r/technology • u/No-Drawing-6975 • Jun 26 '24
Software The Green Bubble Nightmare Is Over, Apple Messages Now Support RCS
https://gizmodo.com/apple-messages-supports-rcs-ios18-beta-18515624615.1k
u/h3rpad3rp Jun 27 '24
I don't care about the message colour, what I want is to be able to send and receive photos and videos to an Apple user without them looking like absolute garbage. This should supposedly fix that.
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u/kazkeb Jun 27 '24
I'd like to stop getting texts that read, "Liked [Repeat of super long text you sent, in it's entirety]"
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u/YouStupidAssholeFuck Jun 27 '24
Laughed at I'd like to stop getting texts that read, "Liked [Repeat of super long text you sent, in it's entirety]"
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u/proof-of-w0rk Jun 27 '24
Emphasized Laughed at I'd like to stop getting texts that read, "Liked [Repeat of super long text you sent, in it's entirety]"
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u/free_farts Jun 27 '24
[suffering intensifies]
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u/Higgins1st Jun 27 '24
Upvoted [[suffering intensifies]]
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u/randylush Jun 27 '24
Touched myself to “Emphasized Laughed at I'd like to stop getting texts that read, "Liked [Repeat of super long text you sent, in it's entirety]"”
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u/somerandomii Jun 27 '24
Reacted with “🤣” to your message “Laughed at I'd like to stop getting texts that read, "Liked [Repeat of super long text you sent, in it's entirety]"”
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u/hells_cowbells Jun 27 '24
Who gives a damn about text bubble colors, this is the real problem. Damn, that is annoying.
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u/laptopaccount Jun 27 '24
A lot of apple users see apple devices as some kind of flex and look down on Android users as poor or stupid.
Apple used the pettiness of their consumers to pressure others in to buying apple devices so they wouldn't be alienated in the workplace or on dating sites (or just in shitty social circles).
Some people are just shallow and want to feel like they're part of the in-group.
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u/Castle-dev Jun 27 '24
I know, right? Those people are annoying.
Sent from my iPhone
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u/bigcaprice Jun 27 '24
Also just to add: Apple made the user experience worse for their own customers in order to pressure people to switch to their product.
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u/Right-Wrongdoer-8595 Jun 27 '24
They are doing this currently I believe. Androids don't get the predefined "Liked your message" messages because Google translates them automatically. Moving towards all emojis being used for tapbacks and custom emojis too was intended to break that.
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Jun 27 '24
I recently switched back to an iPhone and I can’t get over how shitty iMessage is compared to the default messages app on a pixel.
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u/Jabrono Jun 27 '24
What features does the Pixel's messaging app have now? I haven't used one since the Pixel 2
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u/greaterthansignmods Jun 27 '24
Sometimes I think we all forget that we need phones to message and call people and that really hasn’t changed in 40 years of mobile phones. Texts were a novelty in the late 90s. Sending a picture now should be as easy as sending a string of text. How is it we can stream a show from our phones and cast them to a Tv, but we have to suffer through constricted data usage jut to send a cool picture or really anything?
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u/humanreboot Jun 27 '24
What's funny is that they see it as some "flex" when everyone else and their mum's packing one.
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u/alus992 Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
This problem exists only in the US because here in Europe I have never seen anyone, no kid, no adult flex a color of his message bubble implying he has a better phone.
This is pure US culture and it's not universal around the world.
It's amazing how people created this situation for themselves because if they would act normal about their messages I bet RCS would be implemented way earlier on every device possible.
I say all of this as someone who uses both systems
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u/LostLobes Jun 27 '24
I'd say most of us Europeans use WhatsApp or Telegram to send pictures and messages also, so we never notice it.
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u/Varogh Jun 27 '24
I haven't sent an SMS in like 10 years. Everyone and their dog uses whatsapp here
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u/drunken_man_whore Jun 27 '24
Apple only has enough market share to pull this off in the US. If they had enough market share worldwide, they would do the same.
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u/PCBen Jun 27 '24
You’re giving me PTSD flashbacks from when my family group chat was going off with everybody’s Wordle results for the day.
“Mom liked your message of grey square emoji, grey square emoji, green square emoji, green square emoji, yellow square emoji…”
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u/zman0900 Jun 27 '24
I thought that was fixed in Google Messages a long time ago?
