iMessage with Android? Thinking of switching from Apple, but...

[steelguitar]

I feel like I'm finally ready to make the jump from the iOS to Android. I want the Galaxy S4. I'm a current iPhone 5 user, but I've also owned the 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S. The only thing holding me back at the moment is that most of my family/friends have iPhones so I'm worried about no longer being able to group chat with them.

Is there anyway that I can still group chat with iPhone users that are using iMessage, without having my texts to the group chat appear on each person's phone in a separate window?

 

[SpookDroid]

iMessage, of course, is not available for Android. The only way I can think of is for you and your contacts to use a similar, cross-platform app like Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger. Given the popularity of the first and the ubiquity of the latter, I think your contacts might already have these anyway.

If you do make the switch, make sure you turn off your iMessage account! Otherwise, when you change phones, your contacts will still 'think' your number is assigned to an iMessage account and SMS texts won't go through (and your contacts won't be notified of the failed delivery either).

 

[friedtators]

Check out whatsapp

 

[Farish]

I feel like I'm finally ready to make the jump from the iOS to Android. I want the Galaxy S4. I'm a current iPhone 5 user, but I've also owned the 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S. The only thing holding me back at the moment is that most of my family/friends have iPhones so I'm worried about no longer being able to group chat with them.

Is there anyway that I can still group chat with iPhone users that are using iMessage, without having my texts to the group chat appear on each person's phone in a separate window?

No I don't believe so and iMessage is the only thing I missed coming from Apple, but that has nothing to do with group chat.

 

[raziel]

Only the people who matter will make the 1 minute effort to install WhatsApp or alternative chat apps if you switch to Android. iMessage isn't really anything that will be missed. A majority of my friends have iPhones but they have both these apps as well. The challenge is to try to get people to use HangOuts more

 

[Ry]

I feel like I'm finally ready to make the jump from the iOS to Android. I want the Galaxy S4. I'm a current iPhone 5 user, but I've also owned the 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S. The only thing holding me back at the moment is that most of my family/friends have iPhones so I'm worried about no longer being able to group chat with them.

Is there anyway that I can still group chat with iPhone users that are using iMessage, without having my texts to the group chat appear on each person's phone in a separate window?

The Galaxy S4 should be able to group messaging fine (via MMS). Any group texts involving you with your iPhone friends will no longer route through iMessage (blue).

Also - make sure you disable iMessage on all of your Apple devices before switching to Android.

 

[planoman]

iMessage is really one of the platforms for iOS that has no equal in my opinion. It works well and figures out if it is a iMessage or a text based on who the message is going to. It is simple, effective and quite frankly android has nothing of it's caliber to send pictures or even video. But of course since iMessage is a native part of iOS, I am not certain Android has nothing like it. If it is really a big deal for you, you may not want to come to android. I have an iPhone 5 also and really like iMessage since my mother, sisters and older daughter all use iPhones and or iPads or iPod touches for my young kids.

 

[steelguitar]

I know that I can't get iMessage on my Android, but I guess what I'm trying to ask is if I will still be able to have group chats with people who have iPhones? Will my texts still show up in the group chat window, or will they be sent separately since they are using iOS and I'm not?

 

[planoman]

I know that I can't get iMessage on my Android, but I guess what I'm trying to ask is if I will still be able to have group chats with people who have iPhones? Will my texts still show up in the group chat window, or will they be sent separately since they are using iOS and I'm not?

You can do a group chat and I do it often with iPhones. I think they show up in a chat window. I am trying to visualize it but am drawing a blank. I think each text has the number it is coming from or something like that. But you can definitely do a group chat.

 

[jschu22]

I'm pretty sure all of the iPhone users you SMS in a group chat will receive your reply in a separate conversation. The loss of iMessage, as silly as it sounds to some, has been one of the two huge misses I have of iOS. For the record, the other is Samsung's horrible implementation of meeting invites.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[chris2k5]

Don't let anyone fool you. iMessage is amazing and is a HUGE advantage Apple holds over any Android device.
The speed of the messages and how you can send full sized images/video is unparalleled.

