Nothing builds a blue bubble bridge while Google and Apple fight over RCS

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Nothing Chats is powered by a name you might be familiar with.

The Glyph lights illuminated on the back of a Nothing Phone (2)
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Update 11/20: Nothing Chats has been pulled from the Play Store amidst a privacy blunder.

What you need to know

  • Nothing Chats is a Nothing Phone (2)-exclusive messaging app that supports iMessage blue bubbles and Google RCS chats.
  • The app is powered by Sunbird and enables Nothing Phone (2) users to message iPhone users with full iMessage functionality.
  • Phone (2) users in the U.S., Canada, UK, EU, and other European countries can download Nothing Chats from the Google Play store starting November 17.

While Google and Apple are busy fighting over text messaging standards, Nothing has been working on a secret weapon to finally resolve the ridiculous messaging issues U.S. users, in particular, have to deal with.

Debuting exclusively on the Nothing Phone (2) on November 17 via the Google Play Store, Nothing Chats attempts to bridge the gap between the world's two most popular mobile operating systems: Android, and iOS. Nothing Chats is powered by Sunbird, a company that devised a way to bring iMessage's blue bubble features to Android phones last December.

When we asked nothing about the chance of bringing Nothing Chats to the best Android phones in the future, they had this to say:

"We decided to do this now because we believe it's time for a mobile company to address one of the biggest frustrations between Android and iOS users by bringing blue bubbles to Android. The app is currently in beta and we’ve decided to keep availability more focused to ensure the best user experience at this time. Although we’re excited to be the first mobile company to introduce a blue bubble solution and we’d like to make it as widely available to Android enthusiasts as we can, we’re prioritizing delivering an optimal user experience before committing to expansion at this time."

According to Nothing CEO Carl Pei's video above, Nothing Phone (2) users in Canada, Europe, and the U.S. can message all their friends from the Nothing Chats app and be assured that the best messaging platform will be used automatically. That means messaging Android users will use encrypted RCS chats, while messaging iPhone users will use encrypted iMessage chats.

That also means that you'll be able to enjoy all the best features of both platforms, from full-resolution pictures and video, read receipts, reactions, and more.

Nothing's approach here is substantially different. Apple has ignored calls to ditch the old, insecure SMS/MMS protocol in favor of RCS, and Google has turned to regulators to force the company to implement the new standard. We discussed this exact problem on the November 13th edition of the Android Central Podcast and came to a few conclusions.

Apple doesn't want to implement RCS for two main reasons. iMessage exclusivity gives the company a key advantage in the U.S. where it currently enjoys its largest market share. It's also noteworthy that the RCS platform adopted by companies worldwide is run by Jibe, a company owned by Google. Doubtless, Apple doesn't want to use Google's servers any more than it needs to.

An official product render of the Nothing Phone (2)

Nothing Phone (2)

Get the Android phone that gets you blue bubbles! Nothing Phone (2) is now compatible with iMessage and RCS chats, so you'll be chatting securely no matter who you message.

Nicholas Sutrich
Nicholas Sutrich
Senior Content Producer — Smartphones & VR
Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu
5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • spARTacus
    AC News said:
    The Nothing Phone (2) is officially getting support for Apple's iMessage and Google's RCS chats at the same time with one convenient messaging app: Nothing Chats.

    Nothing builds a blue bubble bridge while Google and Apple fight over RCS : Read more
    So how does this app do it, facilitate a bridge to Apple iMessaging Servers, when thus far in the past I think only a few shady approaches were possible if one didn't actually have an iOS device?
    Reply
  • fuzzylumpkin
    spARTacus said:
    So how does this app do it, facilitate a bridge to Apple iMessaging Servers, when thus far in the past I think only a few shady approaches were possible if one didn't actually have an iOS device?
    They've got Mac mini based server farms, when you log into the app you actually log into your Apple account on their mac farm. The security risks should be pretty obvious, but then, so are the security flaws of falling back to SMS to message an iPerson.
    Reply
  • spARTacus
    fuzzylumpkin said:
    They've got Mac mini based server farms, when you log into the app you actually log into your Apple account on their mac farm. The security risks should be pretty obvious, but then, so are the security flaws of falling back to SMS to message an iPerson.
    I wonder if that is allowed based on AppleID/Account terms of service? I also wonder if Apple could disrupt such by slight tweaks to their iMessaging protocol? The last approach I heard about sounded similar but was hosted in a questionable country.
    Reply
  • fuzzylumpkin
    spARTacus said:
    I wonder if that is allowed based on AppleID/Account terms of service? I also wonder if Apple could disrupt such by slight tweaks to their iMessaging protocol? The last approach I heard about sounded similar but was hosted in a questionable country.
    I don't know if it's against Apple's t&cs, but I would put money on the answer being yes. I'm not sure Apple could block it without also blocking iPeople from accessing iMessage on their Macs legitimately... They may not want to. I've got a feeling that they will open upp a bit in the next few years. Not because of the "pressure" Google is putting on them, but with 87% of youngs using iPhones in the US, they're going to be pushing into regulatory issues if they aren't careful.
    Reply
  • spARTacus
    fuzzylumpkin said:
    I don't know if it's against Apple's t&cs, but I would put money on the answer being yes. I'm not sure Apple could block it without also blocking iPeople from accessing iMessage on their Macs legitimately... They may not want to. I've got a feeling that they will open upp a bit in the next few years. Not because of the "pressure" Google is putting on them, but with 87% of youngs using iPhones in the US, they're going to be pushing into regulatory issues if they aren't careful.
    They'll probably just wait until they think there is enough "investment" by Nothing Phone company, then roll out a critical not optional update to Macs that includes something like putting the iMessages into a slightly different folder or Database structure (not even sure if that is a thing on Macs), then poof, disrupted for a while (for the Nothing Phone App), until the Nothing Phone company adjusts their bridging software. Apple doing that strategically a few times (cat and mouse game like used to happen with SatTV hacking) will probably turn off most normal users from the bridging service/app.
    Reply