I figured out how to get around the iPhone green bubble /blue bubble (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 9 months ago by megaman@discuss.tchncs.de to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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An android messaging app that sends everything as an image where the text is in a blue bubble. All images, baby.

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[-] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago

So you're saying if the Android messaging app were to suddenly change its security overnight, the bubble colors would change by default?

[-] hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Nope. I suppose in theory it could, but not necessarily—it'd be up to Apple/Google to make the color decisions regarding that.

The important thing here is that it's not about the colors themselves, but about what the colors signify.

Apple chose blue to denote that the message you're sending is to another Apple device. By default, this Apple-to-Apple message uses the iMessage protocol. If it uses iMessage, then that implies a certain security standard.

Apple also made the deliberate choice to denote non-iMessage texts with green. If it's green, then it's SMS/MMS, you lose iMessage encryption, and other features like reactions.

The colors are not gonna change by default—it's up to them to coordinate what colors are used for what. Apple's not gonna open up iMessage (at least not voluntarily, and we saw how far they'll go with Beeper), so Google can't do anything about that. Which is also why they're pushing so hard to get Apple to adopt RCS.

If Apple does adopt RCS, maybe they'll denote it with purple bubbles, who knows. Then you'd have iMessage as blue, RCS as purple, and SMS/MMS as green.

But again, this is all about what each color signifies in terms of privacy and security.