The fact that this is a real thing is ridiculous. Say no and move on with life. This is the type of freedom that is actually freeing.
SMS and as a result iMessage is the dominant text based chat.
iPhones have become the default smartphone, and is a status symbol compared to Android.
Mac vs Windows is similar on the laptop front.
Which means if your an Android user in a relatively average social group:
* You will get left out of group messages
* You will be starting on a back foot in the dating scene
On top of you wont be able to answer messages from friends on your laptop, because again, sms is dominant, not whatsapp.
Now don't shoot the messenger here. I don't like it either, but this is the social/technical reality in NA at the moment.
(sigh: receiving downvotes)
It does not function as a status symbol in the west. It's not a big deal to get one if you really want to and live in a developed country. People in asian countries making 1/8th of their american counterparts can afford iPhones. Someone making minimum wage in Germany can buy one using about 3-4 months worth of saved disposable income. In the states they'll throw one after you on credit without looking at you twice. It's only a status symbol if you want to set yourself apart from someone living in Zimbabwe... oh wait they also have lots of iPhone users. From who exactly? Afghanis?
Honestly if the bar for status symbol's is that low, you should sooner consider excercise and good dietary habits. These days in many western counties that will do many orders of magnitude more for how people perceive you and your dating life. Certainly more than what flavour of annoying chiming piece of shit you bought.
Perhaps you should be focusing on losing weight instead of blaming the color of your text messages, lmao.
My personal devices are usually Apple products and they all work together pretty seamlessly. Then I have all my other Linux servers, Windows desktops, random tablets, etc. for my hobby projects which generally require more manual configuration to work together.
I just like having my “personal” things within an aesthetically pleasing, relatively privacy preserving ecosystem but I get my kicks outside of that ecosystem aplenty.