Using Android phones on Apple Chat Groups

[Myroslav]

I have been told that Android phones cannot be part of a group chat if the group uses iPhones for iMessages. However, I did read that MMS and SMS may work so that an Android user can be part of an Apple chat group. Can anyone comment on this? I prefer to stick with Android, but may need to be part of an Apple group chat.

 

[Dannydet]

Most of my friends use iPhones and we group chat sms and mms with no issues.
Imessages will not work with Android

 

[Myroslav]

Thank you, Dannydet!

 

[Hadron]

You can also use a cross-platform message app (WhatsApp, Signal, etc). It requires everyone to install whichever app you choose, but it's better than only being able to communicate with people using the same platform.

SMS and MMS are open standards supported out of the box by all phones, but are more limited than internet-based chat apps. RCS is a standard Google have been trying to promote, but Apple refuse to support it (because it would compete with iMessage, and if it were cross-platform would remove one of the impediments to iPhone owners switching) and so it suffers the same problem as iMessage only in reverse. So it really comes down to either using SMS/MMS or using a third-party chat app.

 

[Myroslav]

Thank you, Hadron. A very thorough response.