Not to mention literally everyone has an iPhone now a days so it is so darn popular. If they don't have an iPhone, they have an iMessage enabled Macbook Pro, Air, iPod, iPad, etc.

iMessage and iCloud are what keep me coming back to Apple always. I'm just stuck with an S4 for a while.

 

[Farish]

Don't let anyone fool you. iMessage is amazing and is a HUGE advantage Apple holds over any Android device.
The speed of the messages and how you can send full sized images/video is unparalleled.

Not to mention literally everyone has an iPhone now a days so it is so darn popular. If they don't have an iPhone, they have an iMessage enabled Macbook Pro, Air, iPod, iPad, etc.

iMessage and iCloud are what keep me coming back to Apple always. I'm just stuck with an S4 for a while.

Only thing I miss is the fact a person can send me a text to my phone and it would show up on my iMac and iPad with no extra implementation or work. I have tried Mightytext and other similar apps for something close to that but nothing to that extent yet. I hope when Google Hangouts finishes out their planned features, it is just as good.

 

[fantom305]

Check out whatsapp

Whatsapp is a real time messanger. I use it and I am happy with it.

 

[Edge1978]

There is a group chat option on the stock messenging app for the SGS4. Most of my family has iPhones. It works great. Love it

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mrkalel]

When it boils down to it... iMessage and FaceTime are AMAZING features that I Pray everyday would move to other platforms. I can never see myself using iOS as a full time OS..but damn I love those 2 features.

 

[nata_panya]

Hello

Might be worth checking out Kakao Talk. It's a free cross platform chat app (with group chat available) AND FREE calls. Sound quality of calls is also very good.

Can do much more as well - send photos, etc.

Over 50 million downloads and 4.4 star rating.

 

[Ry]

Don't let anyone fool you. iMessage is amazing and is a HUGE advantage Apple holds over any Android device.
The speed of the messages and how you can send full sized images/video is unparalleled.

Not to mention literally everyone has an iPhone now a days so it is so darn popular. If they don't have an iPhone, they have an iMessage enabled Macbook Pro, Air, iPod, iPad, etc.

iMessage and iCloud are what keep me coming back to Apple always. I'm just stuck with an S4 for a while.

Just wanted to clarify that you can't send "full-sized" video. Every time I've seen a long video get sent via iMessage (iPhone to iPhone), there is a noticeable drop in quality.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[procol]

Hello

Might be worth checking out Kakao Talk. It's a free cross platform chat app (with group chat available) AND FREE calls. Sound quality of calls is also very good.

Can do much more as well - send photos, etc.

Over 50 million downloads and 4.4 star rating.

Kakao Talk is a good option if you can convince the others to join. Its working quality and features are top-notch but its PC version is still in beta. It means you can't expect the same experience with iMessage.

I used to use iMessage because I have MBP and my wife use iPhone too. After switching to GS4 from iPhone, as an alternative for iMessage, I started to use Line. Just like Kakao Talk, Line has apps for almost all mobile OS such as Android, iOS, BB, WP, etc. and it also has both PC(Windows) version client and Mac client.

If you want the seamless messaging between mobile and notebook just like you did with OSX machines and iOS devices, Line would be the only good option as far as I know. Still convincing the others to use Line would be the obstacle at first.

 

[chirag05]

If so is the case I would advise you to stick to the iPhone since your family n friends r on imessage. Even if imessage comes to Android which is highly unlikely it will take a lot of time. What better for you is to wait for iPhone 5s if you want an upgrade.

Sent from my GSIII

 

[robjulo]

If so is the case I would advise you to stick to the iPhone since your family n friends r on imessage. Even if imessage comes to Android which is highly unlikely it will take a lot of time. What better for you is to wait for iPhone 5s if you want an upgrade.

Sent from my GSIII

In my testing, the S4 can do group messaging via MMS and there is no loss of functionality. The iPhone will see the S4 message as a group message with all members in the text. A group message sent from an iPhone will not go through as an imessage unless all of the recipients are imessage users, instead it simply goes through as a group MMS text and the S4 will see all members. You can test this from an iphone, as soon as you add someone to the group message that is not an imessage recipient, the text box changes color.