Apple iMessage is the target of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s most recent Instagram post. He asserts that WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is much more private and safe than iMessages.
He continued by listing capabilities of WhatsApp that are not found in iMessage, such as end-to-end encryption and message disappearance.
A billboard in New York City for Meta advertising promotes WhatsApp over SMS or iMessage in conjunction with the Instagram post. It provides a side-by-side comparison of WhatsApp’s “Private” bubble with the Green and Blue bubble technique used in iMessage.
“WhatsApp is far more private and secure than iMessage, with end-to-end encryption that works across both iPhones and Android, including group chats. With WhatsApp you can also set all new chats to disappear with the tap of a button. And last year we introduced end-to-end encrypted backups too. All of which iMessage still doesn’t have,” reads the Instagram post shared by Zuckerberg.
According to The Verge, the privacy ad campaign is a big push for Meta. Spokesperson Vispi Bhopti told the publication that it “will appear on broadcast TV, digital video, outdoor, and social across the United States,” and billboards will be popping up in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Over 2 billion people use WhatsApp worldwide. In the US, it is not the default texting app. Meta seeks to increase WhatsApp’s US user base. Recently, Meta has promoted WhatsApp focused on security and privacy.
Not just Meta, but other tech firms have criticised iMessage from Apple. Apple’s Messages app should support RCS, the SMS replacement, according to Google’s pressure on Apple. A valid criticism of Apple’s privacy-focused iPhone advertising is the reality that iMessage still relies on SMS and cannot be used to securely message people who use Android phones.
