Google uses a Drake song to argue against green bubbles in iMessage

Google is no stranger to criticizing the green bubble phenomenon in iMessage, having done so earlier this year. The phenomenon refers to iMessage color-coding messages as blue if sent to Apple devices and green if sent to a blocked number or Android phone. These messages are also sent to Android users via the older SMS standard.

Now, in the wake of US rapper Drake releasing a song titled Texts Go Green, Google has taken to Twitter to criticize the green bubble issue and advocate for Apple to embrace the RCS messaging standard for Android users.

The search giant posted an “unofficial lyric explainer” video for the song (seen above), explaining what a green bubble is before outlining the solution:

If only some super talented engineering team at Apple would fix this. Because this is a problem only Apple can fix. They just have to adopt RCS, actually. It would make texting more secure too. 

Google’s video and earlier criticism of green bubbles in iMessage came after a Wall Street Journal article looked at the dominance of iPhones among US teens. The January 2022 article noted that many teens and college students in the market felt social pressure to switch to an iPhone due to being seen as a green bubble in texts.

It only seems sensible for Apple to adopt RCS as a fallback option for Android devices, as it’s the successor to the SMS standard. RCS offers features like higher quality media sharing, read receipts, typing indicators, location-based capabilities, and more. 

RCS isn’t without its flaws though, such as inconsistent carrier support at first and a major spam issue. Another significant drawback is a lack of encryption for group chats, although Google says this is coming to RCS later this year.