Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

When you send text messages to others, have you ever noticed what color your chat box is?

For those of us who are used to using Wechat, the green chat bubble has long been the default choice. But in the United States, where iMessage messages are popular, the color of chat bubbles has become a source of anxiety.

To put it simply, on an Apple device, the blue chat bubble in the message indicates that both parties are using an Apple device, while the green chat bubble indicates that the other person is using a non-Apple device-most likely an Android phone. Green bubbles mean you can't use the rich tricks in iPhone messages with the other person, and it's even a problem sharing high-definition pictures and participating in group chats.

IMessage messages will show the message status "delivered", but ordinary text messages will not provide delivery status. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published an article about teenagers' fear of green chatting. Subsequently, the "green bubble bullying" that American teenagers are experiencing has received more and more attention. Being unable to join the students' group chat game was excluded, and being unable to use the interesting features of iMessage in dating was ridiculed. Singer Drake even used it as an inspiration for a song called Texts Go Green (the text turned green).

The official Android account "shared" the song on social media. @ Android / Twitter sent a message on its mobile phone. Why did it come up with so many moths? Recently, Google finally couldn't help it and launched a bombardment website on the official Android page: it's time for Apple to fix text messages!

A text message function, must have two faces? Apple: I deliberately...

"it's time for Apple to fix text messages!" Android.com, give me apples! For domestic Apple users, the only use of iMessage may be to receive harassment messages from "sexy lotus officials, online licensing". In fact, Apple has a lot of ambition for this information function.

More than a decade ago, China Mobile launched a text message "artifact" Fetion. Mobile users can use Fetion to send messages to others for free. Even if the other party is not online or does not install Fetion, the message will be sent directly to the other person's mobile phone number. Fetion can not only send messages directly through traffic, so that text messages are no longer charged, but also eliminate the concept of "online": my messages can be sent to each other's mobile phone at any time.

Apple goes a step further: whatever operator you are, I will integrate the online chat directly into the "message" myself. In 2011, Apple officially launched the iMessage feature. In order to distinguish it from the green bubble box of traditional text messages, iMessage messages use a blue bubble box.

Apple users can send web messages directly in messages without having to install additional App. If the other person is also using an Apple device and has iMessage enabled, your message can be delivered directly through network traffic. If the other party is a mobile phone from another system, the message will become a regular text message.

After several "changes", and Fetion finally stopped service. China Mobile Communications Group Hubei Company was limited by operators and other software competition and other problems. Fetion announced the suspension of use from 500 million users at the beginning to this year. But iMessage has taken advantage of Apple and has become one of the mainstream features in the face of more and more Apple users. Not only that, iMessage continues to introduce new features, so that its function is much more than "flat text message". Convenient multimedia sharing, group chat and collaboration, delivery status and read receipt. IMessage has become the most convenient real-time chat software for Apple users.

Yes, only among Apple users.

IMessage can send sticker emoticons, directly share songs in music software, and send "imitative emoticons".... Apple.com Why doesn't Apple develop an Android version of iMessage app? According to a testimony released by Epic in an antitrust lawsuit this year, Apple discussed whether to launch an Android version of iMessage as early as 2013. Management rejected the proposal, saying: I am worried that the iMessage Android version will simply remove the "barrier"-the barrier for iPhone families to buy Android phones for their children.

In other words, Apple wants to "lock up" its iPhone user base.

There is nothing wrong with the features that are only available to our own users. But what makes Google angry is the other side of iMessage: "out-of-date" text messages.

Group iMessage information and group MMS, the function is also too poor! Apple.com is either modern technology or "ancient text messages" Google threw out the crux of the problem in the first paragraph of the It's time for Apple to fix texting. (it's time for Apple to fix SMS messages): it's not a matter of color, it's a matter of SMS standards.

Even if you can't use iMessage, text messages shouldn't be that hard to use right now. However, Apple still sticks to SMS / MMS (Short Message Service / Multimedia Messaging Service).

These two services are the "real body" of SMS and MMS. SMS was proposed as early as 1984 and was incorporated into the global mobile communication system standard in 1986. On December 3, 1992, the first test text message from computer to mobile phone was sent. Since then, SMS has gradually become a necessary function of information transmission between electronic devices.

But also because it was born too early, in the Internet age, these standards seem a little out of date. Whether SMS supports only 160characters, does not support message encryption, or MMS's low-definition image video, they all limit users' social needs.

Some people on the Apple forum complained that the mini-picture in the group chat could not be enlarged after clicking. The possible reason is that someone in the group is not using iMessage. In this case, the picture will be sent by default in SMS / MMS standard, Westfc10 / apple.com. If you think about it, the message received by Apple users is either the iMessage of "modern technology" or the text message of "dreaming back to the millennium". The experience span is too big.

Direct update has been used for so many years of SMS / MMS, engineering quantity and general adaptation problems are not small. But that's not Apple's excuse. Google put the alternative directly on Apple's face this time: ready-made RCS (Rich Communication Services), you don't have to use it!

RCS is also called rich communication service, where rich refers to who uses who has richer content. The purpose of this scheme is to solve the old problems left behind by SMS. The new RCS is not only based on the Internet, but also breaks many of the previous restrictions. To put it simply, it is more suitable for social networking in the Internet age.

Even so, it is not a "general-purpose" iMessage. Only mobile phone numbers are supported, but multi-device synchronization is not supported. A series of problems make RCS still have no advantage over iMessage. For example, Google didn't launch the "end-to-end encryption" feature that many people care about until 2020, and so far it doesn't support group chat.

I don't know, Google has a good idea, but it's really hard to do. After all, not everyone wants to give up the "big cake" of instant messaging. What's more, even if Apple supports RCS, it can mark non-iMessage as green.

As users, we will not shout "you stop fighting". If you spend a little more time, it is the users who will benefit in the end.

reference

[1] Why Apple's iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble. Https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-apples-imessage-is-winning-teens-dread-the-green-text-bubble-11641618009

[2] It's time for Apple to fix texting. Https://www.android.com/get-the-message/

China Mobile ended the 15-year career of Fetion and won 500m subscribers second only to Wechat. Https://www.sohu.com/ a/571274248_161795

[4] what's the difference between iMessage messages and SMS / MMS? Https://support.apple.com/ zh-cn / HT207006

[5] Eddy Cue wanted to bring iMessage to Android in 2013. Https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22406303/imessage-android-eddy-cue-emails-apple-epic-deposition

[6] Apple won't put iMessage on Android in order to keep users locked-in, court documents reveal. Https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/apple-imessage-android-reason-b1828958.html

[7] A Guide to RCS, and Why It Makes Texting So Much Better. Https://www.wired.com/story/guide-to-rcs-why-it-makes-texting-better/

[8] A Brief History of Text Messaging. Https://www.mobivity.com/mobivity-blog/a-brief-history-of-text-messaging

Google Messages will get end-to-end encryption for RCS group chats' later this year' in beta. Https://9to5google.com/2022/05/11/google-messages-rcs-group-encryption/

[10] Why you should probably avoid Google's RCS Text messaging chat feature. Https://pocketnow.com/why-you-should-probably-avoid-googles-rcs-text-messaging-chat-feature

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: fruit Shell (ID:Guokr42), author: Owl Editor: window knocking Rain

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