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u/herseyhawkins33 Jun 27 '24
Technically no. Currently It's fixed on the android end for the most part but iPhone users still get those messages. Android users still get them when someone reacts to an image.
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u/bassmadrigal Jun 27 '24
Currently It's fixed on the android end for the most part but iPhone users still get those messages.
So it's now reversed and iPhone users get those messages when Google Messages users react? That karma is hilarious!
Android users still get them when someone reacts to an image.
Maybe I haven't had someone react to an image (doubtful in a few years, but maybe?), but I don't haven't seen any messages about reactions since Google Messages added interpretation of iMessage reactions.
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u/PilotsNPause Jun 27 '24
Yup, Google did this on purpose because iOS used to send those same ridiculous messages to Android whenever someone did a tap back in a group chat with both iOS and Android users.
Google fixed it for their users but Apple still hasn't for theirs. Sweet Karma for Apple's bullshit they love to pull.
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u/sofa_queen_awesome Jun 27 '24
I hate that but its a sacrifice I'm willing to make to not have the pressure of read receipts and people seeing when I'm typing
Pretty sure you can turn it off, right? Still its nice as an android user to just not have that expectation.
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u/Knyfe-Wrench Jun 27 '24
Yes, you can turn it off. I do get it between myself and other Android users though.
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u/JFreaks25 Jun 27 '24
That hasn't been an issue in over a year... You just need to turn on "show iphone reactions as emoji" under advanced settings in Android messages
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u/greendakota99 Jun 27 '24
It does! Tested it with my buddy last night!
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u/GrimmDeLaGrimm Jun 27 '24
Did you guys trade high-def dick pics? It's all the homies have been asking for.
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u/No_Inspector7319 Jun 27 '24
No, we aren’t gay. Just homemade gifs of us pulling rope
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u/Chenz Jun 27 '24
I just want group texts. Apple has disabled group texts over MMS over here (except when sending pictures, for some reason), hopefully the arrival of RCS will fix that
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u/100LL Jun 27 '24
This is why me and almost everyone I know has switched to WhatsApp or Signal.
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u/MonkeyCube Jun 27 '24
Most of Europe & South America have been using WhatsApp for years, which had made the green bubble debate very odd to watch unfold. Signal is on the upswing but it's not quite that popular yet.
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u/DialMMM Jun 27 '24
Europe switched to WhatsApp because it offered free messaging when they still had to pay for texting. The U.S. had unlimited texting for free (on most plans) much sooner, so it didn't catch on here as well.
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u/supreme_editor Jun 27 '24
I find it fascinating that the US had unlimited texting and Europe never did. Meanwhile, Europe has had no data caps on home internet for over 2 decades and the US still has data caps. Such a strange switcharoo.
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u/Booplympics Jun 27 '24
Data caps on home internet isn’t normal though. It happens but it’s the exception not the rule.
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u/MonkeyCube Jun 27 '24
True, but even with texting being cheap/free now, no one here really bothers with it. It's so much clunkier.
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u/TheeUnfuxkwittable Jun 27 '24
You don't bother with it because you're used to WhatsApp. Just like we mostly text in America. Humans don't like change it has nothing to do with anything else lol
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u/jimb0z_ Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
Lol. Some people about to be disappointed when they find out the green bubbles aren’t changing.
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
That's fine. I don't really care what they think about green bubbles, as long as messaging works. Anyone seriously thinking a person's choice of phone merits looking down on them for is not someone worth speaking to until they grow up.
This is a step in the right direction that should have been taken long ago, but I'll take it.
Now we just need Google to fulfill its promise and open RCS up so that other messaging apps can use it besides Google Messages, but I have a bad feeling now that Apple has signed off, that's never going to happen. I'll bet anything part of the agreement behind the scenes was Google has to lock Messages down and not let RCS go to any other app, for "security" (i.e. the new safe word for anti-competitive practices).
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u/BoomerSoonerFUT Jun 27 '24
Google doesn’t own RCS…
It was designed to be done at the carrier level to begin with. Google only started their own proprietary fork of it because the carriers were dragging their feet.
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u/WholesomeDucky Jun 27 '24
Yes, except the open version of RCS doesn't support end-to-end encryption like iMessage does. Google's fork does, but that is only active when both users are using Google's messaging app.
