Communication software

The green bubble stigma faced by Android users who send messages to their friends with iPhones is real—even the U.S. government acknowledges it.Hey Google, Where Did My Watch's Battery Life Go?“Many non-iPhone users… experience social stigma, exclusion, and blame” when messaging people with iPhones, the Department of Justice stated in its landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday. However, the problems go way beyond simply the color of a text message. In the complaint, the DOJ highlighted the friction and…

Photo: oasisamuel (Shutterstock)A 39-year-old man in the UK was sentenced to more than a year in prison on Tuesday for sending unsolicited images of his genitals to a 15-year-old girl and a woman in her 60s, according to a press release from Essex Police. The teen girl was left “overwhelmed and crying” according to the Guardian.Video Chat - From Sci-Fi to Sci-FactNicholas Hawkes pleaded guilty to two counts of “sending a photograph or film of genitals to cause alarm, distress or humiliation.” Hawkes sent the images to the…

It’s Day 18 of Gizmodo’s March Madness bracket challenge to name the greatest app of all time and we’re saying goodbye to one of our biggest contestants! WhatsApp defeated Instagram in yesterday’s tournament. Today, we have the world’s biggest maps app going up against the bain of Android users’ existence. If you’re just tuning in, you can read all about our selection criteria for this historic contest right here. Check out the full bracket of contestants embedded below. And as always, if you think we missed your personal…

Welcome back to Gizmodo’s March Madness bracket challenge to name the greatest app of all time! Yesterday’s lineup was an extremely close race and Read It Later fans put up an admirable fight but with 52 percent of the vote, Twitter goes to the next round. Today, we have a contest between apps for people who like to do things a little differently. If you’re just tuning in, you can read all about our selection criteria for this historic contest right here. Check out the full bracket of contestants embedded below. And as…

Google Google is now fleshing out its newly unified Gemini AI system in its browser with its first attempt at implementing Chat with Gemini into the Chrome Omnibox. This latest effort will update Google Chrome with a Chat with Gemini shortcut in the Chrome Omnibox, allowing users to access the AI chatbot feature without having to go to the Gemini website, according to WindowsReport. The Omnibox serves as an address bar and search bar, and it adds multiple other tasks to a browser. Now with a simple @ prompt, you can…

iMessage, once considered an exclusive messaging service for Apple users, was just deemed too lame to regulate by EU officials. The European Commission said it would not regulate iMessage as a “gatekeeper service” on Tuesday, along with Microsoft’s Bing and Edge, which allegedly have a similar level of importance. Oof.Video Chat - From Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact“The Commission found that iMessage, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising do not qualify as gatekeeper services,” said regulators in a press release Tuesday. “The…

Apple isn’t keen to let just any peasant enter its hallowed and gloried domain of iMessage. The company officially declared it had blocked the Beeper Mini app, which let Android users send blue bubble messages to their friends and family on iPhone by reverse engineering the iMessage protocol.'Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police' | AI UnlockedI guess you should go ahead and buy your mom that iPhone, just like Apple CEO Tim Cook once told a reporter asking questions about Apple’s dreaded blue bubbles. Gizmodo took the…

Note: As I was getting ready to publish this piece, Beeper’s servers began faltering. TechCrunch reports that Beeper Mini had lost access to Apple’s servers, though I’m still able to send text-based messages with a bit of delay. This piece covers the experience before this breaking news hit. I reached out to Beeper to ask what’s going on and will update you when I hear back.Zillow Says You’ll Buy Your Next House With… AI? | AI UnlockedI have been posing as a blue bubble from my Google Pixel 8 for the past few days. My…

Image: Photo: Eliseu Geisler / Shutterstock.com (Shutterstock) (Shutterstock)You no longer have to worry about sending low-quality images on WhatsApp. Well, at least on iPhone. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp’s latest software update for iOS allows you to send images as a document (just like on Gmail), meaning the original quality of the pictures is retained without you having to do any extra legwork. “Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police” | AI UnlockedWABetaInfo explains that this feature was rolled out in beta…

Image: StravaThose of you on an Android device may be exhausted by the emotional turmoil brought on by messaging apps. I warn you: this next bit of news may be too much too soon. Strava, the fitness tracking app geared toward athletes and People Who Like Data, has announced that it’s launching messaging between its users on iOS and Android. It’s good news for everyone using Strava since the app aims to help friends from Run Club coordinate the next meetup. And, hey, you won’t have to worry about revealing yourself as the…