Apple’s green bubble targeted by Justice Department in lawsuit over iPhone ‘monopoly’

The US Department of Justice is outraged by green message bubbles. Announcing today’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland dedicated part of his speech to the green bubbles that appear in conversations between users of iPhones and other mobile devices such as Android smartphones.

“As any iPhone user who has seen a green text message or received a small, grainy video can attest, Apple’s anti-competitive practices include iPhone users texting with users of non-Apple products. That includes making it more difficult to transmit,” Garland said. Apple has announced a lawsuit alleging that it has illegally monopolized the smartphone market.

The attorney general accused Apple of “degrading its own messaging apps and third-party messaging apps.” “In doing so, Apple is intentionally and purposefully reducing quality, privacy, and security for its users,” Garland said. “For example, when an iPhone user sends a message to a non-iPhone user in her Apple Messages, the text not only appears as a green bubble but also includes limited functionality.”

When messages are displayed in green bubbles, “conversations are not encrypted, video is pixelated and grainy, and users cannot edit messages or see typing indicators,” Garland said. said. “As a result, iPhone users have a poorer experience sending messages to friends and family who don’t own an iPhone, and they’re no longer interested in competing products, even though Apple is responsible for destroying cross-platform messaging. We perceive that the quality of smartphones is low.”

Garland referenced a 2022 interview in which Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked if Apple would fix messaging from iPhone to Android. The person who asked the question said, “It’s nothing personal, but I can’t send certain videos to my mom.” Mr. Cook replied, “Please buy your mother an iPhone.”

Apple touts planned RCS support

Cook’s comments are also mentioned in the Justice Department’s lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Of course, this case isn’t just about green bubbles and text messages. The Justice Department alleges that Apple violated antitrust laws by restricting rivals’ access to iPhone features and monopolizing the smartphone market. Messaging is one of several technologies the Justice Department points to in its antitrust complaint.

Garland’s green bubble comments echoed complaints that Android maker Google has made over the past few years. Apple today disputed the entire Justice Department lawsuit, saying the department doesn’t seem to understand how messaging encryption works.

In a background briefing with reporters, an Apple spokesperson touted the company’s recent announcement that it will support iMessage’s messaging standard RCS sometime in 2024. To attend Apple’s briefings and view background documents, I had to agree to paraphrase what the company said in return. Quote them directly.

Apple has stated that it is not implementing the current RCS because it does not believe this standard provides sufficient privacy and security. Apple said it is working with standards bodies (this is likely a reference to GSMA) to ensure that the version of RCS it ultimately implements supports encryption and strong privacy and security. Ta.

Apple says RCS will improve group texting by allowing iPhone and non-iPhone users to exchange messages with high-resolution photos and videos. Apple does not offer its Messages app to non-Apple devices because the user experience does not meet its standards and it cannot guarantee that the encryption and authentication on third-party devices is sufficiently secure. said.