Apple Messages Won’t Play Nice With Android Anytime Soon

You’ve in all probability skilled the irritating quirks that come if you ship a textual content to an iPhone from an Android machine, or vice versa. Messages from Android customers pop up as inexperienced bubbles on iPhones as a substitute of blue (the horror!), and movies despatched between the 2 techniques are sometimes compressed to the purpose of being unwatchable. The lack of fresh interoperability has grow to be such a headache that extra individuals have began to push tougher for the 2 platforms to get alongside.

At Vox Media’s Code Conference on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook took questions from the viewers. LiQuan Hunt, who works at Vox Media, requested if Apple would ever undertake the identical messaging customary as Android, or at the least make them play good with each other. Hunt then adopted as much as say that the disconnect makes it laborious to speak when texting along with his mom. In response, Cook stated, “Buy your mom an iPhone.”

It was a jocular quip, however one which amplifies the tensions between the 2 smartphone ecosystems. Nearly a month in the past, Google began a determined marketing campaign to persuade Apple to undertake the RCS messaging protocol that’s grow to be customary throughout Android units. But now Cook has made it fairly clear that gained’t be taking place any time quickly.

Here are the week’s different notable information occasions on this planet of shopper tech.

Brazil and Apple Charge Into Battle

Apple stopped together with chargers in iPhone packaging again in 2020, citing the environmental affect of transport tens of tens of millions of chargers out to individuals who would possibly discover them superfluous and simply throw them away. The transfer has ruffled some feathers, together with these of some governments.

On Tuesday, Brazil stated it could ban the sale of iPhones within the nation if the units don’t include a charging cable within the field. It additionally fined Apple 12.275 million reais, which is roughly $2.3 million. Apple is appealing the order.

A penalty that dimension is a teardrop within the ocean for Apple—the corporate’s market capitalization is $2.3 trillion, 1,000,000 occasions the quantity of the fantastic. Still, Brazil’s transfer might set a precedent for different international locations to make related calls for. Laws within the European Union have prompted Apple to open repair programs and tinker with switching its iPhones to USB-C connectors. While the corporate could take into account Brazil’s transfer a risk, it’s not the one machine producer that has stopped together with chargers. Samsung doesn’t include chargers with its Galaxy S21 or S22 telephones both. Brazil hasn’t gone after that firm but, however we’ll see how that fares relying on how Apple’s enchantment shakes out.

Google Maps Expands Eco Directions

In October 2021, Google introduced a feature within the US that allow customers select extra eco-friendly routes of their commute. They’re not at all times the quickest routes to a vacation spot, however Google says it elements in highway situations and site visitors to seek out probably the most fuel-efficient path.

Now, eco-friendly routes in Maps are available in 40 European countries, together with some new options. The largest addition is the flexibility to include your automobile’s gas kind. You can choose whether or not your automobile is electrical or runs on gasoline or diesel, and Maps will incorporate that into its route figuring.