When all your friends are locked in on iMessage, you can't just not buy an iPhone. Apple is using lock-in so that you can't simply move to Android.

I've been using an Android for my entire life And I've never felt the need to switch because my friends use iMessage, despite almost all of my friends and family using iPhones (which I recommend to them, because most of them aren't very tech savvy).

Honestly, I don't even know how that would be an argument for locking you into an ecosystem. It's not like text messages are an ancient technology that modern iPhones will not support.

You have better friends.

https://www.androidauthority.com/green-bubble-phenomenon-102...

Yeah, I don't know anyone like that and I am skeptical that a significant amount of people exist who do. This article is pretty lacking in substance. I certainly know people who strongly prefer iOS personally and frequently remind everyone of said preferences, but you could say that about video game consoles.

I know multiple people who refuse to communicate unless it's on an app like Signal or Telegram, but I don't know anyone over the age of 17 who cares that my bubbles are green instead of blue. And even if I did happen to know people like that, I still don't see "well some people will find literally any excuse to be exclusionary" as a good argument for iMessage locking users into their ecosystem.