Is Apple deliberately using iMessage to Bully people into leaving Android?

[Just_Me_D]

I read an article yesterday and today that claims Apple is using the blue v green colors in its Messages app to bully teens into leaving Android for the iPhone. Someone from Google, of all entities, is making the claim. Source: https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...ges-colors-to-bully-android-users-says-google

That is absurd to me, especially when all of us are being bullied into accepting ads and being tracked all over the internet.

 

[grover5]

I read an article yesterday and today that claims Apple is using the blue v green colors in its Messages app to bully teens into leaving Android for the iPhone. Someone from Google, of all entities, is making the claim. Source: https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...ges-colors-to-bully-android-users-says-google

That is absurd to me, especially when all of us are being bullied into accepting ads and being tracked all over the internet.

It’s very manipulative of him to suggest that. Anything for money apparently.

 

[Wotchered]

This is pretty silly,when if you think about it iMessage is a disadvantage to us in some ways. Like sending/receiving photographs to those of our children that are Androids (this can also be a benefit) Nobody gives me a choice about the endless adverts I have to avoid. If the children have decided something is cool, well, so they will. Until another thing takes their attention…

 

[gnirkatto]

How can someone be bullied into something, if he/she doesn't get aware of the bullying attempt, because it takes place on a platform that he/she doesn't use?
Or, Apple users, making so much fun of Android users and their green color messages, publicly, so these users get so embarrassed that they sell their Androids and buy iPhones, this is quite far fetched, imho.
Also, I bet that 99.5% of the teenagers this guy refers to use Whatsapp/Telegram/Signal etc. anyway, rather than sms texting.
Yes, Apple does want to lock in users (who doesn't?), but this I call BS.

 

[Not Quite Right]

Clickbait! Didn't the haters used to say the same thing about BlackBerry Messenger? At least iMessage works with SMS, you don't need to know the other persons PIN#, and all you need is another iPhone to be in the cool kids club.

 

[Wotchered]

How can someone be bullied into something, if he/she doesn't get aware of the bullying attempt, because it takes place on a platform that he/she doesn't use?
Or, Apple users, making so much fun of Android users and their green color messages, publicly, so these users get so embarrassed that they sell their Androids and buy iPhones, this is quite far fetched, imho.
Also, I bet that 99.5% of the teenagers this guy refers to use Whatsapp/Telegram/Signal etc. anyway, rather than sms texting.
Yes, Apple does want to lock in users (who doesn't?), but this I call BS.

They’ll be Whatsappers !

 

[FFR]

Don’t really know which to believe. Android users claim no one is using iMessages, while google claims that many do and that translates to bullying.

 

[iOS Gravity]

The bullying exists in the sense that Android users are often isolated from group chats. No one wants to be in the "out-group", especially kids. Not being a green bubble is a pretty big motivator for younger people choosing iPhone over Android.

 

[iOS Gravity]

How can someone be bullied into something, if he/she doesn't get aware of the bullying attempt, because it takes place on a platform that he/she doesn't use?
Or, Apple users, making so much fun of Android users and their green color messages, publicly, so these users get so embarrassed that they sell their Androids and buy iPhones, this is quite far fetched, imho.
Also, I bet that 99.5% of the teenagers this guy refers to use Whatsapp/Telegram/Signal etc. anyway, rather than sms texting.
Yes, Apple does want to lock in users (who doesn't?), but this I call BS.

Unless the kid is completely oblivious, they'll notice that they're being left out of group chats. It's not overly overt, nor is it intentionally malicious. It's just exclusion due to inconvenience.
Green bubbles do get called out/joked about. Maybe not to the point where they immediately get rid of their current phone, but to the point where their next phone will most certainly be an iPhone. The green bubbles also have a lower contrast ratio than the blue bubbles, which makes them comparatively harder to read. It's not an accident.

And then you have the rest of the world, where no one really cares lol. They're all using Whatsapp or Facebook.

 

[grover5]

Unless the kid is completely oblivious, they'll notice that they're being left out of group chats. It's not overly overt, nor is it intentionally malicious. It's just exclusion due to inconvenience.
Green bubbles do get called out/joked about. Maybe not to the point where they immediately get rid of their current phone, but to the point where their next phone will most certainly be an iPhone. The green bubbles also have a lower contrast ratio than the blue bubbles, which makes them comparatively harder to read. It's not an accident.

And then you have the rest of the world, where no one really cares lol. They're all using Whatsapp or Facebook.

I think the sad point of this is that a CEO worth hundreds of millions tried to use this horrible aspect of childhood bullying to leverage more financial opportunity for his trillion dollar corporation.

 

[iOS Gravity]

I think the sad point of this is that a CEO worth hundreds of millions tried to use this horrible aspect of childhood bullying to leverage more financial opportunity for his trillion dollar corporation.

It's pathetic, especially since part of it is Google's fault. They release a new messaging service every year and bail on their existing users.
It's even funnier when you see how Google Fi is restricting network functionality on iPhones out of sheer pettiness. It's an issue that every other T-Mobile MVNO does not have. Google is trying to make Apple to enable carrier RCS features in the native Messages app while denying iPhones full access to its network.

 

[EdwinG]

The green bubbles also have a lower contrast ratio than the blue bubbles, which makes them comparatively harder to read. It's not an accident.