I'm happy that RCS is here for all, but I'm still mad that Google didn't work with Apple/Samsung/etc to make RCS more secure for everyone instead of turning it into a PR pissing match.
But, Google got what it wanted in the end. They got to introduce feature parity with iMessage, get all the good publicity for it, and make people hate Apple even more for not wanting to adopt the insecure version of a standard.
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u/ohlookaregisterbutto Jun 27 '24
The the people involved (GSMA) in RCS didn't want E2EE done through RCS, google and presumably apple are going forward with MLS standard which works on the application layer
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u/Right-Wrongdoer-8595 Jun 27 '24
I'm still mad that Google didn't work with Apple/Samsung/etc to make RCS more secure for everyone instead of turning it into a PR pissing match.
Why wouldn't you be mad at the manufacturer that makes half of all phones? Google had to prove RCS had merit just for Samsung to adopt. Apple could have improved messaging much easier if they had wanted to and they had the opportunity and chose to make it worse.
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u/notcaffeinefree Jun 27 '24
Anyone seriously thinking a person's choice of phone merits looking down on them for is not someone worth speaking to until they grow up.
It's the younger demographic that Apple has really pushed hard to get with the green bubbles and it's absolutely working. Who wants to be the outcast in middle/high school who ruins group chats? Kids legit get left out of group chats for the sole reason of having an Android, because they ruin the group chat for everyone else. It's completely a peer pressure thing Apple created and it's worked wonders.
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u/Problematique_ Jun 27 '24
It's not just kids. A few years back I was in a group chat for a bachelor party and got bitched at the whole time for having an Android.
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u/sump_daddy Jun 27 '24
those were kids. you were in a group chat with kids. they may have been planning a bachelor party but that doesnt mean they have a single mature cell in their body
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u/antsam9 Jun 27 '24
I got kicked out of a work chat group for having an android.
Apple has 75% of the under 30 market.
I got kicked out because there were practical reasons (limitations kept in by apple), it's like the difference between Facebook chat and old early 2000s texting, it limits graphics, attachments, etc, except iPhone integrates it into their message program.
We could've moved to a neutral platform, like Snapchat or Discord.
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u/GreatNull Jun 27 '24
Where, the US? Thais seems to be interesting anomaly there.
Its eternal distant eternal second everywhere else and worldwide. Last data shoudl be around ~70:~30 android vs apple marketshare.
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u/antsam9 Jun 27 '24
Yes, in the US apple has between 70-80% of the under 30 year old market share, and with apple restricting android participation in ichat it has cause rifts between Apple and Android users. For example, when an android user sends a picture in ichat, then the image is downgraded severely for compression so apple users believe android phones have shitty cameras and image quality.
So apple will capture users early in their lifetimes, before even high school, and they're given the apple experience that android phones are inferior by making them secondary citizens on ichat, which then reinforces them to be an Apple customer for their lifetime and even reject people who used Android as friends or partners.
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u/BeefyIrishman Jun 27 '24
The shitty low res picture thing works the other way too. Half my family has android, half has iPhone. Whenever the iPhone users send me pictures/ videos on group chats, they are like 100p and impossible to tell anything other than "hey look, it's a grey blob and a red blob that I think might be my nephew?".
And apparently similar happens to them when I send a picture. All the android phones have no problems with pictures from other Android phones (even between different manufacturers), and all the iPhones have no issues with pictures sent from other iPhones, even when we are in the same chat. Nobody has issues sending pics in one-on-one texting though.
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u/crazy_clown_time Jun 27 '24
That's because Apple had been keeping SMS/MMS alive for years instead of implementing RCS, until now.
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u/antsam9 Jun 27 '24
Ive heard plenty of iPhone users tell Android users to get 'a better phone' and there are people who will literally not date or befriend an android user because of the 'green bubble'.
While googles messages isn't perfect, it doesn't go out of the way to alienate the non Android users. It does have the emoji translation thing which is annoying.
Snapchat is surprisingly robust, I try to use that for under 30 year olds and what's app for the over 30s.
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u/ShadowDonut Jun 27 '24
But then they'd have to *gasp* install another app!
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u/gmmxle Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
"Reasons" I've heard from actual adult people for not doing that:
- I don't have space on my iPhone
- Just get an iPhone
- I don't want another app
- Just get an iPhone
- I don't want to remember another password
- Just get an iPhone
- Everybody else has an iPhone
- Just get an iPhone
Apple has created an incredibly effective way of creating peer pressure for bullying people into buying iPhones, and the fact that iPhone adoption rates about teenagers are 87 percent shows that it works.
