Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

All Three Major U.S. Carriers and Google Adopt Rich Communication Services, But No Sign of Apple Interest

AMPO said:
Yes, that's true. They use iMessage as a selling point so the last thing they want to do is showcase RCS. Just imagine, Apple showing their own users that the competition has a messenger with similar features to iMessage.

I'm thinking it won't happen, even if SMS becomes a serious security problem for iPhone users, Apple will sacrifice both security and privacy before they show off RCS.
Click to expand...
There are already competitors to iMessage with similar festures, competitors which you can download on your iPhone right now, WhatsApp, Signal, Line, Viber, Facebook Messenger. RCS is just another player at this point. This paranoid conspiracy theory that Apple is nefariously sabotaging RCS is hilarious as it is ridiculous. RCS is a mess all on its own, Apple doesn’t need to do anything for that to be true.
 
AMPO said:
"why would you expect Apple to help with making its competitor’s technology a standard"

Because Apple is supposed to be all about privacy and security and RCS has huge advantages in both over SMS. Apple supporting RCS, the new industry standard that's to replace SMS, would be good for users on both platforms.
Click to expand...
End-to-end encryption isn’t part of the initial standard.
 
AMPO said:
For the NSA or FBI you mean? Perhaps if they have the storage space for trillions of encrypted messages for billions of users. I'm thinking that servers and storage limitations will see a shelf life put on them, and that a warrant would be required to access them if it's even possible to do so. I also think that Google wants carriers on board so that Verizon ect can use their own servers and storage space as it's probably not economical for Google to build the facilities required to handle every single Android user.

They're not doing for targeted ads or in real time, that much we know. From Googles policy;

" With end-to-end encryption, no one, including Google and third parties, can read eligible messages as they travel between your phone and the phone you message. "

Personally, I'd be more concerned about what happens to the encrypted message or file once it's decrypted on the receiving device. People get all caught up in the transit of the message without giving a thought to what happens to it on the other end. In other words, Google may not be able to see your dlck pic's but the person you sent it to, or the person who hacked your recipient can still choose to put it online for all to see. ;-)
Click to expand...
Have you heard of Pegasus?
 
WoodpeckerBaby said:
It’s in Apple‘s interest to sabotage this effort.

This will end up rendering iMessage redundant. Apple ecosystem will lose an edge over Android.
Click to expand...
If RCS is meant to replace SMS, it’s ultimately up to the carriers. If SMS is deprecated in favour of RCS by all carriers, Apple will have to fall in line.
 
AMPO said:
Yes, that's true. They use iMessage as a selling point so the last thing they want to do is showcase RCS. Just imagine, Apple showing their own users that the competition has a messenger with similar features to iMessage.

I'm thinking it won't happen, even if SMS becomes a serious security problem for iPhone users, Apple will sacrifice both security and privacy before they show off RCS.
Click to expand...
Apple can delude themselves into thinking of iMessage as a selling point, but the majority use WhatsApp.
 
Krizoitz said:
Apple isn’t doing a single thing to “sabotage” RCS and it doesn’t need to, it’s a big enough mess on its own.
Click to expand...
Not doing it’s part to make the adoptions easier for the carriers and sun setting the SMS protocol is a way of sabotage by inaction.
 
GM… said:
If RCS is meant to replace SMS, it’s ultimately up to the carriers. If SMS is deprecated in favour of RCS by all carriers, Apple will have to fall in line.
Click to expand...
RCS must be backward compatible, because at least the Chinese carriers are not gonna use Google’s solution.
 
WoodpeckerBaby said:
RCS must be backward compatible, because at least the Chinese carriers are not gonna use Google’s solution.
Click to expand...
RCS isn’t Google’s solution. It was proposed by the GSMA. In any case, I agree it needs to be backward compatible. Everyone might not have a smartphone.
 
AMPO said:
Yes, that's true. They use iMessage as a selling point so the last thing they want to do is showcase RCS. Just imagine, Apple showing their own users that the competition has a messenger with similar features to iMessage.

I'm thinking it won't happen, even if SMS becomes a serious security problem for iPhone users, Apple will sacrifice both security and privacy before they show off RCS.
Click to expand...
Why can’t Google come up with an iOS app? I find it strange that they have developed the OS found on a majority of smartphones worldwide, but have not managed to come up with a competitor for the likes of iMessage and WhatsApp.
 
GM… said:
Why can’t Google come up with an iOS app? I find it strange that they have developed the OS found on a majority of smartphones worldwide, but have not managed to come up with a competitor for the likes of iMessage and WhatsApp.
Click to expand...
There's an iOS app but the conversation is about have iMessage default to RCS/Chat instead of the less secure/private and featureless SMS.

