This week, alongside a huge unveiling of name new foldable gadgets and equipment from Samsung, Google put out its personal advert marketing campaign in an try to rally the troops towards Apple’s tyrannical reign on messaging. Google’s #getthemessage marketing campaign hopes to stoke the flames of hundreds of thousands of bothered Android followers in order that Apple may be inspired to assist RCS messaging, the cross-platform commonplace not too long ago adopted by Google Messages.

The Get The Message website reads like a Bible class handout from my previous Christian college. It has all of the speaking factors Google desires me to use to remind people who it’s Apple’s fault that I, as an Android consumer, don’t have entry to the total decision and capabilities afforded by Apple Messages. Google brings up that, generally, group messages get damaged as a result of they embody a mix of Apple and Android-using people, usually resulting in “social frustration.” It even hyperlinks to past coverage pointing to proof that youngsters and youths dread carrying round Android gadgets for concern of being denoted an uncool Green Bubble.

I instantly knew what Google was going for after I noticed the advert marketing campaign go dwell. I bear in mind masking Google Senior Vice President Hiroshi Lockheimer’s first tweet storm concerning the inefficacies of Apple’s proprietary messaging commonplace. And then the second time, months after when he known as on Apple to make it simpler on everybody.

But the newest #getthemessage marketing campaign appears somewhat everywhere. I’m struggling to grasp exactly the demographic that’s purported to go after Apple to make issues play good. Is it Android olds like me who’re crotchety and have complained concerning the lack of parity in messaging for the reason that early days on the platform? Or is it Gen Z-ers on TikTok who don’t have any drawback taking within the weirdest Riverdale storylines and working with no matter horror shitshow the CW is permitting to indicate over there? (I hear it’s excellent.)

Why is Madelaine Petsch, who performs Cheryl on Riverdale, a part of this ad campaign? Is she purported to encourage the youngins to assist drive the purpose dwelling? Furthermore, why is Vanessa Hudgens a part of this advert marketing campaign, when her final related IMDB entry is The Princess Switch, a Netflix-exclusive Christmas film with nothing on my Lifetime favorites? I’ve completely no emotional connection to those folks as an Android consumer. Not to say, you possibly can inform they’re studying off a script from their screens. I don’t imagine these famous-ish folks know what my life is like wielding an Android cellphone and hanging out in Apple land.

What’s the issue with iMessage?

There’s certainly fragmentation in textual content messaging among the many main cellular platforms. Apple Messages app runs on the iMessage service to ship texts between iPhones and different iOS-enabled gadgets. It helps end-to-end encryption, higher assist for group chats, and high-resolution photographs and movies. But when an Apple consumer texts an Android machine with the default texting utility, the message is shipped out as an old-school SMS or MMS message, usually deprecating the expertise of the textual content on the Android consumer’s facet.

Google adopted RCS, or Rich Communication Services, to attempt to repair this dichotomy, and it’s already in use in different markets. RCS allows encrypted messaging, high-quality media sharing, and different fashionable options like larger character limits and browse receipts. If you have got entry to RCS on Android Messages and are chatting with one other Android consumer, you have already got entry to a few of these options. That’s what life could possibly be like together with your iPhone-using pal.

Google has tried to bridge the hole between iOS and Android messengers regardless of the repeated pleas for Apple to do the work. Emoji reactions, which was restricted to iPhone customers, grew to become obtainable earlier this 12 months after the corporate added assist for them on Android.

The fragmentation will persist until Apple desires to get on board with RCS. But Apple is dedicated to retaining its walled backyard coifed and gated up, as a result of it helps promote its {hardware}, the place it makes the majority of its money. The iOS 16 Beta already has iPhone-only talents to edit and delete delivered iMessages. That kind of characteristic is feasible exactly due to the tightly-knit nature of the iOS platform.

Anyway, I wouldn’t be shocked if this marketing campaign fizzles out as a result of Android customers have already moved on. Meta’s Messenger and WhatsApp have a stronger hold available on the market, and lots of different messaging apps work together with your cellphone quantity. Even I’ve moved on from Android Messages and discover most of my every day correspondence occurring completely inside Instagram DMs.