Google VP criticizes Apple iMessage for "green bubble bullying" of Android users

On the morning of January 8, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Why Apple's iMessage Wins: Teens Are Afraid of Green Text Bubbles," which pointed out some problems with Apple's iMessage instant messaging application: Apple users use blue text bubbles by default in iMessage, and because Apple forces Andriod devices to use SMS (text messaging service) instead of sending messages through network data, Android users' messages in iMessage are displayed in green bubbles. The "blue/green bubble" difference makes teenagers using Android phones suffer from discrimination in social activities - "Never date a green text message user."

On January 9, Google Senior Vice President Hiroshi Lockheimer expressed his opinion on this, criticizing Apple for apparently using this “peer pressure” and “bubble bullying” around iMessage to consolidate its market position:

For a company that makes humanity and fairness a core part of its marketing, it is disingenuous to use peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell its products. In fact, the communication service standards that exist today (referring to RCS) can completely solve this blue-green bubble problem.

At the same time, Google and Hiroshi Lockheimer are calling on Apple to adopt the modern RCS communication standard in iMessage: unify the user experience of iOS and Android users to eliminate the problem of "green bubble discrimination" for Android users.

What is RCS? It stands for Rich Communication Suite, which is part of the latest advanced messaging standard. In addition to text messages, RCS also supports high-quality picture messages up to 10MB, group chats, location sharing, and even video calls by default. The service also supports complex features such as read receipts (such as the read function of DingTalk) and typing indicators (WeChat's "the other party is typing" function). As the latest communication standard, RCS has been supported by 55 mobile operators (including my country's three major operators) and 11 manufacturers (well-known companies such as ASUS, HTC, Lenovo, LG, Huawei, Samsung and ZTE).

After the previous tweet sparked heated discussions, Hiroshi Lockheimer once again explained his proposed solution in detail on January 11, and severely accused Apple of "hindering the development of the communications industry":

• We are not asking Apple to offer iMessage on Android.
• We are simply asking Apple to support industry standards for modern messaging (referring to RCS) in iMessage, just as they support the older SMS/MMS standards.
• Supporting RCS will improve the experience for both iOS and Android users. Yes, RCS will also improve the experience and privacy of iOS users.
• By not integrating RCS, Apple is holding the industry back and hindering the user experience for both Android users and their own customers.

At present, Apple has not responded to the content of the Wall Street Journal and Hiroshi Lockheimer, but there is a short paragraph in an email from Apple's Chief Software Officer Federighi in 2013 that may reflect Apple's attitude:

• In the absence of a strategy to become the primary messaging service for (the) bulk of cell phone users, I am concerned the iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove (an) obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.

Without having strategically become the primary messaging service for (most) mobile users, I worry that iMessage on Android will remove the barrier for iPhone families to buy Android phones for their kids.

This article is reproduced from OSCHINA

Title of this article: Google VP criticizes Apple iMessage for "green bubble bullying" of Android users

Article URL: https://www.oschina.net/news/178102/apple-imessage-for-android