Smartphones

Cad said:

Yea that has been an issue for a while, because your number is still flagged in Apple's servers as being on iMessage so it attempts to deliver the messages that way. I think it's mostly fixed now because iMessage falls back to SMS if iMessage fails to deliver. But I had a friend that dropped off of Apple and went to android and we had the same issue. For a while I had to literally turn off iMessage in order to text him.

Click to expand...

We had a problem where iPhone users tried to text us and we'd never get them. Regular sms would come through fine.

Crone said:

Exactly.

But I guess that's the point being made? Over in the UK everyone has WhatsApp already?

Click to expand...

yes and has done for the last 6-7 years. Not only was I stunned to hear that it's not the default msg app in US I am just as stunned to hear that people are using facebook messenger, lol.

It's not like people don't buy iPhones here, iOS has 49% market share and I feel like in my social circle more people have iPhones than Android.

The only possible explanation I can think of is that US iMessage only users like their "gated community", whereas here in the UK we jumped all over the "like BBM but for everyone" whatsapp

Again, Whatsapp was first of its kind and I think the close proximity international countries like in Europe took it and ran with it out the gate. USA customers (as a whole) are far less likely to have international contacts they would have been SMS messaging at the time. Apple's iMessenger didn't come out until over a year and a half after whatsapp. That was probably the first the USA was introduced to that kind of system en masse.

As an expat with friends all over the world, whatsapp was ground breaking.

Jysin said:

Again, Whatsapp was first of its kind and I think the close proximity international countries like in Europe took it and ran with it out the gate. USA customers (as a whole) are far less likely to have international contacts they would have been SMS messaging at the time. Apple's iMessenger didn't come out until over a year and a half after whatsapp. That was probably the first the USA was introduced to that kind of system en masse.

As an expat with friends all over the world, whatsapp was ground breaking.

Click to expand...

Nope, that still doesn't explain why adoption rates are higher in the UK than USA

I know literally no one that uses WhatsApp fwiw

Ritley said:

I know literally no one that uses WhatsApp fwiw

Click to expand...

Only 1.3billion MAUs as of July this year. These accounts are based on actual individual phone numbers vs "user names" on other platforms.

Still no clue why the US is in the dark on this gem, aside from my theory in my previous post.

Connecting One Billion Users Every Day

BrutulTM said:

So how is it better than fb messenger that would justify trying to get your friends and family to switch?

Click to expand...

Probably not. That's the problem. Everyone has their eco systems and be damned if we are going to switch! Quite stubborn we are.

For my family, a bunch of them swear against FB. They'd rather drop dead than use anything FB related. For families, and I'm sure there are plenty of them, where FB is what connects them all I'm sure it's great.

BrutulTM said:

So how is it better than fb messenger that would justify trying to get your friends and family to switch?

Click to expand...

For starters I don't class FB messenger as an IM client, it's more of a "chat client" if that makes sense. FB messenger is also slow (at least on my Huawei p9) - just testing and if I click on a contacts name I see "loading".....it's basically a bloated interface is what I'm trying to say.

Secondly, you're thinking just in terms of a closed social circle - you don't go round adding everyone to facebook seconds after you meet them. All you need for whatsapp is their phone number and for them to have it too - eg I don't add colleagues to facebook but I might still want to message them. Likewise with that girl you meet at the bar, you get her number, you don't add her to facebook straight away but you might message her later in the night for a hookup or the next day to arrange something.

It's still mind boggling that I have to explain this lol.

Even for work purposes, as a recruiter who works internationally then sometimes candidates in remote Countries might not have cell service - like last week when I called a Brazillian guy working in Saudi Arabia that was back in Brazil on holiday. I added his Saudi mobile number and voice called him through whatsapp flawlessly

.

Ossoi said:

For starters I don't class FB messenger as an IM client, it's more of a "chat client" if that makes sense. FB messenger is also slow (at least on my Huawei p9) - just testing and if I click on a contacts name I see "loading".....it's basically a bloated interface is what I'm trying to say.

Secondly, you're thinking just in terms of a closed social circle - you don't go round adding everyone to facebook seconds after you meet them. All you need for whatsapp is their phone number and for them to have it too - eg I don't add colleagues to facebook but I might still want to message them. Likewise with that girl you meet at the bar, you get her number, you don't add her to facebook straight away but you might message her later in the night for a hookup or the next day to arrange something.

It's still mind boggling that I have to explain this lol.

Even for work purposes, as a recruiter who works internationally then sometimes candidates in remote Countries might not have cell service - like last week when I called a Brazillian guy working in Saudi Arabia that was back in Brazil on holiday. I added his Saudi mobile number and voice called him through whatsapp flawlessly

Click to expand...

99% of people in the US won't have international reasons to use WhatsApp. I agree that's one of its best features. But taking that outta the equation, I'd guess most people are like that's what text (SMS) is for?

Just playing devils advocate here.

Also remember how deeply ingrained Facebook is to people here in the US and it makes a little more sense why FB messenger has any traction at all. Literally a person's entire communication circle is on FB.

Crone said:

99% of people in the US won't have international reasons to use WhatsApp. I agree that's one of its best features. But taking that outta the equation, I'd guess most people are like that's what text (SMS) is for?

Click to expand...

As I explained, that was for work purposes. I'm fairly sure a lot of people in the USA have work contacts/colleagues overseas also.

Here in the UK we get free texts but not to overseas numbers.

Just playing devils advocate here.

Crone said:

Also remember how deeply ingrained Facebook is to people here in the US and it makes a little more sense why FB messenger has any traction at all. Literally a person's entire communication circle is on FB.

Click to expand...

a) lol at not reading the post you're replying to

b) lol at thinking facebook is bigger/has achieved greater penetration in the US than elsewhere

Ossoi said:

As I explained, that was for work purposes. I'm fairly sure a lot of people in the USA have work contacts/colleagues overseas also.

Here in the UK we get free texts but not to overseas numbers.

Just playing devils advocate here.



a) lol at not reading the post you're replying to

b) lol at thinking facebook is bigger/has achieved greater penetration in the US than elsewhere

Click to expand...

Are you actually interested in everyone's insight or just trying to argue? It's super simple. People in the US don't use WhatsApp cause they have a bunch of other shit and see no reason to mix in another.

alavaz said:

Are you actually interested in everyone's insight or just trying to argue? It's super simple. People in the US don't use WhatsApp cause they have a bunch of other shit and see no reason to mix in another.

Click to expand...

I was interested but all I'm getting are theories that don't make any sense. All Crones post did was extrapolate my one example of using whatsapp to call an international work contact to a population level, and rehash the "but facebook" reason that I'd already debunked/ruled out

Take your post, the implication of which is that tools like iMessage, FB messenger aren't in use or available elsewhere which is nonsense.

At this point "it just didn't take off" is better than the speculation in this thread

TJT said:

I am not paying $800+ for a phone so the previous generation is fine with me. I'll wait until the release and price drop though.

Click to expand...

Hey @TJT

This might interest you but its only valid for today

Google Pixel and Pixel XL refurbs are on sale starting at just $349, today only

Ossoi said:

I was interested but all I'm getting are theories that don't make any sense. All Crones post did was extrapolate my one example of using whatsapp to call an international work contact to a population level, and rehash the "but facebook" reason that I'd already debunked/ruled out

Take your post, the implication of which is that tools like iMessage, FB messenger aren't in use or available elsewhere which is nonsense.

At this point "it just didn't take off" is better than the speculation in this thread

Click to expand...

Because you keep hasing that one of WhatsApp's best features is the ability to message people internationally. You used as an example, and I'm trying to tell you that your example isn't going to apply as much as you fucking think.

As for FB, I don't disagree you're not going to FB someone you just met, or don't intend on being with for very long. But that's wtf text is for, and I was pointing out the fact that there's plenty of people that are not in that situation, and their entire social circle of communication is on FB, hency why FB messenger is used and/or popular.

But you argue that FB is just as popular everywhere, which is true. So why don't people use FB messenger? Why is WhatsApp the go to messenger? But you're right. I was just trying to have some discussion, but we can just leave it at "because" , and just end it. Thanks Ossoi!

alavaz I forgot this was Ossoi we're speaking too here. He's just here to argue.

Not to mention the messenger app consolidates your facebook messages along with your normal sms messages. As someone who will never deal with international anything, I can't come up with any reason why I would use whatsapp.

Being that FB owns both I wouldn't be surprised to see consolidation of the two further down the line.

Crone said:

Because you keep hasing that one of WhatsApp's best features is the ability to message people internationally..

Click to expand...

a) I don't know what "hasing" means.

b) you're confusing me with Jysin who cited the international contacts twice before I gave one example of the one time recently when I used it for work.

Crone said:

As for FB, I don't disagree you're not going to FB someone you just met, or don't intend on being with for very long. But that's wtf text is for

Click to expand...

Ok, so we're establishing that for some reason text is still popular in the USA even though it's an outdated technology that lacks the features of whatsapp. (if anyone says that modern text/sms apps are fully featured then that's great but text died in the UK a long time ago). What does whatsapp offer over text? Well obviously read/delivered receipts, picture messaging, audio notes, video messaging, voice calls, video calls, lol....but ok people are still using text....http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-texts-easily-could-kill-off-sms-9972206.html

From 2015: WhatsApp is bigger than texts. And it's getting bigger

People now send 50% more messages over WhatsApp than texts — and the rise looks set to continue.

WhatsApp now has 700 million users sending 30 billion messages per day, it said last week. That is in comparison with about 20 billion messages a day sent over SMS, according to analysis by Benedict Evans.

The gap between WhatsApp and texting is increasing — in almost every market, texting has been in decline since about 2011.

Click to expand...

Crone said:

So why don't people use FB messenger? Why is WhatsApp the go to messenger?.

Click to expand...

Whatsapp predates FB messenger by several years, hence the superior adop

Even if that weren't the case then whatsapp is a far superior client with better features and less bloat

daly said:

Not to mention the messenger app consolidates your facebook messages along with your normal sms messages. As someone who will never deal with international anything, I can't come up with any reason why I would use whatsapp..

Click to expand...

the notion that people are integrating sms into FB messenger is almost as difficult for me to grasp as whatsapp not being the default platform in the US

Anyway, it seems there's a lot of result for "why isn't whatsapp popular in the US", best explanation I found was on reddit:

A lot of people in the US use iPhones, which use iMessage by default. If you message someone who doesn't have iMessage (like Android users), it defaults to SMS. So that also encourages Android users to use SMS.

Click to expand...

I also found this quote "To end off on a generalisation, America is fairly insular. They often don’t need to look beyond their borders to communicate with foreigners."

No need for further speculation with so many articles on the subject!