FWIW, RCS group chat on Android being horribly broken is actually a feature if you have kids. I've spoken to many parents of girls in the 7 - 13 age group (and have two myself), and the amount of drama and bullying due to iMessage group chats is several orders of magnitude higher than what kids with Android experience.

I actually think iMessage group chats should have a minimum age limit, from a kids perspective they are no different than Snapchat et al.

▲ fastball 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You think the messaging protocol itself is causing heightened bullying?

▲ semi-extrinsic 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Not the protocol, the group chat UX. iMessage gives kids easy access to a place where they can create groups, name them, invite and kick out other kids at will, and send messages + audio/video. It's minimally different from Snap or Discord - except that those actually have parental controls, and there is no easy way to disable iMessage group chats.

The equivalent is simply lacking from Android due to RCS group chat being a broken mess.

	▲	tom_alexander 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> create groups, name them, invite and kick out other kids at will, and send messages + audio/video. All of that has been (and still is) available on everyone's phones since the dawn of time except for "name them": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_Messaging_Service `- create group: send an MMS message to whoever you want in the "group". Now you have a group chat. - invite people: send a new MMS message including all past participants and the one additional participant. - kick them out: Send a new MMS message including all past participants except for the person you want to remove. - send messages + audio/video: MMS supports all of this.`
	▲	c0balt 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I'm surprised you seem to presume that WhatsApp, Discord etc. wouldn't immediately fill the gap. At least in Berlin (School and Uni) my experience was that WhatsApp was far more prevalent already (due to more mixed Android/iOS environment likely).

▲ immibis 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Messaging protocol features determine social aspects. Harder to bully someone in a group chat if there isn't a group chat.

	▲	fastball 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		There are dozens of ways to have a group chat. iMessage is not enabling this in any meaningful way.

▲ dangus 39 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This seems to be a disingenuous comparison. With RCS it’s supposed to work but it’s broken, which is your “parental control.”

But I don’t think either platform lets you control messaging group chat functionality this way. They just offer approved contacts and complete disable as your options to control messaging.

I also think your “amount of drama” might be badly measured simply because the majority of kids in the US use iOS.

87% of teens have an iPhone.

https://www.pipersandler.com/teens

▲ testartr 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

on Android they will just experience social exclusion

	▲	semi-extrinsic 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		"Missing out because my parents are lame" is a minor social stigma that kids will (should!) experience in many situations anyways. The benefits significantly outweigh the drawbacks.
	▲	catgirlinspace 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		iPhone users can also experience this if unlucky :D