Dear Apple Messages Team, Outside the US, the barrier between iMessage and other platforms is hurting iMessage’s popularity and usability. I like iMessage. It’s seamless and easy to use and integrates well into my life, but I also have some gripes. I live outside the US, where iMessage popularity is very low. Texting someone on iMessage is usually impossible, as most people use Android, and you refuse to make iMessage compatible. It is also frowned upon among many Apple users to use iMessage because most don’t want to use a second app for messaging, and they have to use WhatsApp anyway.

iMessage does not play with other services, but other services are more popular than iMessage outside the US. Hence, using something other than iMessage is easier than juggling multiple chat apps. With WhatsApp opening up (due to DMA), a great opportunity presents itself to remake the Messages app and design it true to its name. Integrate with WhatsApp and others to make life easier for iPhone users — or, at least rename the app to “iMessage” to be more honest.

Your strict refusal to play with others in this market makes iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch a worse experience. I am more likely to consider an Android phone because iMessage is isolating itself, not less.

If you launch RCS in its own app, as rumored, I think it will be time to ditch iMessage for good. I won’t make room for a third messaging app on my Homescreen or Dock when iOS adds support for RCS. I suspect some in Apple’s management are counting on those low adoption numbers. Very low RCS adoption on iPhone could be in their favor to argue that nobody wants it anyway when, in reality, we don’t want to add a third messaging app to the dock.

Kind regards, Wenzel

P.S. After writing this, I found a Threads thread where people post screenshots of their docks. The prompt specifically asks for iPhone Docks only, yet people are also posting Android. The interesting part, in this context, is that most have WhatsApp in their Dock, and almost none only the Messages app.

⌞w⌝