The young brand Nothing will enable its users to communicate directly via Apple Messaging, although this is generally reserved for iPhone owners.
For some, especially young people, the blue iMessage bubble is sometimes a sign of social recognition. Apple is aware of this and has long refused to open its ecosystem to competition. But faced with this closed door, the young Nothing brand decides to go through the window. On November 14th, the integration of an iMessage function into the phone (2) will be announced, the device of which will be launched in the summer of 2023.
“These green bubbles can be perceived as a barrier between you and other users. But we have found the solution,” the company explains in a press release.
Handcrafted method
Instead, Nothing found the service provider who found the solution. As stated on its website, this compatibility between its messaging application (called “Nothing Chats”) and iMessage was implemented thanks to the company Sunbird. Although there is currently no operational service, Sunbird promises to create a unified messaging system compatible with all platforms, including iMessage.
Despite the unique aspect of the process, it is ultimately a more artisanal process, as the American website The Verge explains: Sunbird has Apple computers that connect to the application remotely and act as relays between the application’s users (and therefore of) serve Nothing Chats) and iMessage users with an iPhone.
In fact, this consists of connecting a Mac to iMessage and copy/pasting any message sent from the Android device to deliver it to the recipient.
The Nothing Chats application, available from November 17th, therefore only offers basic use of iMessage. Despite the ability to use the famous blue bubble, users cannot use all of Apple Messaging’s features, such as canceling a message or adding reactions.
The question of personal data
During such a process, the system requires you to enter your Apple ID into Nothing and thus into Sunbird. Which might put some users off. Both companies ensure that the message content is end-to-end encrypted and therefore inaccessible.
On the other hand, Sunbird’s privacy policy talks about significant processing of personal data (online habits, IP address, etc.), for example for advertising purposes, without specifying what can be done with the Apple ID.
The inability to communicate between iMessage and Android smartphones other than via simple SMS technology is a recurring subject of conflict between Apple and Google. The second, which uses RCS technology in particular, tries to convince the first to make iMessage compatible.
In contrast to “old” SMS, RCS offers much greater possibilities, for example sending photos, videos or other media. A request that continues to be ignored by Apple, which wants to preserve its blue bubble ecosystem.
But Apple faces another threat, this time from the European Union. To protect competition, EU authorities may soon force the Californian company to make iMessage interoperable with rival instant messaging applications, starting with Whatsapp.