What I really have it away about smartphones is the encompassing app catalog , which lets exploiter try and pick between a wide stove of option . If you do n’t like how a certain practical software works , you may typically find substantial alternative in the same family that better match your expectation . However , this generally does n’t apply to social medium and communicating apps , as the internet result locks us into the platform our contacts use .
In many region , WhatsApp has become the default exigent messaging service , connecting jillion of user to their friends and family member , and even some businesses . Despite that , some people , including myself , still rely on iMessage for a act of understanding , such as concern over Meta ’s privacy practices . Nevertheless , when I text my friends on iMessage , I ca n’t help but observe how bare - finger cymbals the experience feel . Here are seven WhatsApp feature article that iMessage needs justly now :
1. Enhanced roaming experience
My biggest irritation with iMessage is how frail and high - maintenance the service can be when range . The import you eject your physical SIM card or change by reversal off the eSIM , your phone number gets deregistered from iMessage . This downgrade all of your schmoose to SMS ( as most international carriers have n’t adopted RCS yet ) and incurs fees when chatting with friend abroad .
Mahmoud Itani / Foundry
To avoid this , you could either unwrap and employ your Apple Account ’s email address as the iMessage ID or register the unexampled SIM card ’s foreign number on iMessage . Both routes are far from idealistic ; especially the latter , command your impinging to become mindful of and hold open a unexampled numeral whenever you travel . While newer iPhones with dual - SIM financial support make this job more doable , there are still instances when it make a head ache .
WhatsApp , on the other hand , lets you apply the headphone issue you ’ve cross-file — as long as no one with forcible access to the relate SIM circuit card tries to make an account . So , you’re able to remove the SIM card from your iPhone for whatever reason without worrying about disconnection . There ’s nothing cease Apple from imitate this nonrational , safe coming .
2. Extensive user profiles
Other WhatsApp perks I care include visibility bios and social media links ( currently in beta ) . These enable users to introduce themselves and showcase a more comprehensive visibility . Contact scorecard on iOS already support societal account grip , note , location pins , etc . All Apple has to do is let us optionally reveal some of these fields to our iMessage middleman , just as we can now with names and profile photos .
3. Status updates and stories
Despite Instagram being the go - to platform for upload short-lived stories , some users choose for WhatsApp when portion out more private moments . While it ’s not technically texting , station stories in the form of condition updates — deal photos and telecasting that melt after 24 hour — has become an integral part of everyday communicating , and iMessage should catch up — it does n’t even have an online status feature .
Apple could put its own twist on it , with mount to confine visibleness , add Animoji , and hook into Apple intelligence , or pop the question the option to turn off the feature altogether as Signal does . ButiMessage needs to get with the times .
4. Customized conversations
Another trend I ’ve point out in advanced - day texting is the prevalence of chat theme . When I glance around in crowded public spaces , colourful chat bubbles and wallpaper always stand out to me . The feature , long supported by Instagram DMs , Facebook Messenger , and Telegram , recently plunge on WhatsApp , and I ’d love to see it on iMessage , too .
The latest iOS updates have enabled users to personalize the iPhone experience more than ever before . From the Lock and Home Screens to the Control Center and Photos app , layouts havenever been so customizable . It ’s meter for iMessage to catch up .
5. Simpler file sharing
One matter I love about WhatsApp is the efficiency of its file - sharing social function . There ’s an in - app attach document clitoris , letting you directly browse through your local files without croak the courier .
Conversely , iMessage want you to get out the Messages app when someone request a data file . You need to find the Files app , plunge it , place the want papers , tap the share clitoris , pick the iMessage liaison , and hit send . Apple could address this unnecessary complexness by introducing a Files app in iMessage , exchangeable to the existing picture , Music , and Camera mini apps .
6. Better group chats
Beyond one - on - one conversations , iMessage should elevate the group chat experience . Currently , the service still does n’t support typing indicators and read receipts in mathematical group . Another ludicrous iMessage limitation is the inability to leave a group when it has only three members . A workaround ( of sorts ) is append a 4th individual to the group then leaving , but the new member will be stick around with the other two in allege chemical group .
to boot , a neat WhatsApp radical feature is polling , which makes organizing and planning event more seamless . iMessage should copy this handy function , complementing the newApple Invitesapp .
7. Managed conversations
Lastly , iMessage should take up the ability to star item-by-item messages for succeeding reference . While the military service lets you immobilize conversations and certain types of attachments and bull’s eye messages as unread , there ’s no straightforward way to bookmark school text for future reading .
Similarly , Apple ’s Messages app still lacks support for archiving conversations and make custom leaning to organize them . This skip score it impossible to filter chats based on their type or context .
Texting has evolved, but iMessage hasn’t
It ’s no arcanum that Apple tends to nullify shocking its drug user with major changes . Nonetheless , the gradual evolution of iMessage has been too sluggish compare to rival IM root . Third - party developer have been innovate and bake fun and useful feature film into their texting program , while iMessage has n’t dramatically changed in year .
give the far-flung espousal of iMessage , it would take year for it to recede relevancy in the US . That ’s not to say it ’s impossible , though . People are tardily warm up to alternative apps , and WhatsApp continues to raise in North America . ( Outside the U.S. , it ’s already huge . ) If Apple want to maintain its position in the texting space , a position which helps to cement the dominance of its overall product ecosystem , it must kick upstairs iMessage meaningfully , not just give it a superficial glassy UI in thenext update .
