Group Messaging on Android (to iPhone)

[xDoogs]

Hi,

I've been using iPhones for a few years now, but I am hoping to switch back to an android phone because I loved my Samsung Galaxy S2. The only concern I have is regarding group messages. By group messaging I mean have multiple people in one text group where every text sent by any person in the group is received by all (like a Facebook group inbox), and not mass messaging where one message is sent to a large group of people individually. I have 2 group iMessage's that I use daily, one with my family and one with my friends.

I'm wondering if there is an easy way to be involved in a group chat (obviously without iMessage) with myself on an Android device (probably a HTC One M8) and 3 other people on iPhones, or even a mixture of both. I understand that there are apps out there such as "WhatsApp" but I am not willing to make all my friends and family use that app just for me. I'm happy to use a separate app rather than the stock messaging app but I want my friends with iPhones to be able to use the ordinary iPhone Messaging app.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[lunatic59]

Hi xDoogs. Welcome to Android Forums.

If i recall, the way to make sure you get all your messages from your iMessaging friends is to first log into your Apple account and deactivate iMessaging on your old phone (especially if you kept the same phone number). Then reboot your your new Android phone and you should be able to receive their messages as texts. When you reply, however, it will only go back to the original sender and not the group.

For you to have cross platform group discussions you'll have to use WhatsApp or Hangouts.

I might be wrong here as I'm only relating what I've heard. I've never been an iPhone user.

 

[boyo1991]

Why not just use facebook? Unless your using it for professional reasons; hangouts would be better, but if its just your friends facebook is a pretty viable option.

 

[Stuntman]

The iMessage group messaging feature is a feature of iMessage only. iMessage uses a proprietary way of handling group messages. I know of no other app that is compatible with iMessage's group messaging. I'm afraid there is no way of using group messages with iPhone users unless all of you use a messaging app/service that is cross platform like Hangouts, BBM or WhatsApp.

 

[xDoogs]

Why not just use facebook? Unless your using it for professional reasons; hangouts would be better, but if its just your friends facebook is a pretty viable option.

The problem with Facebook is I my mum doesn't use it so I can't ever have a group message with my whole immediate family. I guess it's alright for my friends though as that's what we used to do when one of our mates didn't have an iPhone.

Thank you for all your help guys