Technologies
Why Apple Is Content With the Blue Bubble Divide in iMessage
Apple’s iMessage continues to reserve encryption and other features for iPhones to the detriment of all mobile phone users.

Javed Uddin’s future was riding on a single emoji.
In 2016, Uddin, a small business owner in Houston, had been single for the past year. A friend introduced him to Maryam Baloch, an office manager and makeup artist in Chicago. The two began messaging.
However, the pair realized they were running into miscommunication problems. Uddin, using an Android-powered LG Nexus 5X, was receiving incorrect emojis from Maryam’s iPhone 6. This was likely due to phone manufacturers each using their own emoji designs, with different-looking emojis for the same expression.
Regardless of the cause, the blame fell on Uddin for not having an iPhone, where his messages would come in via green bubbles. This was because in 2011 Apple introduced iMessage, an instant messaging service that allows for richer forms of communication than plain old SMS. When two iPhones communicate with one another, it comes in via blue bubbles, includes typing indicators and has since grown to include sharing media, games and even money. At the time it was a rival to BlackBerry’s similar BBM messenger, and grew as Apple’s iPhone gained popularity.
Twelve years later, the differentiating green bubbles persist.
The messaging situation between Uddin and Baloch got so bad that she began screenshotting emojis to ensure feelings she conveyed were coming through correctly. This prompted Uddin to switch to an iPhone as quickly as he could.
«In order for things to land — in order for me to make a good impression — I really need to make sure my texting game is on point,» said Uddin. «Like, I really, really wanted this to work.»
Apple’s messaging divide is affecting how people interact. Not only that, text communications between iPhone and Android devices become a subpar experience, with both users being downgraded to SMS, a much older texting protocol, losing features like in-line reactions, thread responses and text edits. Photos and videos also come in heavily compressed. While many other cross-platform texting apps like WhatsApp and Signal fill the gap, the standard texting app that ships on any phone is often the place where people text each other the most.
The fault of that out-of-date experience is often placed on Android users, although it’s an experience of Apple’s making. This blame can take the form of prejudgments about a person’s income, personality and overall social status, which can sometimes lead to bullying and added pressures to switch.
The mobile phone industry is quickly switching from SMS to RCS, an upgraded messaging standard that can support more modern features like those seen in iMessage and other contemporary texting apps. It’s estimated that nearly half the globe will be using RCS by 2026, according to a report from Juniper Research, as the texting standard is included on any Android phone that runs the Google Messages app. While it took years, all three US major carriers also have pledged to support the RCS standard.
But Apple refuses to support it. During the Code conference last year, CEO Tim Cook said iPhone users hadn’t been asking for RCS adoption and told a mildly disgruntled attendee to «Buy your mom an iPhone.»
Apple didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Excluding others feels good
As inconvenient as it is for iPhone users to have to deal with green bubbles in group chats, for Apple, exclusivity is part of the draw.
«We’re constantly creating insiders and outsiders using different cues,» said Jason Farman, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland. In this case, it’s extending to the technology we use. «Creating us-them divides, that’s human nature.»
Before the Industrial Revolution, people didn’t care too much if a tool was new or old, as long as it worked, Farman said. After Ford released its Model T in 1908, it maintained the same general design and black color for nearly two decades of production. But General Motors began introducing annual revisions in the 1920s, with new colors and design tweaks as a means of differentiation and it changed how consumers viewed products beyond absolute utility and as something iterative.
«Whenever that car pulled up next to a Model T, or even the model year before that, instantly it marked old and new, and we began to assign value judgments to those,» Farman said.
Products soon became a way to communicate our personalities and values. Owning a Jeep, for example, can indicate to someone that you’re an adventurous, outdoorsy type. That relationship marked a major departure from how identities were defined in past generations.
«Our identity was pretty much given to us,» said Aaron Ahuvia, a professor of marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In the past, our identities were defined by the family we were born into, Ahuvia said. Our family’s religion and social class ultimately determined our career trajectory and marital prospects. In stark contrast, people today have more control over their identities.
