is on WhatsApp so I normally arrange everything with her anyway.

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plangant@reddit

That is strange. I use telegram to speak to my wife. We got used to it. But most of my friends are on iMessage. Don’t use WhatsApp much.

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JasonStonier@reddit

And you’re in the UK? I’m genuinely interested in why there should be such a big difference between us - wonder if it’s an age or demographic thing.

Also - when you say you use telegram to talk to your wife, I’m assuming the Telegram messaging service and not, you know, actual telegrams.

Home six. Stop. Bringing takeaway. Stop. Love you. Stop.

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plangant@reddit

It’s that or pigeon.

Yes, in the UK. I am more over 40 than under it. And I did meet many of my friends working in an Apple Store. So it’s likely that these are very significant factors.

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Yeah, the whole bubble colour discourse isn't a thing over here. Nobody cares if you're an android or iphone user unless you're asking a specific question about the tech (like, how's the camera?). There are some very expensive and swish android phones so the idea that not using an iphone makes one "poor" is just not present here.

99% of my personal conversations are on whatsapp anyway. The rest are signal or facebook messenger (for people in the US and Canada). Work chat is all done through microsoft teams. Actual SMS/RCS is just for reminder messages from restaurants about bookings or the GP about appointments.

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NumeroRyan@reddit

Everyone I know uses iMessage for individual texts if they have an iPhone. For groups it is WhatsApp, people that don’t have and iPhone message via WhatsApp or the like.

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spongyoatmeal@reddit (OP)

Do you have RCS in the UK? We have it in USA/Canada and it allows people to chat android-iPhone individually and in groups.

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Which-World-6533@reddit

Very few people in the UK have heard of RCS messaging. No-one cares. We've had it for a long-time, but I only know that because I work in tech.

The vast majority of people use WhatsApp.

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Embarrassed-Dig-8180@reddit

Never heard of it. It might be a thing, but probably less widely known as Whatsapp is basically the go to for most.

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PeterJamesUK@reddit

It's there on both iOS and Android but it's integrated in the messaging app. I'd bet most people don't know if they're using RCS or SMS most of the time.

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Embarrassed-Dig-8180@reddit

Oh Yeah its just the data texting of course!

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1Moment2Acrobatic@reddit

Yes but it's (I understand) used to improve the traditional SMS that already allowed cross network and cross manufacturer messages since the 90s. People had already mostly stopped using this because WhatsApp handled pictures better and cheeper and is better for groups.

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ashyjay@reddit

We had RCS before most of NA.

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AltruisticFox8763@reddit

Everyone I know uses WhatsApp. I don’t iMessage anybody these days

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Alternative-Day5268@reddit

I use and android, one of my friends has an iPhone and he is the only person, other iPhone friends included, who texts me.

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ApprehensiveRun1382@reddit

95% of the time it’s WhatsApp.

The other 5% I begrudgingly have to use iMessage because it’s all that the person uses.

Choice doesn’t come into it. We have to use what everyone else uses. I don’t care whatever the platform is, but dealing with two different ones can get annoying.

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ZestyMonstera@reddit

I am sure that people with iPhones use iMessage to some extent with other people who have iPhones. However, most people have android phones so WhatsApp is used by most people whether they have android or iPhone.

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spongyoatmeal@reddit (OP)

Do you have RCS in the UK? We have it in USA/Canada and it allows people to chat android-iPhone individually and in groups.

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JBEqualizer@reddit

RCS started being used in the UK back in 2012/13

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JibberJim@reddit

I don't know anyone (well I'm sure I do, but no-one who I've ever discussed it with, and none of the many iphone users I communicate with via the medium) who uses iMessage for anything but SMS's - ie only send to an individual via their phone number when they don't have any other contact details or they don't have an internet connection for some reason.

RCS exists, I don't know anyone who uses it, but I'm sure some do, but I expect it's below Telegram/Signal/Snap etc. other than inadvertadently when thinking you're sending an SMS.

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zombiezmaj@reddit

Yes you just enable it in settings on either iPhone or Android... UK and France were actually first countries to have RCS

But I dont know anyone who uses it. Everyone uses WhatsApp.

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mrbezlington@reddit

We do, but messaging habits that formed while it didn't exist are hard to break. Nobody really cares one way or another - but WhatsApp is where all the group chats are at from the days before RCS, so that's where people go to chat.

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ZestyMonstera@reddit

We do but I never use it, WhatsApp is default. I think I actually turned it off on my phone because it sends from an account rather than your phone number.

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MrDavieT@reddit

I think you’ve maybe misunderstood.

Users with Android cannot use iMessage, which is a LOT of Asia.

Users with iPhones will use iMessage 99.9% of the time

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Apprehensive_Ring666@reddit

iMessage is just seen as good old fashioned texting. If your bubble is blue, it just means you’re texting on an iPhone, tbh. We would rarely say “send me your number so I can iMessage you” - that would feel very American to me. We would say “send me your number so I can text you / add you to WhatsApp”

It is still understood as a text even though it is a similar WiFi tool like WhatsApp.

Weird, but yeah. I’m pretty into my tech but we don’t seem to align our identity to tech as much as USA.

To add another layer on top, being younger we definitely know about iMessage games.

Depends on the social circle and your family too.

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stm2657@reddit

I use both depending on the other party and what they want

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Sudden_Accountant762@reddit

I just use text messages. Sometimes it sends as iMessage, sometimes it sends as SMS. They’re all free and work the same, so it’s not something I ever even think about.

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spongyoatmeal@reddit (OP)

RCS is supposed to be an upgrade on SMS. They are adding standards and features to make it equivalent to iMessage or WhatsApp so maybe worth a try. Plus SMS isn’t encrypted it RCS is

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Butterfly-Flower4884@reddit

Why is being anti american a bad thing

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franki-pinks@reddit

I just use WhatsApp for everything

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RainbowPenguin1000@reddit

I don’t know anyone under 60 who uses messages anymore be that iMessage or the android equivalent. Everyone uses WhatsApp.

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AnneKnightley@reddit

Whatsapp for everyone except family (since I’ve been texting them before whatsapp became popular).

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chimblemaker@reddit

I use mostly WhatsApp. I have friends and family with Android phones that seems to be the default option. Apart from that I have no issues with iMessage functionality.

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Capital-Doughnut-390@reddit

Always WhatsApp, same with most people I know.

Getting an iMessage is usually spam or a delivery notification.

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