For more than a decade, smartphone users around the world have faced a major problem in the way we communicate: the “green versus blue bubble” disparity.
When iPhone users send text messages to other iPhones, the messages appear in blue and they can take advantage of exclusive benefits like fun emojis and animations. But if an iPhone user sends a text message to an Android user, the bubble turns green, many features break, and the quality of photos and videos deteriorates.
Over time, the annoyance and frustration that built up between the blue and green bubbles became more than just a technological problem. He created a deeper sociological divide between people who judged each other by their phones. The color of a bubble has become a symbol that some believe reflects status and wealth, given the perception that only the rich buy iPhones.
Now part of this problem will soon be addressed.
This month, Apple announced that it would improve the technology used to send text messages between iPhone and Android users, starting next year, adopting a standard that Google and others integrated into their messaging apps years ago. Text messages sent between iPhones and Androids will remain green, but images and videos will look higher quality and security features like encryption may eventually arrive, Apple said.
But that’s where the good news ends. The bubble culture war is far from over.
On dating apps, Green bubble users are often rejected by blue ones.. Adults with iPhones have been known to laugh privately at each other when a green bubble contaminates a group chat. In schools, a green bubble is an invitation to ridicule and exclusion from children with iPhones, according to Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that focuses on the impact of technology on families.
“This green versus blue issue is a form of cyberbullying,” said Jim Steyer, executive director of Common Sense, which works with thousands of schools that have shared stories about tensions between children using messaging apps.
That means it’s now up to us to do better and smash digital elitism. Solutions, including third-party messaging apps that work consistently between different phones, have been around for years. The rest is to modify our behavior.
Go beyond the default values
tech companies are well aware of the power of defaults. Whatever technology comes loaded into a device, it’s the one the vast majority of people are likely to use, because it requires the least amount of effort. The reason we face the blue versus green bubble problem is that we stick to the default texting app that is linked to our phone numbers.
However, we have options. Third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal have bridged the gap between iPhones and Androids for years. They link user accounts to phone numbers, making contacting people similar to using a standard text messaging app. These apps also include features like encryption, support for group chats, the ability to send high-resolution photos and videos, and, yes, fun emojis and stickers.
So the next time you exchange numbers with someone on a different phone platform, consider asking the person to stay in touch through an alternative messaging app. This could be a difficult task for less technologically inclined people, such as family members who barely know how to use their phone. In that case, give them a hand setting up their phones. Most Android phones, for example, can be modified to automatically send and receive all messages from a third-party application.
If third-party apps don’t appeal to you, there are other ways to send text messages. Many younger people flock to apps like Discord, Snapchat and Instagram, which have messaging capabilities that work consistently across different types of phones.
It comes down to whether you care more about your technological preferences or your relationships with people, said Irina Raicu, director of Internet ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
“Easy and fluid means frictionless and effortless, but sometimes you may have to put in more effort simply because someone has a different phone than you,” he said. “Relationships take effort.”
Leave elitism
in a popular memes On TikTok and YouTube, a man asks random women on the street a question: “He’s a 10, but he has an Android phone. What is his new rating? Most women respond with “1” or “0” and make comments like “The green bubble, it’s not good, it’s cheap.”
Let’s get closer to the stereotype. It’s true that Android phones can be more affordable than iPhones because several companies make a wider range of them, including budget models that cost as little as $100. But the best-selling Android phone brand, Samsung, makes flagship Galaxy phones that cost between $800 and $1,100, or about the same as Apple’s iPhones.
There is also no evidence that everyone who buys iPhones is rich. One in five Americans believes a new iPhone is worth going into debt, survey finds WalletHuba personal finance research company.
People choose their phones for a variety of reasons, including features like screen size, camera quality, and battery life. While budget may be a factor, a green bubble is not a strong indicator of a person’s income or social status.
Set an example
At social gatherings, many adults still worry about the colors of the bubbles. When a text conversation turns green, not only do photos and videos look terrible, but fun features like adding stickers to messages no longer work properly and it becomes impossible to leave a group chat. (Messages presented as green bubbles also lack encryption, an important privacy feature, although this is not usually what people worry about.)
These complaints can influence our children to behave more negatively, Steyer said. For several years, teenagers with Android phones have shared stories about converting to iPhone because they were be left out of iMessage group chats about homework and extracurricular activities.
It’s up to adults to show kids that many of these technology problems can be addressed and to remind them that a person’s phone is just a phone, not much more.
Those adults should include executives at Apple and Google, who have relied on the bubble wars to try to persuade users to join their platforms, Steyer said.
At a technology conference last year with Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, an iPhone user in the audience asked if Apple would make improvements to its messaging app so he could send clearer videos to his mother, who used an Android phone. Mr. Cook flippantly told the interrogator that buy an iphone for your mothera response that many critics considered elitist.
Apple and Google declined to comment.
“Get over it – show some maturity here,” Steyer said. “You don’t want to intimidate or embarrass other people because of the color of their bubble or the type of phone.”