«Everything is totally up for grabs,» said Ahuvia. «The good news is that it gives people a lot of freedom, and it’s really genuinely a good thing that people have the freedom to become the person they want to be. But the bad news is that you become obsessed with your identity and creating and forming it.»
Sociologists call this nonstop work to shape and present our identities the «project of the self.»
Products and brands are one of the easiest ways to do that, Ahuvia said, especially in a consumerist and capitalist culture. Considering that phones are central to communication, the type of phone we use has become fundamental to signaling who we are and what groups we belong to.
An American problem
Apple’s unwillingness to adopt RCS, which has bifurcated the messaging environment, is largely an American phenomenon. In other parts of the world, third-party messaging services are the standard over SMS.
WhatsApp, which doesn’t support SMS or RCS, is by far the world’s most popular third-party messaging service. With 2.8 billion monthly active users worldwide and 138 billion messages sent each day, its ubiquity and cross-platform compatibility make it an easy way to communicate and send secure messages to anyone.
But SMS texting is still considered the preferred way to communicate for Americans, with 2 trillion text messages sent in 2021, helping Apple maintain its hold over messaging in America. By making iMessage the default messaging service on iPhone, and by being unwilling to adopt RCS, Apple has forced Americans into a divided system.
Apple’s stance is anathema to how people tend to view the internet, as an open system where ideas can flow freely. According to a 2022 University of Maryland poll, 73% of Americans support net neutrality — the idea that everyone’s internet access should be equal and that some sites shouldn’t get priority over others.
«People expect an egalitarian environment, even if that’s never what the developers or the manufacturers or even the legislators have promised,» said André Brock, associate professor of literature, media and communications at Georgia Tech. «They believe that because they know the internet is a series of servers that can transmit messages without discrimination around the world, that their software and hardware experiences should be the same»
The wireless industry was trying to solve the SMS problem before iMessage fragmented messaging. RCS was first developed in 2007 and began deployment a few years later. Google announced it was building RCS support into Android in 2016, but it wasn’t until 2019 that it began widely rolling it out. It also took Google years to get the carriers onboard, and they almost attempted to make their own take on RCS messaging in 2019 — but that effort was abandoned in 2021 with the carriers instead supporting Google’s effort.
By contrast, iMessage had already launched in 2012, all but sealing BlackBerry Messenger’s fate. And given that it took years for RCS to fully deploy across multiple carriers, Apple was able to grow its service faster since it didn’t need to get other companies to sign on.
In September 2015, Google acquired Jibe Mobile, a company that built systems so that people on different wireless networks could communicate via RCS. Because building RCS infrastructure is expensive, Jibe offered carriers RCS as a service so carriers could embrace it more easily.
RCS is an open specification overseen by the GSMA, an industry group made up of network operators from around the world. Major players like Google, Apple, Samsung and other hardware makers often work closely with the GSMA.
Google has its own RCS servers, which AT&T uses. T-Mobile uses its own servers. So by no means is RCS Google-controlled, but it does supply encryption keys. Apple could integrate RCS into iMessage, using its own servers, but hasn’t made clear publicly what its exact concerns are, though it has expressed to Google that the search giant’s control of servers and its administration of ads via RCS is a barrier to adoption.
Last year, Google had to disable RCS ads in India due to spam from businesses.
«As a participant in the GSMA, Apple is able to bring up their concerns so that we can all work on resolving them together,» said Elmar Weber, Google’s senior director of engineering for Android and business communications and previously Jibe’s chief technology officer.
Although blue versus green bubbles is more of an American problem, it’s something that the Europeans might influence. The European Commission is investigating whether iMessage should be designated a «core» service as defined by the Digital Markets Act. That designation, which Google supports, would require Apple to make iMessage compatible with rival messaging services. Included in this designation is WhatsApp, in which the beta includes support for other texting options.
The cost of exclusion
Apple’s marketing exalts its commitment to security and to protecting privacy. Ads for its devices laud how the company keeps prying eyes away from your online activity. Tim Cook called privacy «one of the most essential battles of our time» and has promised that Apple will «stand up for encryption without backdoors — because we know that if you install a backdoor, anyone can use it.»
