Google has accused Apple of profiting from the social stigma surrounding its iMessage texting service.
The accusations arose in response to a Wall Street Journal article about how the difference between green and blue bubbles on one’s texting service can lead to negative stigma aimed at teenage mobile users.
“Apple’s iMessage lock-in is a documented strategy,” tweeted Google Senior Vice President Hiroshi Lockheimer on Saturday. “Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing. The standards exist today to fix this.”
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Lockheimer was not the only Google account to critique iMessage. “iMessage should not benefit from bullying,” Google OS Android tweeted. “Texting should bring us together, and the solution exists. Let’s fix this as one industry.”
The “peer pressure and bullying” Lockheimer referenced arises from the software differences between iPhones and Android phones. iMessage texts appear in a blue bubble on iPhones, while SMS messages appear green. The two forms of texts can communicate but typically lose the unique functions of iMessage, such as Memojis.
The color difference has created a social stigma around one’s mobile device preference, according to the Wall Street Journal. Eighty-seven percent of teenagers reported having an iPhone, according to a survey released on Thursday by investment firm BlueMatrix.
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Apple executives have confirmed that iMessage has kept iOS users locked into the Apple system. Court documents released during the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit included an email from an unnamed Apple employee claiming that “the #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is iMessage … iMessage amounts to serious lock-in.” Apple executive Phil Schiller affirmed the claim, stating that “moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us.”
Google has regularly advocated for Apple to change iMessage. Google asked Apple to consider adopting RCS, the replacement for SMS, in 2021 and even offered to help the company adopt the new text messaging format.
Apple has not responded to requests for comment.
