Why is it that WhatsApp is so big in Europe? My dad is European but lives in Mexico. Only way to get through to him when he’s in Mexico seems to be through WhatsApp.
In the USA, I think the majority of people that use WhatsApp just use it for international purposes even though there is no rate difference sending a text via SMS.
Every phone supports SMS. It’s not all that long ago that people had feature phones, but they also supported SMS. We went through thing like Facebook Messenger, but only for Facebook users, AOL Instant Messenger but only for AOL victims. Every texting/chat app has its followers but none have become dominant enough to unseat SMS.
I don’t care what texting app I use, and SMS has sufficient features (although RCS would be better). However I care most about contacting everyone I may want to, using one texting app. That’s SMS, no contest.
Or maybe credit the dominance of Apple. I use iMessages and most people I chat with do as well. However it seamlessly Integrates with SMS so I still get all my contacts in one place
If you have a phone bill, you must have a phone number, right? Surely you can receive a single verification SMS without making a permanent dent in that phone bill.