In an article written by Navneet Alang, posted to the Week, Alang describes the issue that Apple and Android users share: not having the same messaging app. He expresses his frustration, as an Apple user, with how exclusive iMessage is. He elaborates on this by explaining that users with iPhones and users with Androids cannot text the same way. In order to have large group chats, each friend must download the same app (such as WhatsApp, WeChat, or GroupMe). Once more, messages are encrypted differently for IOS users than Android users. Overall, Alang lists the numerous boundaries set by Apple when messaging with Android users. He mentions the article posted by The Verge, where they recommend that Apple extends iMessage to other phone companies. Alang does not agree with this point, rather he suggests that a whole new messaging system be designed for universal use.
The author’s main goal of his article is to convince the reader that instead of having every phone user convert to iMessage, have a universal app that acts as a bridge for all of communication. One strategy that the author uses in order to convince his audience is a rhetorical question. He explains how having one app for messaging would be best and compares this to how emailing works, then he asks, “Would it not be vastly better if messaging had a similar standard [as emailing]?” By asking this question, it forces the reader to think about how nice it would be to have everyone on the same page when it comes to texting. There would be no more “iPhone users shown in blue and Android users in green”. There would be unity among one common app. He explains how great it would be if every user could text any other user with ease. He then again asks, “isn’t that just the way communication should work?”. This calls on the audience to analyze the situation and want to have better ways of communication.
I disagree with the author because, while I think it is true that sending messages could be easier, I do not think that it is that big of an issue to try to fix. There are certain things that are frustrating about having an iPhone and texting an Android user, but I do not believe that it is frustrating enough to go and make a whole new program for universal texting. For me, when I use my iPhone, if there are Android users that I wish to text, I message them separately and make group chats with only Apple users. Personally, this issue has not come up too much. If the group chat is important to my Android friend, I may add them last, so that other Apple users can leave if they wish to.
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