Why Android Users' Photos Seem Low Quality to iOS Users

Have you ever heard someone claim that Android cameras are just bad? In this article, I'll get into the specifics of why this misconception is often repeated.

Apple uses a proprietary messaging client known as "iMessage" which exclusively uses your WiFi or mobile data to send and receive messages over a high bandwidth connection that can handle sending large files. This protocol is patented and only available for Apple devices; other manufacturers are unable to use this iMessage service or its features, therefore, Android messages default to the standard MMS protocol when communicating with any device outside of other Android devices using Google's RCS messaging protocol, as this is the only standardized protocol that all phone manufacturers are required to implement. The issue with MMS is that it is low bandwidth and it was released in 2002. Androids can send uncompressed images over RCS protocol, provided that the recipient is also using a supported version of Android, that they are using the Google Messages app, and that they have RCS or "chat services" enabled.

The MMS protocol always compresses any image sent between devices up to a maximum size of ~300-600 KB. A standard 12 MP image takes up approximately 2 MB of space, or 2,000 KB, while a 24 MP image can take up about 5-8 MB or 5,000-8,000 KB! Therefore, if you send a 2 MB photo, it gets reduced to ~15-30%, while a 5-8 MB image would get reduced to ~6-12% or 3-8% of its original size, respectively. You can't reduce size without compromising quality!

The best way to get around this barrier is just to use a messenger application. There are tons to choose from in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. My favourite by far is one called "Telegram" because it is entirely cross platform (it works with Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, and Mac OS) and it fully synchronizes between each device so you don't have to port messages over using backup and restore like in some other messenger applications, when you want to just switch devices. These messenger apps work in a very similar manner to Apple's iMessage and provide the same feeling of continuity.