We all have one friend who turns the group chat green. Despite their constant defenses, such as that their “camera is better” and that they “did not have a choice in which phone they got,” our Android phone-using friends receive never-ending chastisement for their phones from Apple product users.
Speaking as an Android user myself, I do not wish to play the victim. Rather, I would like to speak about a rather diabolical insecurity of mine… Dare I say, “first world problem”? I have had an Android since my 12th birthday, the day I received my first phone. My entire family uses Androids for a multitude of reasons. The main reason is that, out of all the cellphone cameras, Android’s are more sophisticated than Apple cameras. Years since I got my first phone, although I am biased, I still agree that my camera quality is better than the iPhone’s; however, I digress.
At first, my phone did not make me feel different from my peers who, at the time, were only iPhone users. However, as I collected more of my friends’ phone numbers, I began to learn that they had an issue: the green bubble. Years go by, and suddenly, I am left off sport team group chats and friend group chats because they all created threads without me to preserve their eyes from green bubbles. This type of exclusion, like most types of exclusion, was frustrating. I understand that it can be irritating to create a new group chat every time the group would like to add or subtract members. However, what is more irritating is the fact that despite committing myself to these groups, I would never receive crucial information such as canceled practices and invitations to birthday parties.
I recently spoke with another student, Kori McLane ’29, who uses an Android, and I noticed that we shared a lot of similar experiences, such as getting left out and having to politely warn people that our phones are different. We feel as though texting us should warrant a disclaimer for the display of the color green. We both agree that it is so annoying having to create new group chats all the time and not being able to use the same functions as Apple users. Yet, we both acknowledge that missing out on communication is not something that we should accept. Kori shared that using apps such as WhatsApp and GroupMe are simple solutions to solve these cumbersome grievances that Apple users share with us regarding our phones, and I agree, for it is not that hard to accommodate your friends, especially when the accommodation is something as basic as communication. Another thing that Kori shared with me was that “Androids matter, too,” and I fullheartedly agree. We should not judge people based on the technology that they own, especially because Androids are truly effective at their main purpose, to make phone calls and text, as well as include a slew of additional bells and whistles. Some of these cool components are the multitude of appearance customization features and a split-screen function that allows you to see two apps at once. Thus, my wish is to end this cycle of exclusion and have people understand that every piece of technology we own is valuable. Just because someone owns a different cellphone does not mean that it is lesser. Android users are still our friends.