# iMessage 100 Hacker News commenters recommended iMessage and 135 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 15 years (4 owners). **Verdict:** A long-running, widely used messaging app with end-to-end encryption and richer chats than SMS, but it only works on Apple devices and syncs unreliably. ## Why people recommend it - Default end-to-end encryption (5 comments): "I want to encourage companies shipping a widely used, secure, native, cross-device messaging feature consistently over the course of almost two decades with no ads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158523)) "imessage is basically the only secure communication mechanism I can get most people to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45957649)) "iMessage is secure e2e but you have to trust that Apple is sending you the correct keys" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45842952)) - Nearly everyone in the US uses it (5 comments): "In the US it's mostly iMessage, and that includes people who say it's not mostly iMessage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47752559)) "imessage is basically the only secure communication mechanism I can get most people to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45957649)) "Having one good app that everyone uses is better than the default app being sub-par" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756640)) - Richer experience than SMS (5 comments): "In group chats with your blue-bubble friends, they will be easier to read (because of the shades of color), media quality will be better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47007845)) "From an iPhone user's point of view, a "green bubble" means "this conversation will work like it's 2003."" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46897188)) "Texting in iOS is arguably better or, at the very least, there is one more app to choose (Messages)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46753604)) - Consistent for nearly two decades (3 comments): "I want to encourage companies shipping a widely used, secure, native, cross-device messaging feature consistently over the course of almost two decades with no ads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158523)) "Apple evolved their SMS app into Messages, through a slow evolution which created consistency for users" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49016646)) "it has worked for a long time, during which all the leading alternatives were terrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48068269)) ## What people warn about - Apple-only ecosystem lock-in (8 comments): "their products like iMessage, Safari and the App Store are artificially segregated from free-market pressures" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46064338)) "people don't necessarily want iPhones but they buy them to not be excluded from iMessage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47757524)) "Apple has famously made its strategy to use iMessage to enforce exclusivity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48883551)) - Unreliable sync and delivery (4 comments): "iMessage is taking twenty minutes to sync a message between your laptop and your phone sitting six inches apart." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47921927)) "Often my iMessages arrive on my phone 30 seconds before they arrive on my Mac" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47774429)) "your friends will send messages that don't reach you because they're still sending it as iMessage to the whole group" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46000788)) - Privacy gaps via iCloud backups (3 comments): "The part where it's practically only encryption at rest, because everyone enables iCloud backups without ADP is hidden somewhere in a footnote." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49797188)) "Apple uploading every message to themselves to read by default is different from somebody intentionally taking a screenshot" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46838260)) "Apple runs on-device content detection that pings their servers, which you can't possibly even think of disabling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46496783)) - Missing features rivals have (3 comments): "Even iMessage is lacking features that WhatsApp and Signal built 5 years ago. (And iMessage is clearly their best app.)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46521605)) "But then this doesn't work with reacting to attachments like photos as it doesn't know which photo was reacted to." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49495059)) "iMessage needs a way for a group thread to be set and labeled as low-priority collectively and preemptively" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48118002)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [WhatsApp](https://hackerapproved.com/p/whatsapp.md): 300 recommend - [Conversations XMPP client](https://hackerapproved.com/p/conversations.md): 31 recommend - [Tether (iMessage and SMS on Linux)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tether.md): 22 recommend - [Google Messages](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-messages.md): 12 recommend - [OpenBubbles](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openbubbles.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "iMessage", https://hackerapproved.com/p/imessage/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).