I don't think that a messenger app with WhatsApp and iMessage like features was ever a priority for Google. Android users were always well served with apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. What changed things was Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp. I don't think that Google liked having a competitive advertising platform owning such a lucrative Android platform.
 
AMPO said:
There's an iOS app but the conversation is about have iMessage default to RCS/Chat instead of the less secure/private and featureless SMS.

I don't think that a messenger app with WhatsApp and iMessage like features was ever a priority for Google. Android users were always well served with apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. What changed things was Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp. I don't think that Google liked having a competitive advertising platform owning such a lucrative Android platform.
Click to expand...
By iOS app, I meant one with RCS. There are none at the moment.

iMessage is proprietary just like WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal. There are a couple of differences. The former is specific to Apple products and the rest are not. Moreover, in iOS, Messages is the default application for receiving SMS. However, Signal (and, probably, other apps) can be set to receive SMS in Android. If the default application for SMS in iOS can be changed (like it can be now for email, browsing and music), it should be possible to have a single application for RCS and SMS. SMS will be around until a solution for feature phones is found.
 
GM… said:
RCS isn’t Google’s solution. It was proposed by the GSMA. In any case, I agree it needs to be backward compatible. Everyone might not have a smartphone.
Click to expand...
All US carriers are using a implementation solution from Google for Android phones. You can read up on this.

It‘s going to be interesting to see how satellite phones are going to handle this, like on Iridium phones.
 
WoodpeckerBaby said:
All US carriers are using a implementation solution from Google for Android phones. You can read up on this.

It‘s going to be interesting to see how satellite phones are going to handle this, like on Iridium phones.
Click to expand...
Yes. I know about US carriers adopting it. But, it’ll not matter until all carriers do. For instance, a message sent to a number outside the US will fall back to SMS unless the recipient’s carrier supports RCS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ian87w
GM… said:
Yes. I know about US carriers adopting it. But, it’ll not matter until all carriers do. For instance, a message sent to a number outside the US will fall back to SMS unless the recipient’s carrier supports RCS.
Click to expand...
Then you lose the ability to know if what you send will exactly be what the recipient will receive, since RCS is a superset of SMS. If you send something fancy, and they don’t support it, they will get gibberish. If that’s the case, people will only use “safe” features in RCS, which is basically the same as SMS.
 
WoodpeckerBaby said:
Then you lose the ability to know if what you send will exactly be what the recipient will receive, since RCS is a superset of SMS. If you send something fancy, and they don’t support it, they will get gibberish. If that’s the case, people will only use “safe” features in RCS, which is basically the same as SMS.
Click to expand...
This is why I earlier said it’s up to the carriers. Regardless of its business interests, Apple can use this as an excuse to avoid supporting RCS.
 
WoodpeckerBaby said:
Then you lose the ability to know if what you send will exactly be what the recipient will receive, since RCS is a superset of SMS. If you send something fancy, and they don’t support it, they will get gibberish. If that’s the case, people will only use “safe” features in RCS, which is basically the same as SMS.
Click to expand...
Nope. You will know before you hit send whether your message will be sent via RCS/UP or the SMS fall back, and I have already seen that work internationally.

RCS is not at all a superset of SMS, it is a replacement now under the stewardship of THE GSMA, and that pretty well is the only relationship between the things. RCS is much closer to iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp than to SMS in terms of features and implementation (I understand it's based on SIP rather than piggy-backing text on top of the GSM control channel as SMS is implemented)

Capability exchange between clients and indication to users of the same is a part of the UP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 0924487
hewbass said:
Nope. You will know before you hit send whether your message will be sent via RCS/UP or the SMS fall back, and I have already seen that work internationally.

RCS is not at all a superset of SMS, it is a replacement now under the stewardship of THE GSMA, and that pretty well is the only relationship between the things. RCS is much closer to iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp than to SMS in terms of features and implementation (I understand it's based on SIP rather than piggy-backing text on top of the GSM control channel as SMS is implemented)

Capability exchange between clients and indication to users of the same is a part of the UP.
Click to expand...
Encryption isn’t part of the standard since SMS requires lawful interception and RCS is meant to replace it.

SMS in LTE also involves SIP.
 
hewbass said:
Use iCloud back up without turning off your keychain backup? (default is on) Then yes they do...
Click to expand...
That's a separate issue. The comment was about iMessage itself. The same is true with any system, by the way. If you have the keys or the actual messages on your own device, and then send them to a cloud service, then that other copy will not be protected.
 
cmaier said:
That's a separate issue. The comment was about iMessage itself. The same is true with any system, by the way. If you have the keys or the actual messages on your own device, and then send them to a cloud service, then that other copy will not be protected.
Click to expand...
The copy on your device is also not protected if the private keys are backed up (which I understand to be the case).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back