There really is no free lunch.

// insert some clever "you are the product" here.

Yeah, the cost is a bummer but if I look at it as spending $2 a month to avoid buying an iPhone, it's worth it.

Their older app, Beeper Cloud, is free anyhow.

I recently paid >$1000 for the privilege of access to iMessage when switching from Android to iPhone. I'd have been _much_ happier staying on my preferred operating system and paying $24/yr.

(iMessage has, for me, actually been worth it - but still, I frequently find myself wishing that something like Beeper Mini existed so I could go back to android).

What do you prefer about Android?

Long list, I've been meaning to write a blog post.

Would be very interested in seeing the list of things that you feel _aren't_ possible on iOS and aren't things I'd consider extremely "niche" or purely "cosmetic". (Sadly, I'll probably never know if you ever write such a blog post...)

Affordability.

How about not being in a walled garden and actually having access to your device?

Yeah, I hear Android manufacturers and app developers are very encouraging of unlocked bootloaders and user root access.

It's not 2008 anymore, we're all in walled gardens now.

Many people still buy Androids exactly because you can still flash different roms.

Agreed, and I'm one of them. However flagship devices have been neutered, and core (for many peoples lives) apps require significant compromise.

Whilst there are edge cases, the majority of Android users are effectively within a walled garden, which the opposite used to be one of its strongest appeals.

I'd still say it's not a walled garden, as long as you can install f-droid or the amazon app store. I can still access port, torrents, install a rel alt browser etc. It's a significantly less walled garden.

You switched from Android _just_ for iMessage? Why on earth for? Could you elaborate?

I did as well. Because there are group chats I need to be in that I can only access if I have iMessage

I can't convince dozens of people in the groups to go sign up for signal just to accommodate me

it's very hard to socialize with non-techies in the US without it. you miss so much.

For both social and work life it's an important way of communicating for many people.

Some people are just a little less quick to message you back if you're a green bubble or ask to use WhatsApp, especially in certain circles.

In many circles in the US, it is the way to communicate. You just end up left out of “fun” group chats where people want to use iMessage features and then end up left out of actual events because people forgot to invite in the greenie group.

> Normal texting and WhatsApp and discord and Instagram and tiktok messages etc etc are all free.

This product is not for you. I don't know where you're commenting from, but I'm guessing it's not from the US. Using WhatsApp or Discord or Instagram or TikTok messages only have value because the people you want to talk to use them. In the US, iMessage is by far the dominant messaging service for iPhone users, and iPhones dominate certain socioeconomic groups. This situation sucks, but there are lots of Android users who get extremely frustrated when a large group of their friends are on iPhones, to the point it can be socially isolating when you're "the odd man out" in a group chat (and it's not the whole green/blue bubbles the media likes to talk about, it's that interoperability between iMessage and other clients sucks and breaks many features).

This is a great option for US Android users who want to be able to better communicate with their friends that have iPhones.

In Hong Kong everyone has an iphone but everyone uses Whatsapp. I'm so surprised iMessage is even used at all, we all consider it a gimmick here, like, Whatsapp and Telegram are so great at their respective subset of features and WeChat does the rest.

I am in the US and have been here my whole life. My entire extended social circle uses whatsapp. I realize that is the minority but it does exist.