Why does Apple Hate our Android Friends?

[EugW]

It's funny, I hear that sentiment a lot - on the internet. But I've never met anyone in person in my entire life who uses either of those services; most haven't even heard of them. I suppose it's probably a regional thing, SMS is still extremely popular in the U.S.

I'm in Canada. My wife uses WhatsApp, and several of my friends and family members use WhatsApp too. The same is true for my wife's friends and family. I also know several people who use WeChat, but for that, it's because they have contacts in China. I personally stick only to iMessage and SMS though.

BTW, when we went on vacation in Costa Rica, many of the local excursions (if you booked outside the hotels) were primarily booked through WhatsApp.

 

[jaytv111]

I do have MMS enabled it was one of the first things I checked. I also checked with iPhone users on Verizon and they have no issue. Could it be that T-Mobile disabled my ability to send SMS because I am on an older Magenta plan and worn't upgrade as there is no need for me to do so? If so, shouldn't they send me a message informing me?

It’s most likely your phone’s settings, in that they are probably wrong. Sometimes settings are set automatically and even then it could fail to set correctly.

I would say you can follow these steps here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102483

And you probably should use the reset Network settings in the iPhone’s reset menu, which does a “light” reset, then if that doesn’t help you may need a full reset of the phone (and you should not restore a backup, lest it will transfer over bad settings from the backup). And if that doesn’t work it’s probably a carrier problem.

If T-Mobile changed anything you would be contacted, by email, or by text (probably both). Generally they can change your plan and then do something like this, but your plan itself is the way it has been from day one.

 

[Böhme417]

Photos go through just fine for my Android friends. The problem I have sometimes is with web links.

Hopefully RCS support will solve this problem.


Just to nitpick, but in fact WhatsApp is relatively commonly used in the US, with a little over half the number of users of Messenger. WeChat is commonly used by Chinese-Americans, but generally not other ethnic groups, because WeChat is the most commonly used messaging platform in China.

I use neither though (here in Canada).

I’m curious if those are active users or just accounts. I have an account, but I don’t use it anymore. Usually the only time I hear anyone talking about it here in the US is to message international people.

 

[EugW]

I’m curious if those are active users or just accounts. I have an account, but I don’t use it anymore. Usually the only time I hear anyone talking about it here in the US is to message international people.

Lots of active users. WhatsApp is the biggest messaging platform in the world. It's probably 3rd or 4th in the US.

 

[ThailandToo]

I do have MMS enabled it was one of the first things I checked. I also checked with iPhone users on Verizon and they have no issue. Could it be that T-Mobile disabled my ability to send SMS because I am on an older Magenta plan and worn't upgrade as there is no need for me to do so? If so, shouldn't they send me a message informing me?

Fix your APN settings.

 

[MazingerZND]

It's funny, I hear that sentiment a lot - on the internet. But I've never met anyone in person in my entire life who uses either of those services; most haven't even heard of them. I suppose it's probably a regional thing, SMS is still extremely popular in the U.S.

Most of the world does. It’s only in the US that people still use SMS that much.

 

[jwolf6589]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

Why complain about the Android virus on an Apple enthusiast website? If I did the same on a mickey website or Android website I would be called….

 

[mansplains]

OP has their APN settings wrong. Probably using a phone carrier like Google Voice or other MVNO. When I used Google Voice I had to re-enter them every time my iPhone did an update.

Google Fi was like this on iPhone, needed to tweak settings every update. Hated that, and left eventually. My brother said it was flawless on pixel for him.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I do have MMS enabled it was one of the first things I checked. I also checked with iPhone users on Verizon and they have no issue. Could it be that T-Mobile disabled my ability to send SMS because I am on an older Magenta plan and worn't upgrade as there is no need for me to do so? If so, shouldn't they send me a message informing me?

I’m on TMobile Magenta, never had any issues sending images to Android phones.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Lots of active users. WhatsApp is the biggest messaging platform in the world. It's probably 3rd or 4th in the US.

With out India Whats app isn’t that big. India accounts for more users than all the other countries combined in top 10. What’s app is popular in Mexico and Latin America. WeChat is big in china.

 

[EugW]

With out India Whats app isn’t that big. India accounts for more users than all the other countries combined in top 10. What’s app is popular in Mexico and Latin America. WeChat is big in china.

WhatsApp is still huge regardless. It's also #1 in Europe, Western Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

 

[antiprotest]

Get all your friends on macrumors and use the PMs for texts and pics. It just works.

 

[Analog Kid]

It's crazy how fast our culture has shifted from "I can't get this to work anyone have an idea why?" to "This is proof that Tim Cook is a mean spirited old man."

