In the US, the partitioning of iMessage would create social pressure among adolescents


Mathieu Grumiaux

January 10, 2022 at 5:20 pm

8

iMessage

One of Google’s vice-presidents reacted by touting the merits of the RCS protocol, which would allow users Android
and iOS to communicate more easily.

iMessage is one of the most important services in iOS. Exclusive to the platform, it gives Apple a strong argument to convince consumers to buy an iPhone as a new smartphone.

The dominance of the iPhone among American teens creates phenomena of exclusion

The Californian manufacturer’s messaging service is in fact reserved for users of its platforms. Even if some within Apple’s management may have considered offering an Android version, iMessage remains exclusive to the group’s devices and this poses some problems in the United States.

the Wall Street Journal describes in a long article what is akin to social pressure exerted on American adolescents and young adults by the domination of this instant messaging system.

In just a few years, the iPhone’s market share in the United States has risen to almost 74% for this age group, compared to 40% for users over the age of 24. The few rare owners of Android smartphones thus find themselves sometimes ostracized by the rest of their group.

Google advocates for the adoption of RCS by Apple

These rare Android users, called the ” green bubbles »In reference to the color displayed by iMessage when receiving a simple SMS, they are deprived of the functionality of the messaging system but also of group conversations. ” I’ve seen people with Android apologize for having Android and not having iMessage », Thus testifies a student interviewed by the daily.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, one of Google’s vice-presidents in charge of Android, did not fail to repeat this article in a vitriolic tweet, explaining that Apple is using these exclusionary phenomena to sell new phones. .

He indicates at the same time that the adoption of a communication standard, the RCS, would allow Apple to put an end to this situation.

The RCS is in a way the successor of the SMS and makes it possible to forward photos, memes, GIFs or even to create interoperable group conversations between the two systems.

If this protocol is actively supported by Google, it does not trigger great enthusiasm among operators and even less among Apple. The Californian manufacturer refuses to adopt it in its own messaging, probably preferring to keep its pre-square and a major asset to sell its next iPhone.

Source: Wall Street Journal



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