Chat is Google's next attempt at messaging on Android

[Sniperfox47]

29 minutes ago, Sypran said:

Ok so I was super late to the whole "owning a smartphone" thing, and honestly don't talk to people much using my phone...
So can someone please explain what is the purpose of these messing apps? Cause to me they seem like more of an inconvenience,  since it requires both parties to have said app, of which there is a million and a half of them for as I can see almost no reason.
If SMS was getting long in the tooth it seems like it makes more sense to do what Google seems to be doing here? and trying to get a new standard up and running that mutliple apps I imagine would use.

People have moved to these apps because SMS is slow, clunky, awkward, and costs money even now through most carriers.

 

The character limitations, lack of rich formatting (for stickers, pictures, GIFs, locations, etc), lack of decent group communication, and other modern chat features makes it really awkward for a lot of things.

 

People moved specifically to these apps because of network effects. I.e. all your friends use it so you have to use it to stay in touch with those friends. Personally I hate Discord, WhatsApp and Kik, but I have all three installed because for some people I know each of those is the only way to reach them. I have a Facebook account because and only because one job I had required me to have one.

[jde3]

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Chat won’t be end-to-end encrypted,

pass, thanks anyhow.

 

Private communications between people must be encrypted. Be it Signal, Slience, Wire or Tox. on the better end and Whatsapp and Telegram on the more sketchy end. Actually Signal (and telegram) is owned by Twitter now so it's prob no longer safe to use... still.. its better than nothing though.

 

Quote

I.e. all your friends use it so you have to use it to stay in touch with those friends.

Get smarter friends.

[alextulu]

On 4/20/2018 at 3:48 AM, THeEmpire.01 said:

Chat is a carrier-based service, not a Google service.

This is not an app like iMessage or WhatsApp, because there is no server for this on the Internet, because it's a carrier-based service.

 

This means, that it won't work over Wi-Fi, so you'll have to pay for it even if you have Wi-Fi.

 

On 4/20/2018 at 3:48 AM, THeEmpire.01 said:

images and video

This reminds me of MMS, which nobody uses, because it's also a carrier-based service, it's more expensive than SMS because it has images and video, and doesn't work over Wi-Fi.

[suicidalfranco]

1 hour ago, alextulu said:

This is not an app like iMessage or WhatsApp, because there is no server for this on the Internet, because it's a carrier-based service.

 

This means, that it won't work over Wi-Fi, so you'll have to pay for it even if you have Wi-Fi.

 

This reminds me of MMS, which nobody uses, because it's also a carrier-based service, it's more expensive than SMS because it has images and video, and doesn't work over Wi-Fi.

mmhh no. This will work through your data if both ends support RCS, if one doesn't it will be sent as SMS that's the one you'll pay. RCS will only use your existing data plan, no additional fees.

[DeScruff]

7 hours ago, Sniperfox47 said:

People moved specifically to these apps because of network effects. I.e. all your friends use it so you have to use it to stay in touch with those friends. Personally I hate Discord, WhatsApp and Kik, but I have all three installed because for some people I know each of those is the only way to reach them. I have a Facebook account because and only because one job I had required me to have one.

I guess Im just the super anti-social person who just uses SMS and Discord.  Though I never have long conversations via SMS. and even then I think of Discord as more of a desktop program then other things like Snapchat and WhatsApp (Side note: I seriously hate that name, I get it its supposed to be a pun of "Whats up", but the first time I heard it I didn't get that, and I got more of a "Who's on first Whats on second" vibe)
I personally loathe when someone says I should get snapchat, messenger, whatsapp, instagram, insert the millions of other social media/messaging apps. Im not going to install a million apps just so you can send me stupid memes and talk to me once in a blue moon.

[norgeek]

Can anyone spoonfeed me the difference between Android Messages and Chat? My carrier moved me to AM about two months ago as they implemented RCS support here and it's been working fine. They're calling it "SMS+" here, though. 

 

Is Chat just a different name for Android Messages? Is it a competing product, and in that case why? Does it matter which one I use? Why are the news articles making a big deal about Chat getting RCS functionality in the future when Android Messages has had it for some time already? 

[Guest]

Getting iMessage compatibility with Android might make me think about switching. Its pretty convenient to answer and read texts from a laptop w/o pulling out your phone. Especially when you forget to topup - and its free. Nice to see Android finally getting a sense of convenience. Most people do use WhatsApp though and its a stiff competition as that has a Desktop App too. 

[alextulu]

On 4/21/2018 at 2:39 PM, suicidalfranco said:

RCS will only use your existing data plan, no additional fees.

But data plans have data caps. What if you're already over your cap.

 

That's what I meant by "you'll have to pay for it".

 

Also, in Europe, where i live, only mobile internet has data caps. Coaxial, DSL and fibre don't.

[suicidalfranco]

2 minutes ago, alextulu said:

But data plans have data caps. What if you're already over your cap.

 

That's what I meant by "you'll have to pay for it"

messages hardly consume any data. looking at whatsapp have a gig worth of stuff accumulated through at least half a year of use. Wouldn't really worry about this eating through your data cap

[79wjd]

15 minutes ago, alextulu said:

But data plans have data caps. What if you're already over your cap.

 

That's what I meant by "you'll have to pay for it".

 

Also, in Europe, where i live, only mobile internet has data caps. Coaxial, DSL and fibre don't.

I think most carriers are switching to data caps on full speed data and then unlimited data at an abysmally slow speed after that cap -- but even that slow speed would be more than adequate for texts (and certainly they can't just outright drop SMS support).