But Cook’s position toward privacy and encryption only includes Apple customers communicating with each other. As soon as an iPhone customer texts with an Android customer, the lack of RCS support means there’s no encryption protection.
«Apple not adopting RCS, like the rest of the mobile industry has, degrades the cross-platform messaging experience for everyone,» Weber said. «Adopting RCS means that everyone will get a better and more secure experience regardless of the operating system.»
While the chances of an adversary intercepting SMS messages between an iPhone and Android phone at a coffee shop are small, it’s still a significant risk. Using some inexpensive software, it’s also possible for hackers to intercept SMS messaging chains and break into devices, as demonstrated by Vice. It’s an issue Google pointed out with its latest Get The Message campaign, which calls out the wonky messaging situation between Android and iOS.
«There are certain entities that have the ability to read that information that [we’re] texting about. … Obviously law enforcement, has that ability,» said Gregg Smith, CEO of Technology Advancement Center (TAC), formerly Maryland Innovation Security Institute (MISI). «But it’s really not that difficult to use tools that are relatively easily available to intercept those types of communications.»
And RCS itself isn’t an end-all solution, either. It’s possible for a new standard to be developed with other entities that don’t involve Google so intimately.
Apple’s commitment to privacy isn’t absolute. Google pays Apple billions of dollars to be the default search engine on iPhones, iPads and its Safari web browser, facilitating a Google business that helps the search giant profile users and thereby target ads. Google’s payment for search traffic is central to the US government’s lawsuit that asserts Google illegally maintains a monopoly in online search and ads. Although you can change your default search engine, people seldom do. According to a 2020 Competition and Market Authority report, more than 99% of UK phone users have Google as their default search engine.
Socially, the green bubbles of iMessage can lead to bullying. That can disproportionately hit people who can’t afford expensive Apple devices, even with trade-in deals and refurbished iPhones lowering costs.
«A lot of kids actually get bullied for having Android phones,» Ahuvia said. After speaking with high school students for his research, Ahuvia found the iPhone and Android divide to be troubling, especially for those feeling excluded.
«They’re treated badly. It bothers them when they talk about it. Their emotion is so clear,» said Ahuvia. If he were in Apple’s position, he said, he’d stop practices that increase social torment among teens. «Apple is unfortunately making money off of that.»
The closest indication available of Apple segmenting messaging for profit is from released court filings during the Apple versus Epic Games trial a couple years ago. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said, «IMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.»
Phones shouldn’t define us
Consumers are caught in a messaging divide that Apple could bridge. Deliberately or not, its use of green bubbles pressures people to align with Apple’s business interests without helping the wider population. Messaging bubbles are like Prada bags or Air Jordans, except that mobile phones are critical tools for communication and productivity in a our mobile-first world.
Although the internet’s free flow of information has helped connect us and boost business productivity, private companies have learned to profit from closed systems. Most popular social networks don’t interlink. You can’t join Zoom, Google Meet, Apple FaceTime or Microsoft Teams video conferences from other systems. Instant messaging platforms from two decades ago, like AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger, never interoperated. Open systems like email and the web are in some ways the exception.
Our technology choices don’t define who we are. Stereotypes might suggest Android owners are more techies and iPhone owners are more fashion-forward. But it’s only one aspect of who we are and, ideally, shouldn’t dictate our friendships any more than whether our employers choose to use Slack or Microsoft Teams.
For Uddin and Baloch, being on iPhones helped their emoji communication breakdown. But both agree that it wouldn’t have prevented them from getting married. And Baloch told Uddin that buying an iPhone was excessive. That’s good news, because Uddin couldn’t keep his eyes off what was happening at team green when Google introduced its first Pixel phone.
«The jump was pretty exciting back into the Google ecosystem,» Uddin said. «So I was like, ‘Hey, I want to go back to Android,’ and, I mean, I already got the girl.»
Technologies
We Played Nintendo Switch 2: Mario, Donkey Kong, Mouse, Camera and a Lot More
Technologies
Nintendo Switch 2: Every Reveal About the Console, New Games, Price, Release Date
The $450 console launches June 5, with Mario Kart World the highlight of its launch day game lineup.