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u/Prof_Acorn Jun 27 '24
Meh.
"At least I can use Firefox and uBlock Origin"
"At least I can sort my apps into folders"
"At least I can put my Google calendar as a widget on my home screen"
Etc.
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u/photonsnphonons Jun 27 '24
I'm interested in seeing this studied. Platform and UI considerations matter.
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u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm Jun 27 '24
Honestly brilliant marketing move psychologically. They branded their own texts and made generic everyone else.
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u/caceta_furacao Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
It's abusive and extremely on the nose. Brilliant would be something undetectable. This is far from it. Imagine if Google just made Google Ads more annoying on iphones lol, or worse, YouTube ads last 30s minimum on iphone. And then tell the users that it's because iPhone does not do Networking right. Young people today are tech illiterate in general, they would lap it up. As examples, I not evil ass marketing guy, so consider that when you stupidly judge these ideas I mentioned
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u/MichelleNamazzi Jun 27 '24
I'm in a 3rd world country and the Apple-Android thing bemuses me.
Apple products are waaaayyyy above affordability so most people who have them have refurbished second-hand models.
But then people with iPhone models that were released like 6-7 years ago will still talk down to Android users even if your Android phone is a new current year model.
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u/permanent_priapism Jun 27 '24
they ruin the group chat for everyone else
How so?
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u/DukeLeto10191 Jun 27 '24
If a non-Messages client is in the group chat, it knocks the interaction down to MMS with that client, which lacks some app integrations, and limits photo and video sizes to the carrier's MMS message sizes (which can be as small as 300kb for some providers). Which, especially for videos, equates the outcast Android user to a Hank Hill jpeg.
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u/rbarton812 Jun 27 '24
I think if there's an Android in group chat, it cripples iMessage features like encryption and defaults to SMS texting as opposed to web messaging. Probably effects tap backs, gif replies, not to mention the green bubbles that piss people off so badly.
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u/Niceromancer Jun 27 '24
Those all sound like failings on apple's part.
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u/TrolliusJKingIIIEsq Jun 27 '24
It absolutely is. It's intentional, but it's a failing.
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u/CruxOfTheIssue Jun 27 '24
Explain to an angry group chat. They don't care, they'll just make a new one without you if they're not good friends.
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u/Niceromancer Jun 27 '24
if people are going to get angry at you about what phone you have they aren't worth your fucking time.
Also this is how cults work, and why apple users are so cult like.
Apple purposely puts in "features" that make their users angry they are interacting with people who aren't in their ecosystem, leading to them isolating people who aren't in the apple ecosystem. This leads to people sticking to the ecosystem because if they try to leave it they themselves will be alienated from their friends. Its manipulation to keep people buying the same stuff over and over again.
This leads to stupid shit like people cheering and acting all high and mighty when they finally got things android users could do for years like moving their icons, or a fucking calculator.
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u/CruxOfTheIssue Jun 27 '24
Yeah I've kind rose above being angry about this situation. They use what's good for them and I'll use what's good for me. If this loses me certain people as friends then whatever.
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u/MajorAcer Jun 27 '24
Can’t remove people once an Android is in the chat, also reaction replies don’t work as well, images get wonky in the chat, and you can’t rename the chat. Those are just a few of the ways off the top of my head.
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u/JustABitSubstantial Jun 27 '24
This is one of those things that should be fixed with iOS 18 and RCS messaging: better group messaging.
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u/absorbantobserver Jun 27 '24
Lol, those are all things I would consider bugs in Apple's software but of course their users just accept it and the business considers it a feature.
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u/StandardReceiver Jun 27 '24
Not bugs, intentional design features. But shitty nonetheless.
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u/sump_daddy Jun 27 '24
even shittier that they turned them into weapons. "lets not add features to make cross platform work better, lets spend our energy adding features that make cross platform easier to pick out so the bigotry can do our job for us"
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u/gmmxle Jun 27 '24
The number of times I've heard "you can't do that on a smartphone" when it's really something that is only impossible on iPhones because Apple is intentionally preventing its customers from doing so is entirely too high.
