I previously asked this question, regarding using a Windows phone to hold group text message conversations with iPhone users. I finally got my Windows 8 phone, and that answer turns out to be incorrect, at least from everything I've tried.
Some friends with iPhones have open Messaging conversations which include me - those messages would go to the whole group and could be responded to the whole group when we were all on iPhones. Now that I've got a Windows phone, I'm getting the messages as regular SMS, but they're individual messages, so I can't see who's in the group, and when I reply, it only goes to that individual.
I also tested by starting a new conversation in my phone to two iPhone users. Both of them received the message, but it only showed me, not a group, and of course their reply came only to me.
Any idea if it's possible to interact with iPhone users Messaging application for group conversations? I'm not seeing any settings on my phone which relate to this. The only alternative I can think of is a chat application rather than traditional SMS, but that would mean everyone would need to use that service.