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Green Bubbles Are a Turn-Off: Why Some iPhone Users Won’t Date Android Users

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A dreaded green bubble text

Eww, green bubbles! via C. Scott Brown, Android Authority

You’re going to die alone, Android users. That’s just the way of the world.

Okay. Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But who couldn’t see the humor in this recent NY Post article proclaiming there’s a large group of iPhone users who wouldn’t date Android users. Crazy, right?

Except, there’s truth to the story.

Before we get into platform stanning here, let’s get something out of the way. I use and prefer iOS and other Apple products. However, I am an Android engineer. I’ve reviewed Android smartphones. I’ve even enjoyed using Android smartphones. I have an Android phone hooked up to my computer for Android work right now. I’m not just some huge Apple fangirl.

But, let’s be real, iPhone users, you’re a little disappointed when you get a message from your Tinder match and they’ve got green bubbles, right? Personally, I wouldn’t hold that against someone, in fact, my past few girlfriends have been Android users. It’s also kind of cool that they can use the apps I make. However, I can’t shake the feeling of initial disappointment when I see a match has an Android phone.

Turns out there’s a fear of being a green bubble too, and some people have chosen iPhones over Android devices specifically so they don’t seem like an outcast to iPhone users.

But is it all shallowness, or do these picky iPhone owners have a point?

Income & Status

iPhone users make about $24,000 more a year, on average, in 2014.More than one Android-centric blog accused these iPhone users of only thinking of income and status. The fact is, iPhone users are more likely to make more money. The phones are more expensive, and people upgrade them more frequently. In fact, there is likely some truth to this complaint. Another study showed that people were less likely to date someone with a broken smartphone screen. This is because leaving it broken shows they didn’t plan well (no case), they don’t care for their things, and, unfortunately, that they may not have the money to repair it. A phone repair can be expensive, and perhaps this person can’t afford the $100 or so to fix their phone. That shows that the reduced likelihood of a second date can come from income.

The iPhone is a Luxury Good

The iPhone is certainly a symbol of luxury. The “AirPods Flex” memes prove that Apple products still retain a luxury branding. While this branding may hurt Apple going forward, as the middle and lower classes become increasingly frustrated with the exponentially growing income gap and stalled political policies, it currently works in Apple’s favor. We could be at a tipping point where luxury products start to receive backlash, and, indeed we’ve seen it in some areas already. A beauty blogger trashed “Drugstore Makeup” brands and found a backlash coming from those who couldn’t spend >$100/month on makeup. People no longer idolize the upper class, they recognize that many are there through birth or connections, and the huge income gap doesn’t accurately reflect effort.

Not Just About Income

For many people, the income of a partner is still a concern. Obviously few want to be the financial backing for a partner, but there are those who demand a partner who makes a lot of money. These people will only date someone who makes a lot of money. They’re not avoiding people who are not fiscally independent, they’re avoiding people who aren’t rich. The iPhone as a status symbol is certainly part of that differentiation.

But to claim that green bubbles are all about income is dishonest. I don’t care what a partner makes, as long as she’s able to support herself. However, I still feel a twinge of disappointment when I text a girl for the first time and she responds with a green bubble. It’s not about money, it’s about the lack of connection. SMS just isn’t as rich for conversation as iMessage. In fact, nothing Android has measures up.

iMessage Benefits

From Apple's site, the iMessage features compared to SMS (as I do in the text below)iMessage is much better than text messages, and it’s better than Android’s text message alternatives as well. Android suffers from fragmentation. What app do they use to communicate? Just text? Facebook messenger? WeChat? Instagram DMs? Hangouts? Telegram? Signal? Snapchat? You need 30 applications just to stay in contact and get the features of iMessage.

iMessage adds more features than I can count in just a few words. We’re talking about read receipts, typing indicators, reactions to messages, stickers, animoji, quickly making a Facetime call, higher quality images, video, and gif sharing with less compression, text animations and screen effects, contact, location, and file sharing, in-feed videos and gifs that don’t require clicking a link, annotations, collaboration, end to end encryption, and, much, much more.

