The long-awaited end of the green bubble
The saga of green bubbles versus blue bubbles is very much an American thing—the US has been the only significant market which has held WhatsApp at bay, and clearly when your entire social network moves to WhatsApp—whether on iPhone or Android, all users look the same. It’s refreshingly democratic and socially leveling.
That said, Americans are trying it. Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrated WhatApp hitting the 100 million US users milestone in the summer, and those of you in the US will have noticed the billboards and
Modern Family ads pointing out the benefits of seamless, secure cross-platform messaging.
None of which actually killed the green bubbles.
Besides, change is coming. Cue Apple and that surprising update. iOS 18.2—now expected this week—will allow iPhone users to change default apps for the first time. Importantly, this includes your phone dialer and messenger, the very two apps the FBI and CISA have pointed out should be encrypted if at all possible. As you’ll all know by now, given the headlines over the last 72-hours, standard network calls or messages between Androids and iPhones are never end-to-end encrypted.
And so, following the logic, iPhone users should change their default dialer and messenger to WhatsApp or Signal or other fully secured options. Apple offers FaceTime for calls and iMessage for texts, but both only secure iPhone-to-iPhone, so that doesn’t work. In one respect, the timing of iOS 18.2 could not be better, but in another—perhaps for Apple and for Google’s RCS push, it could not be worse.
Not everyone will do this, of course. But many will. Especially given the FBI warning making headlines across the US in the wake of Salt Typhoon’s ongoing Chinese hacks, and with no firm end in sight. If some users do change, if
enough users do change, then perhaps we can end the green bubble nonsense once and for all. The bubbles would still be green if texting Android to iPhone from iMessage—but if you’re using a fully encrypted platform as your default instead, this becomes irrelevant.
What we really need is the green bubbles to turn blue, for RCS to be fully secured as another option for users. But despite the GSMA and Google working on this, it’s not yet in sight, unlike iOS 18.2 which is now just days away.
While this is straightforward for Apple’s US iPhone users, there was a risk it was about become more complex for users in Europe. Fortunately that risk seems to have just diminished—this has huge implications for the future of secure messaging.
As I have reported before, the EU’s so-called Chat Control would mandate the operators of messaging and other communication platforms to screen/scan private chats to flag material suspected of being CSAM—child sexual abuse material. While this singles objective is hard to argue, once end-to-end encryption is breached in this way, any material can be screened—political, moral, ethical,
* How might the upcoming iOS 18.2 update and the ability to change default messaging apps affect the adoption of encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp?
## The End of the Green Bubble? An Interview with Tech Analyst Sarah Jones
**Host:** Welcome back to the show! Today we’re discussing a potential shift in the messaging landscape, the so-called “end of the green bubble.” Joining us is tech analyst Sarah Jones. Sarah, thanks for being here.
**Sarah:** Thanks for having me!
**Host:** For those unfamiliar, can you explain the “green bubble” phenomenon and why it’s been such a hot topic?
**Sarah:** Sure! Essentially, the “green bubble” refers to the way iMessage chats appear on iPhones, while texts to non-iPhones appear in a green bubble. This visual distinction highlights the divide between iPhone users and those on Android, often causing frustration and even social pressure to join the Apple ecosystem.
**Host:** Right. It’s been a long-standing issue, particularly in the US. Now, we’re hearing whispers of change.
**Sarah:** Absolutely. WhatsApp has been gaining ground in the US, even hitting 100 million users this past summer [[text provided]]. Meta’s been pushing hard, but it seems the real game-changer could come from Apple itself.
**Host:** How so?
**Sarah:** With the upcoming iOS 18.2 update, iPhone users will finally have the option to change default messaging apps! This means they could choose WhatsApp, Signal, or any other encrypted messaging app as their primary means of communication.
**Host:** That would be a huge change. What does this mean for the future of the “green bubble”?
**Sarah:** Potentially, it could be the final nail in the coffin. If iPhone users can seamlessly adopt encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, the visual distinction between platforms could disappear. It’ll be a win for user privacy and choice.
**Host:** Thanks for shedding light on this Sarah. I’m sure our viewers will be keeping an eye on this development.
**Sarah:** My pleasure!
