In the past year, the discussions about the whole green bubble versus blue bubble debacle have intensified. The discussion is that iPhone users who send and receive messages from Android users are not getting a good experience. This Thursday, @Android tweeted about a new campaign for Apple to #GetTheMessage about RCS.
I had to spill the tea…. help out @Apple #Get the message #advertisement pic.twitter.com/EljxFqqp1d
— Vanessa Hudgens (@VanessaHudgens) August 10, 2022
I text my iMessage friends from my MacBook and everyone else from my Android phone. The experience is so broken. Please correct this @Tim is cooking https://t.co/VTLJa4Gn0B
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) August 10, 2022
Google has even launched a landing page explaining the issue, explaining what RCS is and how it might solve the green/blue bubble issue. It also explains to Android users what the problem is and why iOS users often complain about sending messages to Android users.
The campaign calls on Apple to adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) standard on iPhones so that both iPhone and Android users can have a better experience when messaging across platforms. Admittedly, this is a non-issue in most markets outside of the US, where cross-platform messaging apps are preferred. In the US, the default messaging platform (iMessage or Android Messages) is preferred by most consumers.
Aside from the dreaded green bubble, iPhone users are experiencing a downgrade in messaging by returning to the decades-old standards: SMS for messaging and MMS for video and photos. This means there are no typing or delivery notifications, messages are not sent securely, while images and videos are compressed into pixelated junk.
Apple could, in theory, adopt the RCS messaging standard, as it is universal – unlike iMessage which only works on iPhones and other Apple devices. By including RCS in its messaging app, Apple could improve its users’ messaging experience by making the default messaging standard more secure with end-to-end encryption, enabling typing and reading notifications, and improving the quality of images and videos of the current MMS video/photos limitation of less than one megabyte. MMS also does not have the option to allow users to leave a group MMS chat.
Apple relies on its users to get addicted to its services and platforms, with iMessage being one of the biggest drivers, for iPhone sales and to keep customers on Apple devices. It’s no secret that iPhone users despise green bubbles, enough to keep telling their Android friends to switch to iPhone so they can join the group chat.