For more than a decade, smartphone users everywhere have faced a major problem in how we communicate: the “green vs. blue bubble” difference.
When iPhone users send messages to other iPhones, the messages appear in blue and can take advantage of exclusive benefits such as fun emojis and animations. But if an iPhone user sends a message to an Android user, the bubble turns green, many functions break, and photos and videos degrade in quality.
Over time, the annoyance and frustration created between the blue and green bubbles grew into more than just a technological problem. It created a deeper sociological divide between people who judged each other from their phones. The color of a bubble has become a symbol that some believe reflects status and wealth, given the perception that only rich people buy iPhones.
Now part of this problem will be solved soon.
This month, Apple announced that it will improve the technology used to send messages between iPhone and Android users starting next year, adopting a standard that Google and others built into their messaging apps years ago. Texts sent between iPhone and Android 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 the blues. Adults with iPhones have been known to taunt each other when a green bubble litters a group chat. In schools, a green bubble is an invitation to ridicule and exclusion from kids with iPhones, according to Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that focuses on the impact of technology on families.
“This green vs. blue issue is a form of cyberbullying,” said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense, which works with thousands of schools that have shared stories of tensions between kids using messaging apps.
That means it’s now up to us to do better and curb digital elitism. Solutions, including third-party messaging apps that work consistently between different phones, have been around for years. The rest is about modifying our behavior.
Go beyond the defaults
Tech companies are well aware of the power of defaults. Whatever technology is loaded onto a device is what the vast majority of people are likely to use because it requires the least effort. The reason we’re having the blue-versus-green bubble problem is because we’re stuck with the default texting app that’s tied to our phone numbers.
However, we do have options. Third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal have been bridging the gap between iPhone and Android for years. They link user accounts to phone numbers, which makes communicating with 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 keep in touch through an alternative messaging app. That could be a tall order for people who are less tech-inclined, like relatives who barely know how to use their phone. In this case, give them a hand by setting up their phones. Most Android phones, for example, can be modified to automatically send and receive all messages from a third-party app.
If third-party apps don’t sound appealing, there are other ways to send messages. Many younger people flock to apps like Discord, Snapchat, and Instagram, which have messaging features that work consistently across different types of phones.
It depends on whether you care more about your technology preferences or your relationships with people, said Irina Raicu, director of Internet ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
“Smooth and easy in without any friction or effort, but sometimes you might have to put in more effort just because someone has a different phone than you,” he said. “Relationships take effort.”
Let go of elitism
In a popular meme on TikTok and YouTube, a man asks random women on the street a question: “She’s 10, but she has an Android phone. What’s his new rating?’ Most women answer “1” or “0” and make comments along the lines of “The green bubble, it’s not good — it’s, like, cheap.”
Let’s zoom in on the stereotype. It’s true that Android phones can be more affordable than iPhones because different companies make a wider range of them, including budget models that cost as little as $100. But the top-selling Android phone brand, Samsung, makes Galaxy phones that cost $800 to $1,100, or about the same as Apple’s iPhones.
There’s also no evidence that everyone who buys an iPhone is rich. One in five Americans think a new iPhone is worth splurging on, according to a survey by WalletHub, a personal finance research firm.
People choose their phones for a variety of reasons, including features such as 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 standing.
Give an example
In social gatherings, many adults still fuss about bubble colors. When a text chat 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 rendered as green bubbles also lack encryption, an important privacy feature, though not usually what people fuss about.)
These complaints can influence our children to behave in more negative ways, Mr. Steyer said. For several years, teenagers with Android phones have been sharing stories about switching to iPhones because they were left out of iMessage group chats about work and extracurricular activities.
The onus is on adults to show kids that many of these technology issues 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, which have leaned into the bubble war to try to get users to join their platforms, Mr. Steyer said.
At a tech conference last year with Apple CEO Tim Cook, 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 was using an Android phone . Mr Cook casually told the questioner to buy his mother an iPhone, a response that many critics saw as elitist.
Apple and Google declined to comment.
“Get over it – show some maturity here,” Mr Steyer said. “You don’t want to bully or shame other people for the color of their bubble or the type of phone they have.”