The Nintendo Switch 2 console’s biggest reveal yet arrived Wednesday as part of the company’s latest Nintendo Direct event. This teed up a day of Switch 2 reveals that include its June 5 release date, a $450 price, its specs and its initial game lineup that extends from launch into 2026.
The console will be further buoyed by having Mario Kart World as a launch title, which will go on sale in either a $500 bundle with the Switch 2 or on its own for $80 — making the open-world racing game one of Nintendo’s most expensive yet. Other games announced, such as Donkey Kong Bananza, are being priced around $70, which matches the cost of 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That Zelda game and Breath of the Wild are among the original Switch titles that will get enhanced Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades, a premium upgrade allowing players to get new features, modes and graphical enhancements that take advantage of the newer system’s capabilities.
Here are the top highlights from Nintendo’s console event, all of the games we’ve heard about so far (including new titles, Nintendo Switch 2 Editions and GameCube games coming to Nintendo Switch Online) and all of our coverage so far. You can also check out our Nintendo Switch 2 live blog for even more updates about the Switch 2 as we learn them.
- I Played the Nintendo Switch 2: Is It Worth It?
- Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Live Recap: Launches June 5, $450 and More
- Nintendo Switch 2 Priced at $450, Coming June 5
- How to Preorder Nintendo Switch 2: All Store Links
- All Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Games Coming Day One
- Nintendo Is Taking on Scalpers With a Genius Switch 2 Purchase Rule
- What You Need to Know About Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Games
- Switch 2 Specs vs. Switch 1 Specs: How Nintendo’s Consoles Compare
- Every New Feature in Switch 2 Joy-Cons and Pro Controller
- GameCube Games Are Coming to Switch Online: Here’s the List
- Nintendo Switch 2: What We Didn’t Get During Nintendo Direct 2025
- Mario Kart Goes Open-World With Mario Kart World
- The Duskbloods Is New FromSoftware Gaming Action Coming to Switch 2 in 2026
- The Nintendo Switch 2 Is Almost Here, Grab Some Games From Just $20 to Celebrate
- Yes, Silksong Is Coming in 2025, as Revealed in Switch 2 Nintendo Direct
- Mario, Pokemon and More Will Get Free Nintendo Switch 2 Updates
- Switch 2’s Zelda Notes Could Revolutionize Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Wait for the Switch 2 Before Playing These 3 Nintendo Games
- Nintendo Switch 2: Here’s Why I Won’t Be Upgrading as a Fan of Cozy Games
- The Switch 2 Is Almost Here and You Need a Specific Type of MicroSD Card — Here’s Where to Find Them
Nintendo Switch 2 console
The Nintendo Switch 2’s specs saw a noticeable technical bump over the Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch, 1080p resolution LCD that supports a 120Hz refresh rate — matching what we now see on most Android phones. When the Switch 2 is docked, compatible games can run in 4K resolution. The new dock also includes a cooling fan.
The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage, and the new Switch 2 Game Cards will load games faster. For digital libraries, however, the Switch 2 will only work with microSD Express cards, which are different from the microSD cards that are compatible with the prior Nintendo Switch. Nintendo will have a Software Transfer feature available to help move games and data from the original Switch to the Switch 2.
The new Joy-Con for the controllers will support mouse controls, and a new C button will be part of a new GameChat communication feature that allows both voice and video chat. There’s also a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing players to see each other.
The Switch 2 also adds a second USB-C port to the top of the system, which Nintendo says can help connect its new camera accessory or charge the console when playing in tabletop mode. Nintendo also revealed a new Switch 2 Pro Controller with the C button and customizable GL and GR buttons on the back.
Following the presentation, Nintendo unveiled the system’s price of $450 in the US. It will also sell the Switch 2 bundled with a digital version of Mario Kart World for $500.
Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World removes its traditional boundaries and lets drivers roam freely across an entire world of race courses. The game will get its own Nintendo Direct later this month, where we’ll see additional details, but we already know it’ll include traditional races and a Free Roam mode, much like in the Forza Horizon series.
