Here in South Europe people mostly use Viber. Edit: I was very unaware about situation in Southern Europe as I’ve learned from this post… Most people in Croatia use Viber!

  • alokir@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Really? People pay for short, unencrypted messages that can barely handle accented characters, let alone media, when there are free alternatives that are much better in the vast majority of scenarios?

    Or is free sms a common thing in people’s phone plans?

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      Pay? In the US we haven’t paid extra for SMS since about 2005. Which partly explains why it’s prevalent.

    • alianne@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Like others have commented, unlimited texting has been available in most phone plans for the better part of a decade now; I’d struggle to name a place that offers plans without it.

      As for the accented characters, that’s something I personally don’t encounter much as a native English speaker. I obviously can’t speak for those who do need those keyboards, but for me it’s not a problem.

      With regards to encryption/privacy, I can’t say that’s a concern I’ve personally had regarding my texts. Could the government read my messages? Probably, but all they’re getting is cute cat pics and random chatter about games and food and whatnot. Again, that’s another aspect that’s probably more of a concern for people in more sensitive situations, but I can’t speak for them.

      • WalrusDragonOnABike@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        USmobile still offers non-unlimited plans. I thought ting did as well, but I guess that changed at some point. But I think I’ve only heard of one person using USMobile.

    • Zippy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well most messages can be understood without accented characters and SMS is dependable to work on all devices.