Nothing (almost) solves Android’s chat bubble division in iMessage
As the EU continues its investigation on whether or not iMessage should be a “core platform service,” the division between the Android and iPhone messaging platforms continues. However, Nothing has come up with an intriguing, albeit imperfect, solution.
Today, the company led by Carl Pei announced a new app for Nothing Phone 2 users. It’s called Nothing Chats, and it’s supposed to bridge the gap between Android and iMessage. More specifically, the gap between Nothing Phone 2 users and the iPhone messaging platform.
The app was developed in partnership with Sunbird and will be available in beta from Friday. Nothing Chats will be distributed to Phone 2 users in the USA, Canada, the UK, and Europe through the Play Store.
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In essence, Nothing Chats will allow messages sent by Nothing Phone 2 to iPhone users in iMessage to show up in blue chat bubbles rather than green.
Android messages always show up in green in iMessage, and those using the platform on iPhone can spot Android users. This blue-green chat bubble effect creates a division between the user bases. It has arguably driven a wedge between people in different situations, social groups, and demographics, with Android users sometimes being treated like second-class citizens by native iMessage users.
It’s not as easy as it sounds
Although it sounds like Nothing Chats has solved the Android-iMessage green-blue chat bubble problem, the system isn’t perfect.
First, the Nothing Chats app uses Sunbird to pass messages from the Nothing Phone 2 to iMessage. This requires users to give access to their iCloud accounts, which could lead to complications — although Sunbird claims that messages are not stored on their servers at any point.
Second, as noted by The Washington Post (via The Verge), some iMessage features don’t work through the Sunbird-powered Nothing Chats app. iMessage group chats are disabled, messages can’t be edited, and Tapback reactions “don’t fully work yet.”
Interestingly, Nothing CEO Carl Pei said the app is not “going to change the world,” but he believes it should “start a conversation.” However, the conversation started long ago, so much so that the EU is now looking into the separation iMessage creates among phone users.
