I don't really like iMessage. Is their another user friendly message app. And if so how would you keep iMessage from downloading the message when using another messaging app.
iMessage is part of the iPhone. You can turn it off in the settings and just use SMS. Or you could use a different app like FB messenger or BBM or whatsapp.
If someone sends you a text to your phone number, it will come in to iMessage. If you turn iMessage off, it still comes in to the Messages app as SMS. Other means of messaging require the other person to use the same app. Like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
I apologize if this is a thread jack but I don't notice a huge difference between regular messaging and iMessage other than the conversation turns blue and you can see usually when someone reads your sent message. What's so great about iMessage?