The fact is, when you’re messaging iPhone users, you have a much better experience than if you’re messaging an Android user. You have more ways to express yourself, and a more rich platform to connect. It’s a more intimate, friendly, and even can be a more romantic way to connect with someone. It can be fun and playful. It doesn’t feel soulless, like a text message. It feels more human. That’s why iPhone users feel disappointment when texting an Android user, they know they’re in for a less engaging experience.

Android Users Bring the Party Down

https://twitter.com/superezfe/status/1162165948100440064?s=20

 

When you have a group message, if there’s just one Android user, everyone has to be on the green bubbles. iPhone users hate this. It means if they react to an image, it’ll send a text message to the group “<Person> loved an image.” What does that mean? What image? What message? When you send out a cool gif, it could appear as a link to everyone. Stickers on messages? Forget it! Annotations? Nope! You lose everything, just because one Android user is in your chat.

You can bet that upsets iPhone users. I’ve had group chats before where someone was like, “Aw, man, who’s got an Android phone?” More than once. It just means you can’t have as much fun with the group. I’ve pushed people on to Facebook Messenger to make sure no one’s excluded, as I’ve seen people cut Android users out of group chats for making plans. Don’t worry, they always make sure to text the other person individually, but no one wants them in the group chat because it’ll become an annoying group SMS chat instead. It’s like one person in your group not having an email address so you have to fax everyone.

https://twitter.com/BenBajarin/status/1162048582385430528?s=20

 

But teenagers can use this as an excuse to bully a kid. A child could be pushed out of their friend group for having an Android phone. They might not be as courteous as adults, who ensure their Android toting friends still know what’s going down.

Because one Android phone can ruin the experience for a group of iPhone users, they’ll be tempted to exclude them from the chat, and, potentially, from their plans altogether. That’s incredibly hurtful, but it doesn’t come from a place of hate, or anger, or prejudice.

RCS to the Rescue?

Apple will never bring iMessage to Android. It’s too much of a selling point for iOS devices to ever do that. One company found that 492 out of 500 employees chose an iPhone for their company device, primarily because of iMessage.

Samsung’s trying to rebrand green bubbles as fun with their “Green don’t care” gifs, but the color was never the problem. The bubbles could be orange, they’d still be hated because they represent a worse experience. It can’t be cool because it’s a worse product, by a wide margin.

But Google’s working on a real solution with cellular carriers. Obviously third party chat features are difficult because there are so many of them, but what if you could get the same features over iMessage through text, without needing an iPhone? The ease of rich texting with a phone number, rather than picking from a variety of services? Sounds great! That’s what RCS is.

RCS will be a future messaging standard that will bring many popular iMessage features to all smartphones. It’ll allow for larger photos, videos, and gifs, read receipts, typing indicators, sharing of contacts, location, or other data points, and more. It’ll make text messages more like iMessage. Will it still have some of the reactions, animations, third party apps and games, and other features of iMessage? No. iMessage will still be the better platform. However, it’ll remove many of aggravations people face messaging an Android user from an iPhone. That’ll help Android users looking for a date or trying to stay cool in school.

Green Bubble Blues

“It’s just a turnoff if they don’t [have an iPhone]. On Tinder, you message someone for awhile and then you exchange numbers. You’re like, ‘I hope it’s blue,’ and it’s a relief when it is.”

Listen, iPhone users, I get it. I get it because I also don’t like messaging people with an Android phone as much as an iPhone. I often think, “Can I convert them to iOS?” But the fact is, you can’t. Behind that green bubble is a person, an individual. You can live in your little blue bubble world, embracing the fact that iMessage is a better way to connect with people than SMS, but are you really connecting with people better? If you simply cut out around half of all smartphone users in the U.S. just because of their phone choice, are you really improving your human connections? No. You’re cutting yourself off.

So, sure, sending an SMS might feel like sending a fax to someone in the age of email. But it’s better than not messaging someone at all. Don’t turn a potential friend or romantic partner away just because of their choice in phone. Instead, embrace the differences that make humanity wonderful. Even if it means ugly green bubbles.

As for you Android users? Yeah, this likely means you’re going to be cut out of group chats anyway, and you’ll likely lose at least one date over those texts. But, really, if someone wants to cut you out for one thing, they’re probably too capricious to ever be a true friend or romantic partner anyway.

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