> Maybe you could keep using the app(s) whatever you were.
I was using Android Messages, which has a web app. The experience was mediocre because the web app had trouble connecting to my phone all the damn time.
I text some people almost exclusively through Facebook Messenger, and I think the rest I will try to move from text to WhatsApp. Both Meta-owned, unfortunately, but those seem to be easy to use cross-device and almost everybody has them.
If you're already using Thunderbird as mail client, you can integrate Google Messages add-on [1] into Thunderbird app which I have been using happily for over a year without much trouble (sans the incoming texts notification feature). Seemingly this add-on has all features akin to the Google Messages Android app.
I am from India - WhatsApp is messaging here. Scratch that - WhatsApp is communication here. So that’s not really a choice. Maybe you’d have the app for your region unless you’re from USA where I’ve heard it’s iMessage.
In Australia it's iMessage and FB Messenger, mostly. But that's also dependent on where you or your family is from: I came here from NZ, so iMessage/Messenger is normal, but my Indian friends use WhatsApp as a matter of course!
I am not sure there is anything comparable in the US to the way WhatsApp is used in other parts of the world. People just default use SMS texting in the US and Canada. A lot of people do have WhatsApp here though
I was using Android Messages, which has a web app. The experience was mediocre because the web app had trouble connecting to my phone all the damn time.
I text some people almost exclusively through Facebook Messenger, and I think the rest I will try to move from text to WhatsApp. Both Meta-owned, unfortunately, but those seem to be easy to use cross-device and almost everybody has them.