[ALToronto]

My 13-year-old daughter is asking for an iPhone because her friends have them and are chatting on iMessage. We have spare BlackBerrys at home, so I'm not inclined to spend any money on my daughter's first smartphone.

There are no 'coolness' issues here - she likes being different. But she doesn't want to be excluded from the conversation. Can she make a BlackBerry work in this situation?

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[howarmat]

nope iOS only.

[MmmHmm]

A blackberry cannot be used to participate in iMessage conversations. There is no workaround either. You could consider an iPod touch as a cheaper way than getting an iPhone. iPod touch has iMessage and FaceTime.

[sk8er_tor]

If they're good friends, they'll download BBM

[MobileMadness002]

If they're good friends, they'll download BBM

The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the one.

[CecilTsunami]

A blackberry cannot be used to participate in iMessage conversations. There is no workaround either. You could consider an iPod touch as a cheaper way than getting an iPhone. iPod touch has iMessage and FaceTime.

This.

A really duct tape solution would be to use the BlackBerry as a Hotspot for an iPod, then she'd have iMessage and be mobile with her iPod. She might not want to carry all that though.

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[ALToronto]

Thanks everyone. We'll see if we can convince the friends to use BBM or WhatsApp, or simply text. I really don't want to buy anything Apple.

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[donnation]

If the conversation starts with your daughter in the group it will default to a text message group instead of an iMessage conversation.

[spikesolie]

If the conversation starts with your daughter in the group it will default to a text message group instead of an iMessage conversation.

I think this might be the best thing

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[Anthony_2u]

Don't not waste your money let her friend get BBM they will link the cool stickers well you have to buy those for her. I've been getting my friend on bbm and each contact I add I share their pin so they have company let them get bbm it's better save your money for school supplies.

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[mcstravi]

I have the same problem with my kids. The resistance to BBM on an Apple device is the lack of video calls.. when will BlackBerry expand that to be cross platform?!!!!

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[mikedolo]

Simple fix...Get an iphone lol

[Anthony_2u]

I have the same problem with my kids. The resistance to BBM on an Apple device is the lack of video calls.. when will BlackBerry expand that to be cross platform?!!!!

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I think they did in the form of BBM Meeting.

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[mithrazor]

Dude let her be able to talk to her friends. No need to bring mobile phone stances into her social circle.

If they use Whatsapp, even better.

If not just get her an iphone or ipod touch.

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[mad_mdx]

At 13 years old all the kids have iphones?
Seriously bbm or whatsapp should do the trick. If her friends don't want to well... must be one hell of a group

[BB Adict]

Don't not waste your money let her friend get BBM they will link the cool stickers well you have to buy those for her. I've been getting my friend on bbm and each contact I add I share their pin so they have company let them get bbm it's better save your money for school supplies.

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Do you understand that the friends already have their mode of communication? What do you think are the odds of all the friends switching their chat forum to accommodate the daughter?

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[tex3523]

So maybe i'm ignorant. But if they have a group and a non iphone user is part of it, it will still work. The message will just be sent over text instead of imessage. The message comes up green instead of blue. But that is the only difference.

I have a group text going on with iphone people and it still works.

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[1REDRUM]

Correct. My daunting has an IPhone but with Wind Monks which is not supported by Apple so she gets texts in the group chats I believe

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[howarmat]

I think it sorta works but certainly not ideal. There was another thread that pointed out the problems with doing it

[CecilTsunami]

My only experience with this was years ago, my messages kept coming as email instead of texts somehow.

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[DazzlaUK]

Get her an iPod touch. Any Apple device with Wifi built-in can iMessage. Cheap alternative (sub-$200), plus its not a cellphone.

[sk8er_tor]

Dude let her be able to talk to her friends. No need to bring mobile phone stances into her social circle.
If they use Whatsapp, even better.
If not just get her an iphone or ipod touch.

Wow, such a brilliant solution. Just buy a 13-year-old a $700 phone, I wonder why one else thought of that?

[Originalloverman]

The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the one.

That all depends on how popular his daughter is and how good her sales pitch is.

Send from the amazing powers of the  Z30

[ALToronto]

I like the text among iMessage idea. I might just try it with my Passport and one of my daughter's friends. I don't care if it's iMessage or text, as long as she can stay in touch.

My daughter does need a mobile phone. She is very independent, takes public transit by herself, so I need her to be able to get in touch with me. She had a feature phone last year, but lost it. Another reason why I don't want to get her an expensive phone.

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[Tre Lawrence]

Wow, such a brilliant solution. Just buy a 13-year-old a $700 phone, I wonder why one else thought of that?

If iMessage is the goal, one need not spend anywhere close to that amount.