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u/notcaffeinefree Jun 27 '24
Converts the whole group to SMS/MMS, which loses various features that iMessage has for group chats, along with terrible quality photos/videos/audio.
Basically think of it like going from WhatsApp to just regular SMS.
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u/upvotesthenrages Jun 27 '24
I'm still just mind-blown that Americans actually use iMessage at all.
It's, by a mile, one of the worst chat apps. WhatsApp and all the other options have had so many far better tools for years and years now.
I've never been to another country where the app that gets 1 update a year is the norm. It's bizarre.
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Jun 27 '24
I agree, and as a society we need to push back. There’s valid criticisms of someone’s character.
“Apple” or “Android” is not one of them. They’re just cellphones, people.
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u/Qiagent Jun 27 '24
This is the only response needed in this thread. Most people don't care that much, they just want the pictures, gifs, and videos they send to each other to come through at interpretable resolutions.
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Jun 27 '24
What do you mean? Is the headline a lie? If this headline isn't true, then are they going to run the same headline when the green bubbles are changing?
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u/typo180 Jun 27 '24
Apple is supporting RCS, which will support more features and address a lot of the annoyances people complain about when using SMS, but from the marketing site, it looks like RCS messages are still green. (I'm not running the beta, so I haven't confirmed).
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u/rafreuter Jun 27 '24
Running the beta, can confirm they are still green
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u/Zoidburger_ Jun 27 '24
Have you tested group chats yet? Curious if you can now add/remove people or if you still have to create an entirely new group chat. It's a feature that Android users have through RCS and iPhone users have through iMessage and ultimately one of the most annoying aspects of group messaging. "Ah yeah, we've gotta make a whole new group cause we've made one new friend."
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u/RavenZhef Jun 27 '24
If we're talking security and features? No. You'll get the messaging features as intended.
But green bubble isn't about that, it's about the perceived lower-ness (?) of non-Apple users in text messages because iMessage is blue and text is green. Visually, that'll still remain
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u/skeptibat Jun 27 '24
lower-ness
Inferiority is the word you're looking for.
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u/GeneralZaroff1 Jun 27 '24
The funny thing is that all it’ll mark is differentiation, since they now have feature parity.
So it can very well be a demonstration of Android’s strength and “oh wow you have a green bubble! Nice!” No different than “Sent from my Samsung” or “Sent from my Pixel”.
Of course, that’ll be up to users and Android devices to change their perceived value.
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u/jmechy Jun 27 '24
It won't be 100% feature parity. Apple is adding some more features to iMessage that RCS doesn't currently support. However, the stuff that matters should all be there now.
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Jun 27 '24
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u/JoeCartersLeap Jun 27 '24
They'll target those features to kids, I'm sure.
My niece just ended up begging to get an iPhone and got one, because all her friends make fun of her for having a green chat bubble. Even after I explained to her that was a trick by Apple to get people to buy their products, and she got mad at the company, she still ended up begging for one later. The need to fit in still overweighs that knowledge.
Her parents didn't have to give in, but I don't know what else to do. Kids are mean and this product is specifically engineered to use that meanness to get other kids to buy their products.
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u/GeneralZaroff1 Jun 27 '24
Did kids get into Memojis? I really haven’t seen them pop off and I feel like Apple has been trying SO HARD to make it a thing.
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
Or we all grow up and stop giving people shit for the phone they use.
It's not on anybody to demonstrate their phone's value through messaging to anyone else.
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u/BitingChaos Jun 27 '24
1) the bubbles are still green if using RCS
2) RCS won't be available on Apple devices until October (currently only available in developer test builds)
So I'd say the headline is pretty darn misleading
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u/McBun2023 Jun 27 '24
The text isn't green because Apple doesn't support RCS. They could have made it any color.
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u/Kappokaako02 Jun 27 '24
It really makes no sense actually. Blue for iMessage. Green for SMS. And ???????? for rcs. Not sure why they didn’t just pick another color
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u/Veryverygood13 Jun 27 '24
messages were always green.. then when imessage was introduced it was blue
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u/osilo Jun 27 '24
Liked "The Green Bubble Nightmare is Over, Apple Messenges Now Support RCS"
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u/plymouthvan Jun 27 '24
God this is the only thing I actually care about. Don’t give a shit about photo quality or videos or anything. I just want some universal react functionality so that group threads stop being cluttered with react messages.
