Apple iMessage may not be as popular as WhatsApp in India; However, its native messaging app remains a popular mode of communication in the United States, where iPhones dominate the phone market and have a large young user base. Apple extended its FaceTime to Android users last year amid the COVID pandemic, but its iMessage app has yet to reach Android users. Hiroshi Lockheimer, who oversees all of Google’s operating systems as senior vice president of platforms and ecosystems, has now criticized Apple for not using available technology that can make iMessage accessible to everyone. He claims Apple “even uses peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products.”

READ ALSO : Google Messages adds RCS for texts, emojis and more, but what is it and how it works

Lockheimer also made the same point in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Why Apple’s iMessage Wins: Teens Dread Green Text Bubble.” Essentially, the report argues that Apple treats iMessage texts from iPhones and Android phones differently, creating a divide in society. This peer pressure is more palpable in adolescents. For starters, iMessage can receive messages from Android phones, but it comes as a text message and the chat bubble is green. Likewise, Android users cannot send memojis to iMessage as it remains exclusive to iPhone users. If two iPhone users are communicating through iMessage, the chat bubble is blue.

In the Wall Street Journal article, Lockheimer said, “There are no real technical or product reasons for this problem. The solutions already exist and we encourage Apple to join the rest of the mobile industry in implementing them. We believe that people should be able to connect with each other without artificial boundaries. It just doesn’t have to be like that. “

The official Android Twitter account also criticized Apple and said, “iMessage should not benefit from bullying. Texting must bring us closer, and the solution exists. Let’s solve this as one industry. “

Unified iMessage solution in RCS form, but what is it?

The technology Lockheimer is referring to is RCS or Rich Communication Service which Google rolled out to Google Messages globally in 2020. In another tweet, Lockheimer said, “Group chats don’t need to be interrupted by this way. There is a really clear solution. Here’s an open invitation to people who can fix it: we’re here to help, “RCS clearly states. To quickly understand, RCS is a messaging standard that aims to upgrade the standard SMS technology. It basically transforms the application. from native messaging to a WhatsApp or iMessage type service that uses Wi-Fi and allows sending multimedia files, creating group chats, etc. If iMessage adopts RCS, Android users could share these benefits.

Apple argues that opening iMessage to other platforms would make iOS and iPhone more vulnerable to hackers. However, experts argue that iPhone users around the world are already using other services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and the argument is currently invalid.

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