bambooApple is not stoping anyone from using them.
You can’t change your default messenger on iOS, so they’re not making it easy to stop using iMessage completely.
GrayThere’s a toggle to turn off iMessage, and the phone asks you when you set it up if you want to use iMessage or not.
But will you still receive SMS messages in the iMessage app? AFAIK, there’s no way to move SMS to another app, like Whatsapp, and delete iMessage from the phone completely.
You won’t receive SMS in the “iMessage app”. Messages is the iOS messaging app, it has the ability to send messages via SMS or iMessage if the iMessage service is enabled and the recipient has an iMessage address/account. Otherwise Messages falls back to sending a message via SMS.
I know, we don’t usually make a distinction about Messages the app, and iMessage the service, and just say iMessage.