Getting the game bundled for an extra $50 on the cost of the Switch 2 might be the move if you are interested in the game, because Nintendo announced on its website that standalone copies of Mario Kart World will cost $80.
Joy-Con 2 C button and GameChat
Nintendo’s rolling out its new C button across several new Switch 2 controllers. The button will be used for the new GameChat communication features without a headset. The button will be used alongside a microphone on the console itself, which Nintendo says can be used whether it’s docked to a TV or in handheld mode.
In its teaser video, Nintendo promises the microphone will be able to cancel out loud background noises. GameChat will also work with a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing video chat and various camera-based game modes in supported titles. GameChat will be free at launch through March 31, 2026.
Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games upgrade titles
The Nintendo Switch 2 will play three types of games: original Switch games, Switch 2 games and Switch 2 Edition games that will receive substantial enhancements. For many of these Switch 2 Edition games, you’ll need to buy an upgrade pack if you own the original for Switch. Many of them will get more than just enhanced graphics in the upgrade; for example, Super Mario Party Jamboree will get new games that support the new Joy-Cons’ mouse controls, audio recognition and video camera gameplay options through the Switch 2 Camera.
Other Nintendo Switch games that are getting Switch 2 Edition options include The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Enhancements vary: The Zelda games will start working with a companion phone app for maps and sending schematics to friends, while Kirby will get a new story that’s exclusive to the Switch 2 Edition. On the third-party side, Civilization 7 will get mouse controls.
Nintendo did not announce what upgrade packs will cost. However, some Switch games will get free updates that will improve performance or enhance features when playing them on the Switch 2. The Switch games getting these updates include:
- Arms
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Game Builder Garage
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- Pokemon Scarlet
- Pokemon Violet
- Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a new game set in the world of Zelda that tells the story that leads into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This appears to be similar to how Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity told the story of a war that led to the events of Breath of the Wild. The teaser shows Zelda discovering that she’s arrived in the past of Hyrule, and the game will expand on how she gets involved in the corresponding Imprisonment War.
Nintendo Switch 2 games
Several other first- and third-party games were spotlighted during the Switch 2 Direct. These include Donkey Bananza, one of the first 3D platforming games featuring DK since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64. Kirby will also return to the racing genre in Kirby Air Riders, which comes more than 20 years after the GameCube racer Kirby’s Air Ride. DragXDrive will use mouse controls to control a futuristic wheelchair basketball game in which players will simulate push and pull motions to control their character.
An onslaught of Switch 2 third-party games were quickly shuffled through during the Direct, which I list below. An unnamed James Bond game is in development at Hitman studio IO Interactive, as is a darker title from Elden Ring creator FromSoftware called The Duskbloods, which will be exclusive to the Switch 2.
The full list of announced Nintendo Switch 2 games includes:
- Borderlands 4
- Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
- Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
- Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
- Deltarune
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Drag x Drive
- EA Sports FC
- EA Sports Madden NFL
- Elden Ring Tarnished Edition
- Enter the Gungeon 2
- Fast Fusion
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
- Fortnite
- Hades 2
- Hitman World of Assassination — Signature Edition
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
- Kirby Air Riders
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Star-Crossed World
- Kunitsu-Gai: Path of the Goddess
- Mario Kart World
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- NBA 2K
- Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
- Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
- Pokemon Legends: Z-A — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Project 007
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
- Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Split Fiction
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions
- Street Fighter 6
- Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Jamboree TV
- Survival Kids
- The Duskbloods
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4
- WWE 2K
- Yakuza 0 Definitive Edition
Among these titles, you can see the full list of June 5 Switch 2 launch day games here.
Nintendo GameCube library coming to Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch Online game library will add GameCube games to the Switch 2. On launch day, these games will initially include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, SoulCalibur 2 and F-Zero GX, with each game getting enhanced graphics. Online multiplayer will also be added to certain titles. Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Strikers and Luigi’s Mansion are among the games set to arrive later. At launch, Nintendo will also sell a GameCube controller, which will be wireless and include a C button for GameChat.
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