4 ms·

I wonder what color the bubble will be?

by mattl 3y ago

CharlesW 3y ago
Not blue, because that signals capabilities which are specific to iMessages (E2E encryption, message effects, stickers, etc.).
jwells89 3y ago
Maybe not green, but it should probably remain different so there’s an unmistakable visual indicator of which conversations are encrypted (assuming Apple implements carrier-flavor RCS, which to my knowledge is not encrypted unlike Google-flavor).
- mdasen 3y ago
  I think it'll remain green. Apple might feel pressure to implement RCS to ward off regulators, but keeping the chats green will likely still serve Apple's purpose. Even if RCS is 100% as good as iMessage, a decade of green bubbles has cemented the perception in people's minds. Even if people don't know why a green bubble is worse (and even if they aren't worse), it will still be their perception. Apple has no reason to change the color from green and let users know that they shouldn't care as much as they used to.
  - mattl 3y ago
    I don't know many people with Android who don't use WhatsApp or Signal. Keeping SMS green would be good for purely transactional type SMS messages, and using another color for RCS would be good.
- stephenr 3y ago
  It says they're going to support Universal Profile, which is the GSMA defined feature set, and it's not immediately obvious to me if that includes E2EE capacity (I highly doubt it's a requirement) - I recall seeing something saying that "standard" (non-Google) RCS group chat doesn't support it.
  - freedomben 3y ago
    I would be very surprised if they integrated E2EE with Android phones. Being able to say "green bubbles aren't encrypted so everyone can read them" is a big competitive advantage and reason to justify why people need an iPhone. Plus there might be calls for doing away with stigmatized bubble colors if there aren't good reasons. Apple will want to maintain the bubble colors as long as they can, so it's win-win for them to not implement encryption.
tech234a 3y ago
I'm predicting either purple or a (light) gray.

I wonder what color the bubble will be?

by mattl 3y ago

I wonder what color the bubble will be?

Not blue, because that signals capabilities which are specific to iMessages (E2E encryption, message effects, stickers, etc.).

jwells89 3y ago

Maybe not green, but it should probably remain different so there’s an unmistakable visual indicator of which conversations are encrypted (assuming Apple implements carrier-flavor RCS, which to my knowledge is not encrypted unlike Google-flavor).

mdasen 3y ago
I think it'll remain green. Apple might feel pressure to implement RCS to ward off regulators, but keeping the chats green will likely still serve Apple's purpose. Even if RCS is 100% as good as iMessage, a decade of green bubbles has cemented the perception in people's minds. Even if people don't know why a green bubble is worse (and even if they aren't worse), it will still be their perception. Apple has no reason to change the color from green and let users know that they shouldn't care as much as they used to.
- mattl 3y ago
  I don't know many people with Android who don't use WhatsApp or Signal. Keeping SMS green would be good for purely transactional type SMS messages, and using another color for RCS would be good.
stephenr 3y ago
It says they're going to support Universal Profile, which is the GSMA defined feature set, and it's not immediately obvious to me if that includes E2EE capacity (I highly doubt it's a requirement) - I recall seeing something saying that "standard" (non-Google) RCS group chat doesn't support it.
- freedomben 3y ago
  I would be very surprised if they integrated E2EE with Android phones. Being able to say "green bubbles aren't encrypted so everyone can read them" is a big competitive advantage and reason to justify why people need an iPhone. Plus there might be calls for doing away with stigmatized bubble colors if there aren't good reasons. Apple will want to maintain the bubble colors as long as they can, so it's win-win for them to not implement encryption.

tech234a 3y ago

I'm predicting either purple or a (light) gray.