When Apple launched iMessage on iPhone a few years ago, it set a new standard for instant messaging experiences on smartphones, effectively killing SMS texting in the process. iMessage replaced traditional texts with richer messages when chats occurred via an internet connection (blue bubbles), reverting to conventional SMS (green bubbles) when an internet connection wasn’t available. The app also came with end-to-end encryption, protecting the contents of chats from prying eyes. Encryption also became a standard feature for chat apps.
