4 ms·

> Apple uses the green bubbles as a PR tactic to make Android users seem inferior. I've heard this sentiment before but it seems nothing short of insane to me.

> Apple uses the green bubbles as a PR tactic to make Android users seem inferior. I've heard this sentiment before but it seems nothing short of insane to me. What's the foundation for this?

pwinnski 4y ago
It's counter-factual fantasy. The color of the chat bubbles are blue when your messages are sent using E2E-secure full-featured iMessage, and green otherwise. It's your chat bubbles, by the way; messages you receive are always gray, regardless of how they were sent to you. It's not just PR, it's an important signal.
- allemagne 4y ago
  Full quote: >The narrative: Apple uses the green bubbles as a PR tactic to make Android users seem inferior. >I can’t say Apple doesn’t enjoy that dynamic. But by now, you know there’s a lot more to the green vs. blue bubbles than perception. The difference in color represents a very real difference in functionality, technology, and privacy Like you (and the author) said it's the Blue "E2E-secure full-featured iMessage" versus the Green less-featured, less-reliable SMS, and the ONLY way into the "important signal" of Blue is for your conversational partner to buy a (more expensive) iPhone. It's wrong and reductive to pretend that it's "just" a PR tactic, but in the same vein we don't have to pretend that security and user experience is the only benefit Apple gets from this.
afavour 4y ago
I think it's backwards: Android users are (seen to be, in certain circles) inferior and the green bubbles expose your Android ownership. And SMS (as indicated by the green bubble) is inferior to iMessage. These days both iOS and Android feel pretty whatever but back in the day the iPhone had a level of cultural cache Android didn't. Instagram was iPhone only and there was a huge uproar when it became available on Android because it was losing its cool.
amf12 4y ago
Here are some links which were posted on HN that discuss this. - https://archive.fo/RJ7bl https://archive.fo/RJ7bl - https://uxdesign.cc/how-apple-makes-you-think-green-bubbles-gross-e03b52b12fed https://uxdesign.cc/how-apple-makes-you-think-green-bubbles-...

> Apple uses the green bubbles as a PR tactic to make Android users seem inferior. I've heard this sentiment before but it seems nothing short of insane to me. What's the foundation for this?

pwinnski 4y ago

It's counter-factual fantasy. The color of the chat bubbles are blue when your messages are sent using E2E-secure full-featured iMessage, and green otherwise. It's your chat bubbles, by the way; messages you receive are always gray, regardless of how they were sent to you. It's not just PR, it's an important signal.

allemagne 4y ago
Full quote: >The narrative: Apple uses the green bubbles as a PR tactic to make Android users seem inferior. >I can’t say Apple doesn’t enjoy that dynamic. But by now, you know there’s a lot more to the green vs. blue bubbles than perception. The difference in color represents a very real difference in functionality, technology, and privacy Like you (and the author) said it's the Blue "E2E-secure full-featured iMessage" versus the Green less-featured, less-reliable SMS, and the ONLY way into the "important signal" of Blue is for your conversational partner to buy a (more expensive) iPhone. It's wrong and reductive to pretend that it's "just" a PR tactic, but in the same vein we don't have to pretend that security and user experience is the only benefit Apple gets from this.

afavour 4y ago

I think it's backwards: Android users are (seen to be, in certain circles) inferior and the green bubbles expose your Android ownership. And SMS (as indicated by the green bubble) is inferior to iMessage. These days both iOS and Android feel pretty whatever but back in the day the iPhone had a level of cultural cache Android didn't. Instagram was iPhone only and there was a huge uproar when it became available on Android because it was losing its cool.

amf12 4y ago

Here are some links which were posted on HN that discuss this. - https://archive.fo/RJ7bl https://archive.fo/RJ7bl - https://uxdesign.cc/how-apple-makes-you-think-green-bubbles-gross-e03b52b12fed https://uxdesign.cc/how-apple-makes-you-think-green-bubbles-...