I have a small issue with this part of your “argument”.

iOS has ALWAYS used green to represent SMS and MMS messages, since iPhoneOS 1.0, when iMessage didn’t exist and MMS messaging was not supported.

I do agree that white on bright green is not a good design choice, one can’t say that it was chosen on purpose to blame non-iPhone users, because even iPhone devices send SMS messages to other iPhones.

Now, I would prefer that iOS used black on green instead of white.

 

[iOS Gravity]

Think of it this way. Yes, iPhones also send SMS messages to other iPhones. But, pretty much everyone using an iPhone is connected to the internet, which will make the iPhone use iMessage by default. iMessages also have the ability to send even if the iPhone isn't connected to a cellular network. You don't even need a cellular plan to use iMessage. When compared to non-iPhones which send SMS messages 100% of the time, the percentage of iPhones sending out SMS messages is much smaller. Meaning that iPhones are less affected.

No need to be condescending. I'm saying that the argument being made by the Google exec isn't nonsensical, at least in reference to the US.

Bubble Contrast

 

[scruffypig]

Think of it this way. Yes, iPhones also send SMS messages to other iPhones. But, pretty much everyone using an iPhone is connected to the internet, which will make the iPhone use iMessage by default. iMessages also have the ability to send even if the iPhone isn't connected to a cellular network. You don't even need a cellular plan to use iMessage. When compared to non-iPhones which send SMS messages 100% of the time, the percentage of iPhones sending out SMS messages is much smaller. Meaning that iPhones are less affected.

No need to be condescending. I'm saying that the argument being made by the Google exec isn't nonsensical, at least in reference to the US.

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I just checked on my iPhone. I can turn off iMessage.

 

[EdwinG]

Think of it this way. Yes, iPhones also send SMS messages to other iPhones. But, pretty much everyone using an iPhone is connected to the internet, which will make the iPhone use iMessage by default. iMessages also have the ability to send even if the iPhone isn't connected to a cellular network. You don't even need a cellular plan to use iMessage. When compared to non-iPhones which send SMS messages 100% of the time, the percentage of iPhones sending out SMS messages is much smaller. Meaning that iPhones are less affected.

No need to be condescending. I'm saying that the argument being made by the Google exec isn't nonsensical, at least in reference to the US.

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I didn't mean to sound rude or condescending. I'm not fully disagreeing with you. I just wanted to point out that Apple has always used green in their Messages.app for SMS/MMS messages.

One thing that I just noticed is that no one mentioned is MMS group messaging, that works between all Android and iOS smartphones and that has been supported for many years. I don't know what's going on there :/

 

[anon(50597)]

Think of it this way. Yes, iPhones also send SMS messages to other iPhones. But, pretty much everyone using an iPhone is connected to the internet, which will make the iPhone use iMessage by default. iMessages also have the ability to send even if the iPhone isn't connected to a cellular network. You don't even need a cellular plan to use iMessage. When compared to non-iPhones which send SMS messages 100% of the time, the percentage of iPhones sending out SMS messages is much smaller. Meaning that iPhones are less affected.

No need to be condescending. I'm saying that the argument being made by the Google exec isn't nonsensical, at least in reference to the US.

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I don’t believe for a second that Apple is attempting to “bully” anyone, but they are trying to market their products as cooler and “required” to be a hip teenager. This age group has been targeted by advertisers for decades because companies know how emotional and fragile they can be.

Eventually, I would hope, there will be a safe and universal messaging app/system. We’ll have to wait and see.

 

[Up_And_Away]

100% clickbait nonsense, a way for Google to try to increase their own business. This is tantamount to it's bullying if a company puts out an ad for their new flagship phone, some kids get one, some kids don't, and the kids that don't are bullied for not having the newest phone. Some kids will have the new Nike, some will even get new cars by the time they're sophomores/juniors. This is Google, in effect, trying to sell more proverbial Nike products or cars.

Apple has an interworking ecosystem of products it makes, spending an epic fortune over the years to develop it. No one else offers this level of ecosystem. As part of their ecosystem they offered an in house text messanger too. it has a color difference to let the user be aware that one is over the Internet, one is over the carrier signal. If groups choose to make the color green and blue of a bubble a status symbol, that is how it will be.
Apple doesn't make money off its messenger app like other companies do. It is to each company's own how they make their revenue. Some companies don't care color, how and why, they just need you using their messenger to monetize that usage. Apple adds its in house text messenger as a value add to continue to get users to stay/buy Apple hardware and actual revenue based services. This is business, nothing nefarious. Google isn't doing anything for anyone other than potential revenue using a buzzword bullying as a sales pitch. End of story.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

The bullying exists in the sense that Android users are often isolated from group chats. No one wants to be in the "out-group", especially kids. Not being a green bubble is a pretty big motivator for younger people choosing iPhone over Android.

I've heard anecdotal things like high school students working on a group project in a group jacket excluding an android user because they didn't want to be in a group SMS chat. I agree with you. The bullying comes from the users. Sad stuff.

 

[Just_Me_D]

…The bullying comes from the users. Sad stuff.

‘Nuf said.

 

[Annie_M]

I firmly believe that Apple is not the bully in this sad tale. If there is any bullying happening at all, I agree with others that it’s on the user’s end.