Apple's iMessage supercharges ordinary text messages when going between two iPhones, adding read receipts and the ability to see when the other person is typing. When an iPhone user texts an Android phone, though, those darn green bubbles mean it's a plain text message instead of a powerful iMessage.

On the Android side, Google Hangouts is a great all-in-one messaging app and is probably the closest thing Android has to iMessage, but it doesn't come standard on a lot of phones due to differences in hardware customization.

What's someone to do when going between these platforms?

One developer has the answer: PieMessage for Android. Using a Mac as a middleman makeshift "server" to handle the transfer, the app allows an Android user to send iMessages flawlessly to iPhones.

There is a catch, though: the app is in the alpha stages, currently hosted on GitHub. The developer has made an awesome start, but wants the help of other skilled developers to make it even better and ready for prime time.

Hopefully, it won't require a Mac middleman in the future, but even with that caveat it's still an impressive feat.

You can try the app yourself right now, but be warned that it's not simple. You'll need to compile and run everything from the GitHub yourself, so this is only recommended for those with some Android development experience. If you've got those skills, see if you can pitch in at all and help this awesome project!

Got any other tips for those who often message between an iPhone and an Android phone? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: Alberto Andrei Rosu via Shutterstock.com