Being green isn’t always easy on the iPhone screen

Would you date someone who texted you with a green speech bubble?

Immediate issue: Messages sent between iPhones use Apple’s iMessage service and appear blue on these devices. Incoming messages from Android phones or older devices (SMS messages without modern features such as reactions or typing indicators) are displayed in green.

That distinction takes on a surprising kind of cultural dimension. Some iPhone users, who often call themselves hipster, successful, or financially comfortable, downplay the green bubble on their screens, turning it into a marker of identity and class. changing. Sometimes they even claim it’s a deal-breaker when it comes to romantic partners.

Don’t forget to petition the dedicated website Android Authority: There’s a man behind the green speech bubble on the iPhone.

It may sound silly, but the real question is how messaging works on modern devices. Should our method of communication be a unique combination of services that change depending on the phone purchased, or should there be universal or shared standard options?

Google has a clear answer. This week, the company launched a new campaign called #getthemessage, meant to put Apple to shame for adopting her RCS. A message on Google’s Android website reads, “It’s time for Apple to fix text messaging.”

That standard, which stands for Rich Communication Services, is essentially the next generation of traditional text messaging, a small blank note currently limited to 160 characters.

Evolved text messages have a certain meaning. For example, just as phone calls have evolved to become clearer and more reliable as technology has improved, so should text messaging.

However, text messaging, which works by sending messages from phone numbers to phone numbers, has been superseded by many proprietary messaging services. Most notably WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, and iMessage, which only works on Apple devices.

For us end users, the newest offering was simply better. You can send small images, form group chats, and see if others are reading your messages or typing messages to you.

But the companies that offer these services also have economic incentives to create their own small message silos. For example, WhatsApp has also evolved into a payment service. And in many parts of Asia, WhatsApp (WeChat in China) is how many people not only communicate, but also do business.

For Apple, the draw is a little different. Making messaging between iPhones seamless, while making messaging between iPhones and Android phones clunky creates a network effect. I myself have been recommending purchasing an Apple device because I want to be able to easily send messages between family members. More simply, I just want people to be blue bubbles instead of green.

This is Apple’s usual practice — iPhone buyers become iPad and MacBook or Apple Watch users because their products work best with their own products.

However, communications should not be proprietary and should not be limited to any particular company. The act of communication, by its very nature, should be as open as possible. Anyone with a modern digital device should be able to connect with anyone. Just like most people can make phone calls, everyone should be able to send the latest messages. With technology upgraded, it’s time for everyone to embark on a new standard.

Google is correct in that sense. In fact, Apple should “get the message” and adopt the new RCS standard.

But let’s be clear: Google’s reasoning isn’t just lofty egalitarianism. Its own messaging strategy was an unmitigated disaster. At one point, there were three or four separate messaging apps compared to Apple’s. One of the reasons Google wants his RCS to succeed is because his own efforts to build something useful and good have largely failed.

Apple is doing the right thing by itself and its shareholders, but finds itself in one of those situations where things would be better if the standard existed as an option in addition to all the other services. .

Another example is that when technology is part of our daily lives, it is too important and too risky to leave it to the market or big tech. It is precisely the role of the state to regulate telecommunications standards, just as it is the role of the market to provide alternatives to those standards. But right now, that delicate balance has been broken. Google is right to try to reverse things, at least for that part.

share: