Keyword: im
IM (Instant Message) is a platform in which a person can instantly send a short message to another person. The most compatible IM service is SMS (aka: text messaging), however this system while supported is outdated. It will still work, but there are better options. I also have an iPhone, so that means that I can accept iMessage from another iOS user. Even if you don’t have a cellular number, you can send iMessages to another person. Your email will display as the sender. Last in April 1, my carrier offered RCS support after a minor update to the OS.
For those interested in iMessage, you would need a device that supports iOS, or MacOS. These are exclusively Apple devices, so you would have to pay the “Apple” tax which is a complaint that Apple products are more expensive when compared to others, but they also offer features that you won’t find elsewhere, such as iMessage. The same principle applied to Blackberry devices in the mid – late 2000’s when those products were expensive, but you got an encrypted device, and access to BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). Those who used BBM swore by it.
RCS (Rich Communications Services) is intended to replace SMS. At this time, Android, and iOS devices both supports RCS. RCS like SMS uses the telephone number as the unique ID method, but like iMessage, sends the messages via the data capabilities of your device. Data is typically cheaper than SMS, especially for international messages. RCS is not supported on basic phones, including those running KaiOS which too me seems silly, but that is the case.
SMS is tried and true. If you live in the US, then you know SMS all to well as this is the standard for sending messages to other people. SMS is dying out though, and can be considered as legacy as it is being phased out. I would suspect that if KaiOS supported RCS, then SMS will be considered as obsolete. SMS is limited to 160 characters, but smartphones can stitch multiple messages into one message, therefore making that “SMS” seem longer than 160 characters. However if the message is 161 characters, and you had to pay per SMS message, you would be paying for 2 SMS messages even though your phone stitched the message into one.
Other Platforms
There are other platforms, and I used to support all of the common ones. However, with them not being used or not being used properly, I have decided to no longer support platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Zangi. With that being said, if you wished to reach out to me, you must use one of the platforms listed in this section. If you wish my telephone number for IM resources, the number is +1 4126829751.