If you’re new to Android, you might be tired of using the messaging app that came preloaded on your device. While SMS may seem a bit dated in 2019, it’s still a key way for users, especially in the United States, to communicate with each other for free, regardless of the operating system our phone uses.

While the cluster of messaging apps on Android make it easy to message friends while gaining the same benefits iMessage can offer users, like read receipts, advanced messaging options, and larger photos and videos, plenty of Android users still turn to SMS to message their friends and family today, thanks to its implementation as a standard. While Android has no shortage of messaging clients, including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat, there’s no doubt that iMessage is one of the best messaging experiences you can have on the market today, and people are naturally drawn to the app like a social network. Apple’s messaging app is exclusive to their own devices running iOS or MacOS, and it’s one of the most popular instant messaging clients in the world today, particularly in North America.

Presenting your iOS-diehard friends the same question will likely result in the same amount of varied answers, but more than anything, you’ll likely hear the same word repeated time and time again: iMessage.

Android is a mature operating system there are thousands of reasons to prefer it over iOS. Maybe your reasons are more granular: you like the notification system, or the ability to change home launchers on command for all-new software experiences. Every Android user has their own reason for sticking to Google’s platform, whether it be down to the approach Google’s taken with software design and UI appearances, the modular base of Android, the ability to choose phones from all across the price range and still have a solid experience, or the high-quality camera performance we’ve seen on the likes of recent flagship Android devices. If you’re a longtime Android user, you’ve probably had friends or family members approach you and ask about why you choose to rock a Pixel 3 XL or a Galaxy S10 over something like the new iPhone XS.

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