iPhone incurs unnecessary charges for inserting SIM cards - please complain to Apple

[ronwi]

I know this is not the primary point of your post, but as to the point below - I would hazard a guess that close to 90% of Americans are unfamiliar with the term SMS. While the term pops up in writing occasionally in the US, it is almost never used in speech. The term "text message" is used exclusively.

So while it is one thing to use the term "SMS" within the settings which most people look at rarely if at all, if the word SMS were an option within iMessage itself most Americans would have no idea what it was.

Originally Posted by NFH

While I'm on the subject of iMessage, I'll also mention two other problems with it that are not related to switching SIM cards:

• There is an inconsistency in terminology between "Send as SMS" (within Settings->Messages) and "Send as Text Message" within the Messages app. Many users don't realise that “Send as Text Message” means that the message will be sent as chargeable SMS. "Text message" could be semantically understood to mean both SMS or iMessage, and so Apple should eliminate the ambiguity caused by this unnecessary use of two different terms and simply relabel "Send as Text Message" to "Send as SMS".

]

[NFH]

Originally Posted by ronwi

I would hazard a guess that close to 90% of Americans are unfamiliar with the term SMS. While the term pops up in writing occasionally in the US, it is almost never used in speech. The term "text message" is used exclusively.

The point is that the term "text message" can mean multiple protocols - SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, Viber etc. All are forms of text message. "Send as text message" doesn't make it clear that the message will be sent by the only chargeable one of these protocols, i.e. SMS.

[ronwi]

Originally Posted by NFH

The point is that the term "text message" can mean multiple protocols - SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, Viber etc. All are forms of text message. "Send as text message" doesn't make it clear that the message will be sent by the only chargeable one of these protocols, i.e. SMS.

I agree - but what wording would you suggest that Apple use that would be universally understood given that the vast majority of people in the US are not familiar with the term SMS? I would say that most people here understand the words "text message" to refer to SMS. They would not take it to mean WhatsApp, Viber, etc. (which has a relatively small user base in the US due to domestic SMS generally being unlimited and free.) I suppose a solution would be to use the phrase "text message" in the US English version of IOS, and SMS in other English language versions.

[NFH]

Originally Posted by ronwi

I would say that most people here understand the words "text message" to refer to SMS. They would not take it to mean WhatsApp, Viber, etc. (which has a relatively small user base in the US due to domestic SMS generally being unlimited and free.)

I agree that "text message" would only very loosely cover WhatsApp and Viber. However, "text message" clearly refers to both SMS and iMessage, both of which function within iOS's Messages app. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between chargeable SMS via the GSM network and free-of-charge iMessage via IP. In the same way that the Settings menu refers to "Send as SMS", the Messages app should be consistent by using the same terminology. I understand that the marginal cost of sending SMS in the US is zero only on daily or monthly price plans and where the destination number is also a US number; many SMS messages are therefore chargeable from the US.