It is another year and we’ve moved into another era of evolution, considering that there is new technology advancing every now and then. But basically, what is technology? Oxford defines it as “machines or equipment designed using scientific knowledge.” Right. Now, technology is as it is, in various forms and factors, basically for this case, it is the computing aspect; Hardware and Software.
Now, I am writing this not to show the whole emphasis on what technology is or how it works, but simply, to the impacts of it. When computers were first invented, its goal to do one major thing; make work easier. And with time as each computer changed from stationary to mobile, the impact was significant worldwide. There was communication involved, productivity, education, entertainment and research. This now shifts to mobile computing as of now, with the capability of all this. Almost every human being on the planet has at least a smartphone, laptop, tablet or even a smart watch.
Let’s start with the communication aspect. As an IT student and a 24-year-old male who is always constantly using social media applications like my peers, I always have a random routine of checking if there are any relevant new messages or need to send a message, whether it is a “Yo” message, or a “Hey” message. It could be official or casual, depending the context of the conversation. I regularly use WhatsApp as my main messaging app. I have other apps for messaging installed as well; the Default Messages app by Google for MPESA messages and other regular SMS. WhatsApp Business for business related texting orders with clients. Telegram for School and other communication channels. Snapchat for snaps and few messaging needs. Discord for gaming stuff and Instagram’s Direct Messages feature (DM). Yes, that is a lot to list and explain.
Back to WhatsApp. I say it is my main messaging app because about 80% of my contacts have it, so it is easy to communicate with most of them in the daily, as long as there is internet connectivity. Sending and receiving notes, memes, videos and some occasional group chats or voice and video calls. Plus, the Status feature is the most interacted one where I post memes, photos, videos and typed content. And this feature came in 2017, at first it was not well received my many users, but in a few months, it was everyone’s daily favourite making WhatsApp the most used Social media application in respective app stores and platforms up to date. I love the app in how I can put a suitable chat wallpaper that enhances my texting experience, I can now access messages on my laptop without the need of needing my phone to be connected to the network and calling is free.
The idea of WhatsApp came when iMessage probably existed. Apple invented iMessage to make users have a rich communication experience with this texting tool. It is secure and runs with an Apple account. As Apple kept on developing newer iPhones every year, so was the update of the Operating System — iOS, improving its own apps and features like iMessage. But here is the thing, WhatsApp is cross platform, iMessage is not. I personally have owned phones which is not an iPhone (but time will tell). Currently I have an Android smartphone, which is fine by me. My only fear is that if I am in a chat group with iMessage users, I could be called out. You see, Apple users enjoy the benefits of iMessage with other Apple users. There is the ability to share voice notes, media and see who is typing using Read Receipts (what WhatsApp can do) — and the text messages in iMessage are blue. If I sent a message, it will be green, because I have an Android phone, no iMessage benefit for me. And this changes the psychology of communication. Thus, the pressure of it.
So recently, I saw a tweet by Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Google, who wrote a contributed piece on the Wall Street Journal Article about “Why Apple’s iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble”. I am telling you; the read was worth it. I learned why iMessage is a big deal among the USA citizens with the demographic of 18 to 24 years owning iPhones since 2014, and currently, the age bracket is 70% of the country’s population owns iPhones. And guess what? People are buying iPhones, because of iMessage and other personal interests like cameras and functionality. The rest of the world, where do we lie when it comes to what phone we own? It is a personal choice but how you own one matters what communication method you use, call or text. Here in Kenya, where the majority use WhatsApp, even those who own iPhones. That is strange, is not it? Not really, there is a clear division of the type of phone brand that is based on your class, and by class, I mean your financial stability and status, But there is more to the story…
Apple cannot allow iMessage for Android. Why? Because there is a serious ‘lock-in’. This lock-in is a part of the Apple Ecosystem that is vastly known for. iMessage not only has texting capabilities, but also iOS exclusive features like Memoji, Apple Pay and accessing other Apple services like Apple’s App Store and Apple Music. All of them, part of the Apple Ecosystem, where one can access on the MacBook, iPad or Apple Watch. These devices are very expensive for some Kenyans to afford if they are not working a white-collar job or their financial stability does not allow it. Android has been trying to have an Ecosystem as well, but it is a long way to go. Remember the Default Messages app by Google? It has RCS (Rich Communication Services) now, which is not fully supported in many Android phones in most countries. It is something close to iMessage, minus the Ecosystem part. There is Read Receipts, sharing media and audio messages too. Samsung Galaxy phones are coming with its own Samsung Messages app pre-installed with RCS features, especially in the US. So, Apple making the move to include Android have iMessage capabilities “hurts them more than it helps them”. So much for a trillion-dollar company.
By the way, Apple’s iMessage is secure and messages are encrypted, so is WhatsApp. However, WhatsApp’s secure claims haven’t been clear. By the time I am writing this article, it is been a year since there was a campaign against the app for Privacy Policy terms. Thus, making people switch to other messaging apps like Telegram, imo and Signal. Weeks later, the terms were reviewed, trying to woo back its users, like their lives depended on it. Another thing is, there has been unofficial WhatsApp version from different sites for years. They masquerade as GBWhatsApp and FMWhatsApp. Now that same demographic of 18 to 24 years, in Kenya, it is mostly popular among campus students, they say it has more advanced customizations to one’s liking (much like that of a custom keyboard with special animations). These versions of WhatsApp have different settings that can hide someone’s privacy on Read Receipts and been notified that a user is online before opening the chat. It does violate one’s privacy at some point and mostly young people with shady relationships hide their online presence. (I abhor such users). Soon these counterfeit WhatsApp versions bring complications to the Android user.
Then there is Telegram, some say it is not that secure. Some rely on it because it does not have limitations as WhatsApp does. Still, WhatsApp surpasses its number of users in the world, of up to 2 billion downloads from every app store. China uses WeChat, that I cannot say more on it due to the little knowledge about it. What I do know is that has special features like e-payment through the app. So, that narrows down to the usage of how some Social media apps are limited in some geographical areas.
To be honest, 3rd world countries have users whose mobile devices depend with what they can afford and to their liking, which pressure, of course counts. Whereas, in 1st world countries, owning superior mobile brands is just a way of saying,” I need to be seen and accepted”. Provided a better carrier plan works well for them to stay connected. Normally, the brand of phone can differentiate you in a society, but seriously, what does a social texting app have to do with the differences of such users? Communication is just communication — send and receive messages from one person to another. Later after Lockheimer’s tweet went viral, he tweeted “We’re not asking Apple to make iMessage available on Android. We’re asking Apple to support the industry standard for modern messaging (RCS) in iMessage, just as they support the older SMS/MMS standards,” I should remind you, that for so long, these popular social media apps are responsible for some negative impacts, like cases of fake news spreading, online bullying and hate speech. No social media app is superior than the other in such scenarios, they are all responsible parties for that matter. If only some algorithm was built to detect such communication channels.
After reading that article I realized, the whole iMessage story is a USA problem that just erupted out of the blue and clear, the whole world may need nothing to do with it, just like most comments and retweets say so. And I couldn’t agree more. For us, users in the 3rd world era, we are just as adapted to other 3rd party social texting apps that has kept us going through the pandemic. So, writing this is also my reaction and view of how communication in technology has advanced, but the impact is way different in many ways than it was before, in terms of what color is your text message, or if you own an Apple device or an Android device as a daily driver. You choose.