Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has launched a website to address the so-called “green bubble” hate Android users face from iPhone users.
- The site explains RCS, Apple’s proprietary messaging platform, and more.
- Google hopes this information will inform users about why iMessage causes so many problems.
Google has been a big proponent of rich content services (RCS) for messaging apps. In fact, when US-based wireless carriers dragged their collective feet over support rollouts, Google just superseded them all and rolled it out itself.
However, no matter what Google does when it comes to messaging, it can’t supersede Apple. The iMessage platform does not use RCS and Apple’s proprietary systems create the so-called “green bubble” hatred iPhone users throw at Android users.
Google also has simultaneously published a blog post that features an interview with Google’s Elmar Weber. In the interview, Weber breaks down the fight between RCS and iMessage very succinctly. He also seemingly has little fear in saying interoperability problems between iPhones and Android phones are squarely Apple’s fault.
‘Green bubble’ hate: What’s going on?
If the green bubble phenomenon is lost on you, you probably don’t live in the United States. Here in the US, most iPhone users use iMessage as their sole chat platform. Because of this, Android users within group chats “break” various iMessage features. Rather than jump ship to a platform-agnostic service like WhatsApp or Telegram, US iPhone users simply reject Android users — sometimes destroying relationships and friendships in the process.
For years, Google remained silent on this issue. Recently, however, the company has become much more vocal. It’s directly said that Apple should adopt the RCS protocol within iMessage to play better with the rest of the world. It’s also acknowledged the green bubble phenomenon on several occasions.
Of course, Apple knows that a huge swath of US-based iPhone users would never ditch iOS solely based on their addiction to iMessage. That’s a billion-dollar enterprise for Apple, and it wouldn’t give that up without a fight. No amount of Google pointing fingers is going to change that.
Still, if you don’t have a grasp of what’s going on here, Google has a nice website on it now. So there’s that.
