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

[dch176]

No doubt iMessage kicked everything else in the a$$ real bad. In fact, I am really considering moving back to iPhone because my S4's text messaging is so antique.

There's no doubt that Apple has Android soundly beaten in the texting/messaging/MMSing/whatevering category. I miss this very much.

 

[astroboi82]

I was really hoping there was an app that works for this, I have had every iPhone from 3GS to current and am buying a GS4 next week and this is the main thing i dont want to loose.

 

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

Hangouts is the closest thing to iMessage on android I've found. Or Whatsapp.

Tapatalked from my Nexus 10

 

[Ry]

I was really hoping there was an app that works for this, I have had every iPhone from 3GS to current and am buying a GS4 next week and this is the main thing i dont want to loose.

Which carrier version S4 are you getting?

 

[astroboi82]

Which carrier version S4 are you getting?

I live in australia so different networks to what you have in the U.S. but I will just buy it outright and will be on Optus

 

[iN8ter]

BBM I'd built into BBOS and clearly fee in this thread have really used it. It's better than even I message IMO, but the sidled will hinder adoption. Is not like iMessage is ever coming to Android...

No offense, but WhatsApp and Hangouts isn't even on the same level as BlackBerry Messenger, and neither is half the other crap in the Play Store.

If all else fails. Use Skype...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mch685]

As long as you turn iMessage off on your iPhone before swapping over, everything will work fine with the stock messaging app.

Here is one of my current group texts with 3 iPhone users all using iMessage:

 

[drummerman70]

A great idea, would be to use an old imessage-enabled iPhone laying around, that's what my friend does with his deactivated 3GS. You'll still be able to I message and facetime. Cheers!
(Sorry I was a little late to the party)

 

[3R1C_T]

Do you have to initiate the group message? what if the iphone user initiate the group message would it still work? thanks

 

[3R1C_T]

As long as you turn iMessage off on your iPhone before swapping over, everything will work fine with the stock messaging app.

Here is one of my current group texts with 3 iPhone users all using iMessage:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j265/therealshocker/2013-06-30192321.png

Do you have to initiate the group message? what if the iphone user initiate the group message would it still work? thanks

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Wow...a lot of conflicting stuff here. I know most of this thread is over a month old, but since it's now active again and others searching may find it...

1. It is VERY possible to do group messages with iPhone users. You have to ensure that group messaging is turned on in the messages app, but that's about it. The messages will be sent as standard MMS messages, and those using iMessage on iPhones will still get the message the same way they did before, but your text will now appear in a green bubble instead of a blue one (or vice versa, I can't remember), but it WILL be a group thread. You will lose some iMessage features and be a lot more restricted to message size (photo attachments, video, etc), since MMS has a much smaller file size limit than iMessage, but as far as actual group texting capability, MMS can handle that.

2. If you are a current iPhone user, but sure to remove your phone number from the iMessage app before switching to Android; otherwise you may have some issues texting with other iPhone users. I'm not exactly sure how to do this, but there are plenty of threads with detailed instructions

3. While they may work just fine, the problem with using 3rd party chat clients is that it requires effort on the receiving party/parties to install and set them up, so they're not always a viable alternative. What is great about iMessage (if you're an iPhone owner) is that it's completely integrated with the SMS interface, so you don't have to have your friends set anything up on their end.

To add to the above point, Google Hangouts (formerly Google talk) is getting there...it's a great app with features for group messages, media sending and video, and pretty much everyone that owns an Android already has a Google Account and access to the app...plus it can be accessed from a desktop. The only thing really missing is SMS integration, though Google has stated that feature will be available eventually. The other great thing is that Google Hangouts is available for use by iPhone users -- yes, it does require them to install it -- but given that iMessage isn't available to Android users at all, I think this is an advantage to the Hangouts platform. I've converted many of my friends over to Google Hangouts (both Android and iPhone users), and everyone I know who uses it really likes it.

Do you have to initiate the group message? what if the iphone user initiate the group message would it still work? thanks

Yes, it should work just fine...I group message with iPhone users all the time, it doesn't matter who starts the message.

 

[astroboi82]

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.

Thats not what happens if I do it, I have a GS4 and most of my friends have iPhones and if I send a group message all their replys come seperate and vise versa

 

[robjulo]

Thats not what happens if I do it, I have a GS4 and most of my friends have iPhones and if I send a group message all their replys come seperate and vise versa

Do you have group messaging turned on?

 

[SlickSpur]

Thats not what happens if I do it, I have a GS4 and most of my friends have iPhones and if I send a group message all their replys come seperate and vise versa

Do you have different messaging apps installed (Handscent, Go SMS Pro) besides the stock one? I had them installed and it screwed up my group messaging. I uninstalled them and everything worked fine. I can group chat with iphones with no problem.

 

[Almeuit]

Thats not what happens if I do it, I have a GS4 and most of my friends have iPhones and if I send a group message all their replys come seperate and vise versa

Do you have group messaging turned on?

Do you have different messaging apps installed (Handscent, Go SMS Pro) besides the stock one? I had them installed and it screwed up my group messaging. I uninstalled them and everything worked fine. I can group chat with iphones with no problem.

Astro do what these posts say. Use only the stock messenger and enable group messaging.. Then you shouldn't have an issue anymore.

Sent from my T-Mobile HTC One using AC Forums.

 

[digger5150]

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).

I stumbled upon this by accident but thank you very much for this! I would have been tearing my hair out trying to figure out why SMS didn't work on my new S4.

 

[astroboi82]

Astro do what these posts say. Use only the stock messenger and enable group messaging.. Then you shouldn't have an issue anymore.

How do I check if group messaging is turned on ? also I dont have any other apps. I just use the stock one

Thanks agian everyone for the advice



Sent from my T-Mobile HTC One using AC Forums.

 

[abbiesweetheart]

I've had iphones before and I thought I would miss imessage but after switching to android devices it really doesn't bother me. I have group messages with my friends who have iphones all the time. They go through as mms messages. The only diffrrence is you can't do group messaging with a wifi only connection.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[anonymous495876038576]

If you keep your old iPhone then you can still use imessage over wifi or tether with your android. I use my old Verizon iPhone 4 over WiFi even though Verizon isn't my carrier anymore

Sent from my XT881 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Sankentris]

I'm a recent iPhone abandoner and all you need to do is make sure group messaging is on on your S4 and tell your iPhone pals to make sure group messaging is turned on on theirs as well. We just got this sorted recently too. The people on iPods or iPads with just Imessage won't work I'm afraid or at least we haven't figured it out yet. I just put pinger on my kids iPods so that they can text w a fake number to my new s4 and it works great.

Also I've found that the jelly bean keyboard in the play store very closely mimics the iPhone keyboard in how it does autocorrect and its made the transition much easier. hope this helps!