When I text my Android-using brother I don’t get the “delivered” status that I get when I send an iMessage to my SiL. Is there an Android app for his phone that would provide that functionality?

Sure, try Signal Messenger, Telegram or WhatsApp. They all have that option. Signal Messenger is the most secure of the three options.

Android does, but both phones have to have it enabled. It's under RCS Chat in settings on my Samsung.

I read recently that they're working on making it work with an android & apple, but it's not there yet.

There's an app called "Beeper" and another called "Sunbird." He'll need an Apple ID. Other than knowing of their existence I know nothing about them.

It may help to understand:

• iMessage is not SMS/MMS. iMessage is iMessage. There is a gateway to SMS/MMS for the non-iThings users amongst us.
  
• SMS/MMS delivery is on a kind of "best effort" basis. That means it's not guaranteed. And, in fact, that "best effort" really isn't very much. It's low-priority and has no delivery receipt capability.

If you want a more reliable, not to mention more secure, messaging system use Signal Private Messenger.

SPM has another advantage over iMessage, in particular. I found out, through experimentation, that iMessage doesn't deal well with changes in network connectivity. (E.g.: Transiting from cellular to WiFi or WiFi to cellular.) It appears to sometimes take it up to several minutes to figure out the network connectivity has changed. SPM has no such problem, because it doesn't care. Whatever network transport is available is what it uses.

It’s coming soon, no more (supposedly) issues between Android and iOS:



In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard. The feature will launch via a software update “later next year” and bring a wide range of iMessage-style features to messaging between iPhone and Android users.

I think the beginnings of it are in process. My Citizen CZ gives a 'messages is working in the background' message when I get apple messages from a few apple users, but not from android users.

Thanks, PASig. That looks like the best option for our situation. I assume that Android will have to implement RCS too.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Thanks, PASig. That looks like the best option for our situation. I assume that Android will have to implement RCS too.

Android, or at least newer Samsung phones, already use RCS, as I mentioned in my first post here.

Sure would be nice, in iMessage Group texts you can opt out if everyone is on iMessage, but if one person has an Android you can't opt out, it's a PIA if you get stuck in one of those everyone having a party line text, ding, ding, ding, ding...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Sure would be nice, in iMessage Group texts you can opt out if everyone is on iMessage, ...

Personally, I wish Apple would give you a configurable filter into which you could program words and phrases for texts you wished to block.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Thanks, PASig. That looks like the best option for our situation. I assume that Android will have to implement RCS too.

It’s Apple that has been dragging their feet all this time. Android has had it all along I think

quote:

Originally posted by Bigbuck5:
Sure, try Signal Messenger, Telegram or WhatsApp. They all have that option. Signal Messenger is the most secure of the three options.

I second Bigbuck's and ensigmatic's suggestion here. Signal is waaaaaaaaay better than iMessage or SMS texting.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by Bigbuck5:
Sure, try Signal Messenger, Telegram or WhatsApp. They all have that option. Signal Messenger is the most secure of the three options.

I second Bigbuck's and ensigmatic's suggestion here. Signal is waaaaaaaaay better than iMessage or SMS texting.

For me the problem with that is that I’d never be able to get my brother and SiL to adopt it.