In high school, the teasing gets worse as Android users are taunted for being “broke” and “medieval” by other students. And when an Android user crashes an iOS chat on iMessage, all of the features that are available when the whole group is using an iPhone, including higher-quality images, read receipts, typing indicators, end-to-end encryption, and more, all disappear. And the texts typed by the Android user in a group appear in a green text bubble, the modern-day equivalent of the “Scarlet Letter.”
Ironically, Google’s own messaging system for Android uses a platform called Rich Communication Services (RCS) which delivers certain familiar features like end-to-end encryption, typing indicators, read receipts, high-quality images, and blue text bubbles, but only when all of the parties in a chat are using Android. But should an iPhone user slip into the group, guess what happens? All of these features go away and the outcast iOS user will be seeing his words typed inside a telltale green text bubble.