[Donut417]

All Google had to do is let Hangouts continue to do SMS. I loved that feature. One APP to do Hangouts chats and SMS. Thats all they had to do. But NO..... they said screw that. 

[Zodiark1593]

36 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

messages hardly consume any data. looking at whatsapp have a gig worth of stuff accumulated through at least half a year of use. Wouldn't really worry about this eating through your data cap

Unless a person had already hit the limit, and the carrier cut's it off entirely. Then that person is SoL.

 

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

All Google had to do is let Hangouts continue to do SMS. I loved that feature. One APP to do Hangouts chats and SMS. Thats all they had to do. But NO..... they said screw that. 

Yeah, I don't get it either. Does Apple have some patent on having an app do SMS and some other messaging protocol?

[norgeek]

3 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Unless a person had already hit the limit, and the carrier cut's it off entirely. Then that person is SoL.

If there's no internet connection, RCS falls back to SMS. It limits the functionality but it does not render it unworkable.

[MrDynamicMan]

On 4/20/2018 at 11:03 PM, TheKDub said:

Except it's a child of Facebook.

and chat is a child of google...

Idk, I'm mostly a discord user rn though, and only use whatsapp infrequently.

[Red Hardware]

I just don't get it. WHY people tend to care about default messaging app on their phones??

Just go to the play store, download a messenger that ur friends use and ur done. There are tons of messengers out there like Whatsapp, facebook messenger, or my favorite, Telegram which is completely cloud base and has Web and desktop apps as well + custom client apps. 

I don't get i message either, ur limited to iphone users so WHY ppl still use these things???????????????

[The Benjamins]

22 hours ago, Donut417 said:

All Google had to do is let Hangouts continue to do SMS. I loved that feature. One APP to do Hangouts chats and SMS. Thats all they had to do. But NO..... they said screw that. 

I can still use hangouts to send SMS. :^)

[Donut417]

Just now, The Benjamins said:

I can still use hangouts to send SMS. :^)

Well I dont have that option any more. It sucks balls. Because Google decided they wanted to released their own messaging app. 

 

[Red Hardware]

2 minutes ago, The Benjamins said:

I can still use hangouts to send SMS. :^)

Really? What version of the app are u using right now?

[GoldenLag]

If it works i see no downside to to this as it only seem to improve upon what allready there. Does sms's have end to end encryption? Last time i checked they didnt.

[The Benjamins]

12 minutes ago, Red Hardware said:

Really? What version of the app are u using right now?

latest and greatest. all Project Fi subscribers are allowed to keep using hangouts to text, it is the only way to send texts from your PC from your Fi number.

[TheKDub]

3 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

and chat is a child of google...

Idk, I'm mostly a discord user rn though, and only use whatsapp infrequently.

Google already has all the information about me they could possibly ever want, and as far as I know they're not handing out user data all willy nilly, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Red Hardware]

33 minutes ago, The Benjamins said:

latest and greatest. all Project Fi subscribers are allowed to keep using hangouts to text, it is the only way to send texts from your PC from your Fi number.

WOW

Good for you then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

One question about fi, Does it worth it? 

[79wjd]

1 hour ago, Red Hardware said:

I just don't get it. WHY people tend to care about default messaging app on their phones??

Just go to the play store, download a messenger that ur friends use and ur done. There are tons of messengers out there like Whatsapp, facebook messenger, or my favorite, Telegram which is completely cloud base and has Web and desktop apps as well + custom client apps. 

I don't get i message either, ur limited to iphone users so WHY ppl still use these things???????????????

iMessage defaults to SMS for anyone without an iPhone. So iMessage allows the benefits of messaging over data AND SMS at the same time. With other alternatives you need a messaging app to support one that each of your friends use, alternatively, iMessage works with everyone.

[The Benjamins]

19 minutes ago, Red Hardware said:

WOW

Good for you then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

One question about fi, Does it worth it? 

I am not a big data user, 1-2GB per month, so with that in mind I think its great. My phone bill is 20 + 20 ($10/1GB). You only pay for what you use at 1MB intervals, and they now have a price protection which caps your bill at $80 (or 6GB). you can keep using data up to 15GB and then you will incur throttling. (you may chose to pay $10/GB after that if you do not want throttling.)

 

Features:

I love the ability to text and call from any PC with hangouts on it. (gmail.com works too).

I have good reception and coverage, it uses T-mobile and sprint in my area. (US cingular in others).

Phones can be bought on a 0% interest loan from google, as a 24 month payment plan. (example my pixel XL 128GB cost me $35/m and I also pay for a $5/m insurance for if I drop and break it)

NO CONTRACT

FREE Data sim + NO EXTRA monthly fees for any other devices, as in NO extra cost for any amount of data only device.

Has group plans, extra lines only cost $15 extra per line, and now has great data usage tracking and multi user payments.

Allows wifi tethering, at no extra cost.

 

Some billing examples: .2GB used will cost a total of $22, 4GB used = $60, 6GB used =$80, 14GB used = $80

 

Been using Fi for 2+years, had a great experience. 

[TacoSenpai]

Maybe I've been in the stone ages but I've always used SMS no problem even in an area with bad cell service I could turn on wi-fi calling to send text messages.  To me it was just normal texting to phone numbers.  My biggest thing with the messaging apps is that they work fine but theres so many out there.  Suddenly you have WhatsApp for 10 friends, Kik for 5 others, Line for 10 etc etc.  I personally like Line the best but granted its no guarantee that everyone uses that.