When you encounter a non-Apple user and you have to interact with them with your iDevice (video calls, messaging, file transfer, etc.) do you do everything in your power to make it a good experience? Otherwise you're peer pressuring other people to enter the ecosystem.

Why do you think any part of that would be a negative experience? If I want to transfer a file to someone I can send it over using standard old smb, if I want to message them I've got imessage (which can send/recieve sms), whatsapp, signal, telegram, whatever other one you can think of). If I want to do a video call theres zoom, google meet, teams, or again any other service.

Not a single one of the items you've mentioned has to be a 'walled' experience when interacting with someone not inside the ecosystem, it's bizarre that you'd even think it would be unless you've got very little understanding of how computers work in 2023.

You clearly have very little understanding of how society works in 2023 since iPhone users in the USA almost never install third party messaging and video chatting apps.

Also your reply suggests you haven't actually understood what I wrote

And you clearly have a very limited view of the world if you think I was referring specifically to the US. Whatsapp for example is practically the de-facto messaging app across vast areas of Europe and Asia, which collectively is vastly more iOS users than the US alone.

Your reply suggests you never understood what my original post was refering to.

> It has its benefits and nobody forces you to lock yourself into their ecosystem.

Network effects absolutely do and Apple knows this. Otherwise they wouldn't go out of their way to distinguish non-Apple users in chats.

If someones shallow enough to get upset over the background colour of a message then that says a lot more about them than Apple.

> Many of us willingly pay a premium for that

Cool, stay in the walled garden if you want to. That doesn't mean other users need to be forced within in it with you, too.

That’s the thing, nobody is forced to buy an iphone.

99% of people buy hardware unaware of the how the software locks them into a walled garden.

The vast majority of people aren't thinking "Wow, I love how Apple takes away my freedom and forces me to use apps even if I might want to use something else", they're buying an iPhone because it's shiny and is what they're familiar with.

Those people deserve to be afforded user freedom and to own the devices they purchased.

You're in the minority. A tiny minority at that. Of all the 'normal' people I know that own iPhones I can tell you now that not a single one of them thinks "gee if only I could <do thing you seem to imagine they cant do>".

The average user doesn't give a crap if you can sideload some random app that is only needing to be sideloaded because its likely dodgy as hell.

Also if someones using an iOS device and is skilled enough to need to sideload then they'll know full well they CAN sideload by deploying an app from xcode.

99% of people don’t care about what you call a “walled garden”. They have no more desire for that “freedom” than you yearn to install third-party firmware on your dishwasher.

Go up to a random stranger and ask how much it would be worth to them to be able to sideload apps or have a bash terminal on their iPhone. They wouldn’t even say “zero dollars”, they would just laugh.

I am a professional iOS developer and I also couldn’t possibly care less.

And I never asked or made any indication anyone should, or would be forced into the walled garden...it's bizzare how out of touch and disconnected from the reality of using a modern computer people are.