Google has now commenced a new publicity campaign to pressure Apple to adopt Rich Chat Service (RCS) , the cross-platform messaging protocol that¡¯s supposed to replace SMS and MMS.?
Reported first by The Verge, Google has launched a new ¡®Get The Message¡¯ website that talks about how ¡°it¡¯s time for Apple to fix texting¡±.?
The site talks about the different coloured bubbles and all that it entails for an Android user texting an iPhone user -- blurry videos, no read receipts or typing indicators and broken group chats. Even the fact that messages from iPhone to Android require cellular and can¡¯t be shared over Wi-Fi.
The site says that these problems exist since Apple refuses to adopt modern texting standards. They claim RCS to be this ¡®modern industry standard¡¯ that can solve the problem without forcing users to switch to another device while making messaging better for all.
Google at its annual developer conference, Google I/O revealed this year that it hopes ¡®every mobile operating system¡¯ adopts RCS.
Although as we¡¯ve seen in clear Apple fashion, it isn¡¯t really at a loss with the current situation -- its users stay locked in to the ecosystem by keeping iMessage closed, and many iPhone users enjoy being smug against those messaging from the green bubbles.?
In fact, the report has highlighted how Apple executives have stated in internal communications that creating iMessage for Android could actually ¡°hurt Apple more than help us.¡±
RCS in its nascent stages was riddled with problems, but that hasn¡¯t been the case since 2019 when Google took charge. In fact, even Samsung has adopted the RCS-compatible messaging for its S22 flagships this year. And today RCS also has end-to-end encryption on one-on-one chats with group chats getting it sometime this year.?
Do you think Apple will adopt RCS on iMessage? Tell us in the comments below.