It started with a tweet from Hiroshi Lockheimer, with the pressure steadily increasing over time. Now Google has raised the stakes in the messaging mayhem, adding a “get the message” page to the Android domain.

Noting that the continued pressure isn’t about bubble colour — although, if you’re on Android it is regular to get mention of Green bubbles from your Friends — it’s about the user experience. A message between iPhone and Android users with any media, or in group chats “works” but not brilliantly. SMS isn’t secure, Media is compressed and you can’t see who has read what.

The adaptation of RCS universally, would improve messaging experience for everyone:

Apple turns texts between iPhones and Android phones into SMS and MMS, out-of-date technologies from the 90s and 00s. But Apple can adopt RCS—the modern industry standard—for these threads instead. Solving the problem without changing your iPhone to iPhone conversations and making messaging better for everyone.

Google has even gone to the extend of noting that Whatsapp and Signal are messaging options that don’t have this inherently broken setup. It’s easy to point the finger at Apple, but when iMessage is such a drawcard to the Apple platform, why would they change it to make non-Apple users experience better?

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Andrew

Apple shouldn’t do anything. They have had a working messaging solution for a decade now that works perfectly well across all iPhones. It’s not their fault android’s messaging system has been an absolute disaster for so long, and now after a decade of mishaps, RCS is on Android and Google are kicking up a stink, saying Apple has to implement it too? Go kick rocks Google.

Darren

I completely agree. Apple has a working ecosystem. They shouldn’t have to adopt any modern standards like calling phones on a different carrier, accepting SMS messages, using USB C for charging or not making wheels that cost over $1000.

Andrew

You’re right – it’s their platform, they can adopt whatever they want. Consumers will choose what they want to purhcase, and it looks like Apple have been consistently making the right decisions to be by far the most profitable smartphone maker in the industry for over a decade.

JeniSkunk

Maybe what Google needs to do, is get Europe to mandate the support of RCS by all mobile phone manufacturers.

Andrew

That’s total government overreach and flat out stupid. Apple can implement RCS, but doesn’t mean it’ll work with RCS on Android.

It’s not the government’s responsibility to have Google messages and iMessage play nicely. Messages can go from one platform to another and users also have the option to 3rd party apps. Don’t see why governments need to get involved here. It’s none of their business.

JeniSkunk

So it’s not government responsibility to create and enforce telecommunications law, to ensure cross platform message communications interoperability? Interesting.

Andrew

You can communicate between iMessage and any SMS app, including Google Messages. So there’s no interoperability issue.
Second, yes it is complete government overreach. Are you going to aruge Whatsapp should communicate with WeChat, iMessage, Telegram as well? What about communicating with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc? How far are you going to push cross platform message communications?

Why are you singling out iMessage here? Why aren’t you crying about the plethora of other messaging platforms that don’t communicate with one another….I wonder why….

Ahmad

apple should not support RCS apple users don’t want their messages stored on google servers and google should be blamed for this they made over 11 apps for chatting and video calls and all got shut down later look what they did last week to google duo they merged google duo with google meet and probably both will shut down later google is a big embarrassment they tried so hard to make a messaging app for android and video call app and google failed on both They are trying hard to compete with imessage and facetime and they wont succeed.… Read more »

Darren

This is the best shitpost I have seen today!