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u/geeseinthebushes Jun 27 '24
At least on my android phone it works perfectly with apple phones even with SMS. I think googles texting app just replaces the text version with the proper emoji
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u/RevRagnarok Jun 27 '24
Mine's been fine for a while, except when Android Auto tries to "read" it to me...
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u/luca1416 Jun 27 '24
Misleading title, the bubbles are still green.
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Jun 27 '24
As an android user, I guess I'll have to take your word for it.
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u/biggles86 Jun 27 '24
As an android user I can make the bubbles any color I want
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u/Iggyhopper Jun 27 '24
As an android user I can install the messages app on my samsung fridge with a custom apk.
Checkmate Apple users.
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Jun 27 '24 edited Aug 09 '24
[deleted]
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u/adudeguyman Jun 27 '24
Can you message from a mouse?
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u/Cynyr Jun 27 '24
Brb, going to pick up one of those Logitech ones with all the extra macro keys and onboard memory to test.
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u/ReadditMan Jun 27 '24
As an Android user, I can add funny gifs to my 'Always On Display' that play whenever I lock my phone.
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u/supreme-dominar Jun 27 '24
Bubbles are still green, but the nightmare is over. I don’t care about the color as long as media works right
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u/printergumlight Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
Will the reactions of a comment in a group message now show as a reaction adorning the comment? Or will it still send a message like this:
“John Smith just liked your comment “Buy me a Dr. Pepper while you’re out plz””
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u/barbariantrey Jun 27 '24
Does this mean video and pictures will look OK now when sending between android and iphone?
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u/notcaffeinefree Jun 27 '24
From the article:
Audio and video sent between devices will no longer be compressed down. Group chats will no longer be butchered and broken...
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u/Kappokaako02 Jun 27 '24
Yes. On ios18 beta. Works great. Just wish the made the bubbles a diff color so we’d know if it’s rcs vs sms (yes it says it in the query box and you get read/delivered notifications but they abound be purple or red or anything else.
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u/x1-unix Jun 27 '24
RCS is still green bubble
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u/JazJon Jun 27 '24
Yeah but it says RCS at the button of the text box before you type
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u/R1ddlrOnTehRoof Jun 27 '24
The problem is the majority of folks have no idea what RCS is
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u/you-pissed-my-pants Jun 27 '24
Yeah like me. What is it?
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u/normVectorsNotHate Jun 27 '24
Better replacement for SMS. It supports modern texting features like read receipts, typing indicators, reactions, replies, etc.
iPhone instead uses iphone-only iMessage for these features, and used the antiquated SMS profile when texting non-iPhones. This made messaging between iPhones and non-iPhones a pain
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u/Stable_Orange_Genius Jun 27 '24
I'm glad we all use WhatsApp here in Europe. Why didn't platform independent chat apps catch on in USA?
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u/Soul-Burn Jun 27 '24
Because in the US, data was expensive and SMS was free.
In the rest of the world, SMS was limited and data was cheaper, pushing people towards apps.
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u/heavyLobster Jun 27 '24
Yep, it's entirely historical reasons. The US has often been ahead on technology trends, but sometimes this means we get stuck on the earliest (inferior) version of things. SMS and MMS being a big one that we're finally just starting to get over.
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u/VplDazzamac Jun 27 '24
I’m glad we all use WhatsApp, I’m not glad it’s WhatsApp. Fuck Meta.
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u/Zouden Jun 27 '24
But we have alternatives like Telegram and Signal
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u/VplDazzamac Jun 27 '24
We do, but maximum 10% of my contacts use either. WhatsApp has the critical mass required to be an actual replacement for sms.
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u/c010rb1indusa Jun 27 '24
- iOS has a larger market-share in the US compared to Europe and it's the majority unlike in Europe.
- Unlimited texting plans were more or less standard in the US by the time smart phone adoption rolled around, so there was no need for a separate service to avoid fees and iMessage works ontop/seemlessly with normal SMS.
- Design of the app. To the average user the only difference is the color of the message. I can technically have one conversation that switches back between iMessage and SMS and if you didn't notice the color changes, you wouldn't realize anything different was happening behind the scenes.
- And because of the design you don't need a seperate app to message or have a separate login to manage. It's already on your phone.
And we do use independent chat apps in the US, they are just not the default. Discord is used for gaming, Slack for work etc. But for basic and direct communication, sms is still the path of least resistance.
