As an Android user, I stick out like a neon green bubble in a sea of blue. If you’re in a group chat with me, then yes—I’m the one making them green (oops!). Don’t poke fun at me, though; this is a monumental confession.
Back in middle school, when we first discovered the joys of texting group chats, I dreaded the inevitable question: “Why’s it green?” Of course, I thought it was because of me, so I was too embarrassed to mention it. After many years, though, I’ve finally come to peace with my decision to use an Android. Because, as I’ve realized, the green bubble isn’t my fault—it’s Apple’s.
Look around. Everyone has an iPhone. And if they don’t, it’s assumed they do—just look at how people instinctively say, “Let’s do the tappy thing!” when exchanging contact info. Yet, iPhones aren’t the most popular phone worldwide.
According to StatCounter, in 2024, Androids (including Samsung, Pixel, Nokia, and Xiaomi) held 72% of the global market, while iPhones held barely 28%. But in the U.S., the numbers flip—iPhones dominate 58% of the market, and Androids lag at 42%. The gap is even wider among teens—almost 90% of Gen Z own iPhones.
So, you might wonder, what’s your deal then? Why an Android? Well, the first phone I owned in 6th grade was my dad’s old phone, so I didn’t really get a choice: a Samsung Galaxy S7. And when it came time for a new phone, I didn’t see a reason to change; I liked swiping up from the home screen to access my apps, all my photos were synced to Google already, I enjoyed being able to change my device’s default font, and I relied on Always On Display—kind of like the phone version of screen savers—to keep track of time.
At the end of the day, Android phones are just another option in the market and should be treated as such. They have their perks—different camera specifications, different user interfaces, and different home screen setups, to name a few—and Android phones are known for being more customizable.
So, you might ask, what accounts for this monopoly-esque phenomenon in teens across the U.S.? And I would answer: Apple’s clever marketing techniques.
Here’s a classic: the infamous green bubble. While not explicitly designed with blatant malicious intent, it was designed to be exclusive. Because iMessage runs under a “proprietary closed system,” only Apple devices can use it. Naturally, this exclusivity formed an in-group, and Androids aren’t part of this in-group, so Apple-Android texts used to default back to the primitive SMS (now, Apple has finally integrated RCS into iOS 18).
That’s why, according to Justin Santamaria, a former Apple engineer, the green color was “necessary,” since it indicates when iMessage features, such as reactions or replies, wouldn’t work. But let’s be honest: the ugly slime-colored neon green was a choice. And so, this so-called “harmless” green bubble alienation took on a life of its own.
Green bubbles became the hallmark of an Android user. An outsider. Worse, they became associated with being “poor” or “a loser.” It’s the same social pressure that made everyone want a fidget spinner or Adidas Superstars in middle school, and you just weren’t as cool if you didn’t have them. But what does that leave us with?
Social Conformity
Why are people telling me to change my phone based on someone else’s perceived “better brand?” This is precisely why iPhones are so popular among the teenage population. Between the ages of 10 and 15, vulnerable minds are trying to figure out who they are and how to fit in with society. Even psychology proves that during adolescence, developing brains entering the world independent of their parents and looking to find social belonging are easily influenced by peer pressure. And Apple knowingly takes advantage of this to intentionally manipulate the market and drive iPhone sales.
The “Haves” vs. the “Have Nots”
It’s not just about the color—it’s about whether or not you own an iPhone. This iPhone elitism leads to social ostracization, no matter how subtle it is, from exclusion from group chats to calls of “green texts don’t get texts back,” implying that people only date iPhone users. Apple has turned a messaging app into a status symbol, and iPhones into a perceived measure of superiority.
So, you might say, this is all just a bug, a little misunderstanding, that’s all. Apple could quickly remedy this and make the world just that little bit better. And you’d be absolutely correct!
In fact, back in the early 2010s, Apple executives considered releasing iMessage to Android. However, one of Apple’s top executives, Phil Schiller, fought against this, claiming it would “hurt us more than help us.” Translation? Keeping iMessage exclusive results in more interest in the iPhone, and therefore more sales.
Apple has no real incentive to change. They purposefully created and are currently trying to maintain this exclusive “walled garden” ecosystem to create a monopoly in the teenage mobile phone market. Apple chooses to make texting between iPhones and Androids difficult because its number one priority is profit.
They only started adopting industry-wide standards, like RCS in iOS 18, after mounting pressure from competitors and the Department of Justice’s anti-monopoly lawsuit. Even the iPhone 15’s switch to USB-C only happened because of an EU law.
So, you might think, if none of us have the power to change trillion-dollar companies, what does this matter to us? How are we to make a difference? Well, look at Europe!
Would it surprise you that this is only a problem in the U.S.? And only among our generation? In the U.S., most people have unlimited text and talk built into their phone plan, facilitating a culture of texting. But this isn’t true for most of the world, where phone plans typically charge by message. So to avoid hefty phone bills, European users default to alternative messaging apps such as WhatsApp, for example, and Asian users to WeChat or KakaoTalk, rendering them ignorant of the bubblism that plagues us here.
Looking at the rest of the world, from France to China to South Africa, it’s obvious iMessaging is not a necessity in our lives—there are other ways to communicate. So instead of supporting Apple’s dirty marketing techniques, switch apps. Use WhatsApp instead. Or Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, or WeChat. (We already know Signal has Pete Hegseth’s vote). Regardless, there are so many alternatives. It only takes two seconds to click download.
Granted, it would take a mass movement of teenagers. But if WhatsApp became everyone’s default, there would no longer be an issue of blurry images sent by MMS, creating a new group chat to add people, or not being able to name group chats. The DOJ is already fighting Apple’s monopolistic practices with an antitrust lawsuit; this is how we can contribute to that movement.
While it may be true that some people find the green bubble atrocious, I’ve made peace with it. Sure, when I was in middle school, part of me always feared being left out; but, since then, I’ve met so many wonderful friends who don’t care about the color of our texts or prefer to use WhatsApp anyway, reaffirming my belief that the phone I use does not matter. That said… a tiny wave of annoyance still rolls over me whenever someone tells me, “You should just get an iPhone already.”
Raina Wang ’28 (rainawang@college.harvard.edu) thinks everyone should switch to WhatsApp.