Nothing introduces Nothing Chats app that works with iMessage for Phone (2)

Nothing introduces its Nothing Chats app. According to the company, this chat service offers compatibility with iMessage, including ‘blue bubbles’. The service works via Sunbird, an existing service that lets Android users chat with iMessage users.

The messaging app will be available as a beta via the Google Play Store on November 17 for users with a Nothing Phone (2). The app will then be available in the European Union, the US, Canada, the UK, Norway and Switzerland, Nothing writes on his website. The app may come to more countries and Android phones later. Users can log in to their Apple ID via the app to use the service.

According to Nothing, the app allows users to send messages to iPhones using iMessage, which are then displayed with a blue bubble. The service includes support for RCS, in addition to certain iMessage features such as P2P and group conversations, high-resolution media sharing and read receipts. Other iMessage features will be added later.

Currently, iMessage and Android users can only chat with each other via SMS. iPhone users will then see green chat bubbles instead of blue ones. Various features are also missing, such as group conversations, emoji reactions and more. iMessage has a large market share, especially in the United States.

Nothing works together with Sunbird, a service that was previously set up. That service offers support for chat messages between iMessage and Android with blue bubbles. Sunbird shares few details about how this is achieved. In an interview with Fast Company Sunbird CEO Danny Mizrahi previously said the company has clusters of Macs with iMessage installed in the cloud. These Macs receive users’ messages and then forward them to the iMessage recipient. The company suggests that a separate Mac is not necessary for every user, but does not share any concrete details. Sunbird claims that the messages are end-to-end encrypted and not stored on its servers. It does not say exactly how that works.

Here in Europe, iMessage itself may eventually become compatible with other chat services. The European Union is currently conducting market research to determine whether iMessage should fall under the Digital Markets Act. If that’s the case, then Apple should provide an API that allows other messaging services to integrate iMessage support into their own product. This could eventually allow Android users to chat with blue bubbles via other chat services, without the need for an iPhone or Mac. The EU began its investigation into iMessage on September 6 and expected to complete it within five months.