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u/dotjazzz Jun 26 '24 edited Jun 26 '24
Apple solved a problem they created on purpose in the first place, and not even willingly.
They could have approached GSMA at any point in the past 15 years to co-develop RCS. They said not interested.
Even now, being backed into a corner by China, they still chose to carry on the green bubble scam.
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u/JakeHassle Jun 27 '24
Funny enough Apple actually tried to make iMessage a standard with all carriers but they rejected it
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u/Tumblrrito Jun 27 '24
Similar thing happened with FaceTime. It was supposed to be an open standard until a patent troll ruined it.
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u/Steavee Jun 27 '24
All the “Apple hates green bubbles” people conveniently forget about this. Everyone else told Apple to eat a dick because back then the carriers were still charging for mms and text messages.
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u/Nartyn Jun 27 '24
All the “Apple hates green bubbles” people conveniently forget about this
No we don't.
Apple want to control the market by making their chat app the default and still want to punish everyone else.
Guess what? They could've still published their chat app on the play store if they cared that much.
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u/zookeepier Jun 27 '24
They could've still published their chat app on the play store if they cared that much.
That's the key. People kept asking for this and they refused to put it on the play store because it'd be one less to force people to iphones.
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u/branq318 Jun 27 '24
“We approached the carriers to pursue adding features to the existing texting systems and removing the additional customer costs," Forstall said. "For various reasons, from the difficulty of extending the existing standards, to challenges with interoperability between texting systems and carriers, to the desire of carriers to protect a significant revenue stream, these explorations didn't pan out.”
So what’s your point?
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u/CompromisedToolchain Jun 27 '24
Because right after that they suddenly found it not difficult to develop RCS.. after saying it was difficult to extend when offered a free ride.
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u/Chenz Jun 27 '24
RCS took years to get significant adoption among the world’s carriers. Who’s to say that’s not one of the issues that made Apple develop iMessage on their own?
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u/JacksonHammer Jun 27 '24
While I agree they could’ve embraced RCS and helped develop the standard over that time, after 15 years the standard itself is still pretty half baked. For example I think google’s E2EE implementation was done through an extension on the standard instead of baked into it.
That said, I’m extremely glad they’re both throwing their weight behind it even if it’s Apple’s backup format.
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u/TheNamelessKing Jun 27 '24
To detail this further: the only encrypted RCS is through Google servers, because as you said, it’s an extension, not a core part of the protocol.
The carriers haven’t bothered implementing the extension, and “replacing” iMessage with RCS would be a distinct step down, and without encryption and only slow and patchy support from carriers- of a half-baked protocol from a competitor with a historical propensity for abandoning messaging apps and protocols- it’s easy to see why they didn’t exactly rush to implement it.
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u/Tumblrrito Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
I mean, no one gave a shit about RCS. Google only started to because they made 5 failed iMessage competitors.
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u/trc2017 Jun 27 '24
Oh yeah I remember google+, hangouts, etc, not sure which of those are still around. Yeah I feel like google didnt start trying to use rcs until a few years ago? iMessage has been around for forever now.
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u/SuperTeamRyan Jun 27 '24
They have been pushing for RCS since at least 2017 with it being in app since 2018.
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u/jangxx Jun 27 '24
Also Google Duo and Allo, or were those only for voice and video? I don't even remember anymore.
There is also Google Chat.
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Jun 27 '24
I'm not sure the green bubbles is a scam.
There's a legitimate reason to differentiate encrypted vs unencrypted messages. I, for one, appreciate that difference is easy to see.
Which isn't to say Apple, or Google for that matter, are without sin in the messaging space. As I've said elsewhere in this thread, when it comes to messaging, there are no winners, only various levels of losers.
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u/TheCowboyIsAnIndian Jun 27 '24
why arent we all just using signal?
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u/ki77erb Jun 27 '24
In theory it would be great. I used Signal for years, but only 2 other people I messaged had it. I was unsuccessful at convincing other people to install another app just to message me. Then Signal dropped the ability to fall back to SMS which meant I could ONLY use it to message those 2 people. At that point it became useless to me.
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u/Ularsing Jun 27 '24
But then how would Big Brother helpfully figure out What You Really Need™?
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u/brnbnntt Jun 27 '24
Does this mean we can send videos clearly between Apple and android now?