It's not just this OP, or even Apple related issues in particular, it's pervasive. Nobody believes they might be wrong anymore...

TExt messages go through just fine, just not photos.

 

[ndouglas]

I send and receive photos and videos via SMS with android users almost daily. And my photos are stored natively in HEIF format, as iPhone automatically converts as needed for SMS.

Your iPhone is not your problem. As others have suggested, contact your carrier for help resolving your issue.

Not really, this happens with MANY carriers (maybe not all… but…) I have experienced what OP describes ever since iphones were released like 15+ years ago. especially with videos, but photos too.

 

[ndouglas]

I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked.

Curious what you refer to, when and what device and what carrier, when it just worked as you describe here ? —^

 

[Arctic Moose]

Curious what you refer to, when and what device and what carrier, when it just worked as you describe here ? —^

I’ll go out on a limb and claim this has worked as expected on all iPhones with any version of iOS that supports HEIC between all combinations of carriers and Android phones that support MMS.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

Buy your mom an.. iPad?

 

[rafark]

Why does Apple Hate our Android Friends?​

Because our supreme leader Steve Jobs hated android

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this..."

 

[robvalentine]

Sounds like a MMS issue with your mobile provider. Check their website there maybe a way to enable it, or download settings. Or use whatsapp like the rest of Europe

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Looks like you can’t even send a simple SMS (text). Are you sure there’s not a problem with your service provider?

This would be MMS, could be the carrier doesn’t support MMS?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Get all your friends on macrumors and use the PMs for texts and pics. It just works.

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!! Hold on just a gol durned minute there, partner.

You means to tell me…

That there be ways what folks can send a pikcher…

That ain’t texting?

Tain’t never heard of such a thang! /s

 

[Yebubbleman]

Dear Apple:

I converted all of my new Photos from HIEC to "Most Compatible", and yet, even though I changed over to .JPEG this is still hard to do with my Android using friends. No Tim, they don't actually want an iPhone. As an iPhone user I absolutely expect better than this when trying to text a picture to one of my Android using friends:

View attachment 2391156

I understand that "Here is how to work around that" or Explain to your Android using friends why iPhone is soo superior. But there was an old saying your predecessor used to tag with Apple products that I was fond of "It Just works". I used to just attach picture files without having to change format or scroll endlessly through reddit looking through answers, it just worked. Now as you can see above, it just doesn't work. I was planning on upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro Max this year but before handing you my hard earned money, the above needs to never happen again.

Sincerely,

Frustrated

Seconding everyone else who is suggesting that you are experiencing a carrier-related issue here and not an iPhone vs. Android issue here.

That being said, your point about Apple treating Android like a second-class citizen is still valid and still accurate.

Someone else said that Apple is afraid of Android. Not sure if they meant that as a joke or not. But it's entirely true.

It stands to reason that if you are confident enough in your product, you will not go out of your way to make it incompatible with another company's ecosystem. Neither Google nor Microsoft do this with Android or Windows. Samsung will do some of that with OneUI (their custom version of Android) when it comes to non-Samsung Android platforms and it's just as vile/gross. Apple is clearly afraid of people leaving their ecosystem.

That said, none of these companies (Apple included) have to go out of their way to make their software/hardware compatible with other companies' products, but considering all of them have the resources to easily develop these things so that they're interoperable without sacrificing privacy and security, it's pretty lame when they don't.

 

[Bichon]

I agree, it sure feels like Apple is exploiting the exclusivity of iMessage, and probably hopes that those green bubbles and loss of quality when texting photos to Android may convince some to hop on the iPhone bandwagon. That said, at least Apple is bringing RCS to iMessage in iOS18, which I expect will solve a lot of these issues. (I haven't been following the iOS18 beta threads; not sure if RCS is already available in the beta?)

 

[EugW]

I agree, it sure feels like Apple is exploiting the exclusivity of iMessage, and probably hopes that those green bubbles and loss of quality when texting photos to Android may convince some to hop on the iPhone bandwagon. That said, at least Apple is bringing RCS to iMessage in iOS18, which I expect will solve a lot of these issues. (I haven't been following the iOS18 beta threads; not sure if RCS is already available in the beta?)

I'm holding off upgrading to the iOS 18 beta because RCS isn't supported yet.*

RCS is literally the only thing I'm waiting for. Everything else is just a bonus.

*It's there, but the only way to access it in the current beta is allegedly through some unpublished hack. Also, some of the features don't work completely yet, which I guess is why it's not truly available yet.

 

[SpotOnT]

But Android or not, I don't know anybody that uses SMS or iMessage. It's all WhatsApp or WeChat.

Ok…so if you don’t know anyone who uses SMS, then clearly no one needs SMS right? 🙄