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Android just got an update that makes it easier to chat with iPhone users
The two dominant mobile phone operating systems have such large user bases it is almost impossible not to communicate with someone on a competing platform. But that can create problems, as Android and iOS are less compatible than you might think. Tap or click here to see an emoji you use all the time probably isn’t what you think.
The eccentric differences in how each operating system interprets actions were recently highlighted. You might have seen some of the weirdness yourself. When Android users text iOS users, the message will display as expected.
But iOS has an added feature where users can react to a line of text. It looks the same as when you like or love a comment on Facebook. On an iOS user’s display, the selected reaction is overlapped on the text. But things have been very different on the Android display.
Here’s the backstory
When someone reacts to a text on an iPhone, you’d see a message that describes the iOS user’s reaction. These are often things like “liked an image,” “laughed at an image,” or “thumbs up.”
The problem is how Android is interpreting the reaction. Since the operating system doesn’t have the functionality for reactions, it’s trying its best to figure out how to handle the response. And in most cases, it would try to display an incorrect emoji in place of the actual reaction.
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But Google has been working on a fix so that users can text in harmony without weird responsive messages. As 9to5Google points out, the new Google Messages update includes a coded feature called “ios_reaction_classification.”
Now, when an iOS user reacts with the heart-eyes emoji, it will be linked to the “that was a nice like” phrase found in Android’s code. And when you tap on the reaction, it will indicate that it has been “translated from iPhone.”
When will this problem be solved?
Until recently, changes in the code were in the beta phase, indicating that some testing was still required. It is a step in the right direction for more platforms to have a universal reaction standard.
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However, there have been reports the feature has steadily been rolling out to users. If you don’t see it immediately in Google Messages, give it a little more time to arrive. There has been no indication when it will be widely available, but it should be within a few weeks.
Tags: Android, Apple iPhone, Emoji, Google, Google Messages, operating systems, reactions, update
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