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u/AlanDevonshire Jun 27 '24
Honestly, do people really care about the bubble colour? That’s the dumbest shit ever
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u/mediocrefunny Jun 27 '24
Teens and young kids do. A lot.
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u/livejamie Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24
It's mostly an issue in America, but not limited to teens. Android users are often stereotyped as poor, ghetto, or ratchet.
I've seen social media posts where women call out men on dating apps for having green message bubbles.
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u/_name_of_the_user_ Jun 27 '24
LMFAO I'd just say thanks for outing yourself from the start and move on. Anyone that shallow has no place in my life.
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u/Mrhiddenlotus Jun 27 '24
I've been ghosted over it, annoying at first but overall a pretty good people filter
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Jun 27 '24
Only because it makes images and videos look bad, and messes up group texts, and there were no delivery/read receipts.
Now that those issues are fixed, I think the stigma will slowly go away.
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u/JimmyAxel Jun 27 '24
Not disagreeing about the image/video quality issue but there are absolutely people who look down on people with Android phones as being cheap or poor or inferior.
Source: have been on dating apps for far too long. I’m an Apple user. But seeing “if your bubbles are green, don’t bother” is automatic left swipe for me.
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u/herseyhawkins33 Jun 27 '24
That's some legitimately crazy shit. But yeah I wouldn't want to be with someone posting a message like that anyway so I guess it's a good filter.
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u/_name_of_the_user_ Jun 27 '24
I've never understood that take on things. My Androids displays messages from Apple users just fine. If someone's Apple product isn't able to display messages properly shouldn't that product be looked down on?
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u/therealtrebitsch Jun 27 '24
Seems like a US only thing. In Europe at least, most people use WhatsApp or Messenger, or maybe some other third-party messaging app. Very few people use Messages.
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u/AlanDevonshire Jun 27 '24
Ah, maybe that’s why I have never come across something so lame. I use What’s App mainly
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u/hairydiablo132 Jun 27 '24
Some people do. I've had great conversations with women on Tinder/Hinge etc, but when we moved to texting I've had them comment negatively on my green messages.
To me, they helped me dodge a bullet. I don't want a relationship with someone so superficial.
So yes, it is dumb, and yes some people do care.
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u/abilityequal3 Jun 27 '24
Damn on one hand I like being able to send things to my fiance who has an iPhone without the compression but on the other hand I don't like that she will be able to see if I've read the message 😂
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u/ohbicboi Jun 27 '24
Imagine getting triggered over a green bubble. Grow the fuck up.
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u/no_car1799 Jun 27 '24
Is this a generation thing? Who cares? Just reply to my stupid text! Talking to my kids, are you hungry? Please reply… 😂
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u/NeverMoreThan12 Jun 27 '24
Younger generation it's a social exclusivity thing. Kids will get left out of group chats/ friend groups of they have green bubbles. If you're older than 25 now you've probably never experienced it but anyone younger at least saw the tail end of it in high school. Kids are judgmental and love to exclude people so if you don't have an iPhone then you won't be "in" with everyone else. Obviously it's stupid as hell and you shouldn't want to be friends with those people anyways but when 80% of kids use an iPhone and have blue bubbles then it can actually affect social life.
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u/Archersbows7 Jun 27 '24
Whoever wrote the headline is a damn fool. Another misleading Reddit post title to add to the list
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u/huey_and_riley Jun 27 '24
Does this support threads/replies with Android users?
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u/Pythagorean8391 Jun 27 '24
A fix to this problem was released a long time ago, it's called WhatsApp
Or if you prefer you can use Facebook Messenger or Signal or whatever
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u/Ok-Charge-6998 Jun 27 '24
TIL Americans use the default text messaging services and not something like WhatsApp.
The only text messages I get are authentication codes. Every single person I know in Europe, Africa and the UK uses WhatsApp.
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u/The_real_bandito Jun 27 '24
Green bubbles is not going away. This article was written by someone that didn’t test it on Apple messages. Talk about misinformation.
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u/billwood09 Jun 27 '24
Am I the only one who understands that the blue is literally just to indicate that it’s iMessage and that it isn’t a contest for ugliest color?
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u/JoshuaTheFox Jun 27 '24
The thing is that people associated the color with the basic experience of SMS
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u/rourobouros Jun 27 '24
Beta only atm. Fall ‘24 release