Android Users Can Soon Add Emoji Reactions to iPhone Texts With Annoying Catch

[gund1234]

It is apple’s responsibility to give iPhone users the greatest experience on their app, which we don’t have at this moment because they are unwilling to make any effort. I don’t care about the android experience per say, but if I am unable to manage a group conversation or am receiving annoying notifications from most of my contacts ON MY IPHONE, as someone that is deeply embedded in Apple ecosystem, yes I can accuse Apple of being lazy and greedy.

Apple is certainly not working for google, but it must make its services work. If companies agreed in the past on email protocols, wireless network protocols, smart home protocols etc., why can’t they agree on a messaging protocol?

why stop there
What about FaceTime Audio and video call compatibility between android and iOS ?
why can't they agree to use one OS, one UI, you know when i shift from iOS to Android it confuses me.
As iOS & Android user i say Apple & Google should work on creating one OS and one UI.
If everyone starts using same technology then innovation stops.

 

[gund1234]

apple is probably inconveniencing it's own userbase more than getting more customers over imessage

I have been using iOS for long time and i don't have any problems, i use What's App when i need to chat with people that don't use iPhone.
Problem solved.
There are solutions available.
People just want to complain.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I think an interesting question is, what will Apple do if the U. S. carriers just drop SMS and only run RCS. Would Apple be done with the carriers messaging and have iMessage only be iMessage's? (like basically every other messaging platform) Or would they integrate RCS in? I really have no feel for what they'd do at that point. There may not be much downside to washing their hands of carrier based messaging.

Carriers still make HUGE amounts of money from SMS. Maybe not for individual US customers, but business users that use it for appointment reminders, sales notifications, package delivery notifications and others are paying for the right to use those SMS networks. In fact, if the carriers felt they could monetize RCS, they’d have made the investment a long time ago. The problem with that, of course, is that a business customer paying one rate for an SMS message (Sale at JoAnn’s!) might not be willing to pay a higher rate for the same as an RCS message. Would that business customer even WANT to pay to send such a low priority message encrypted (for example)? While Apple saying “no” surely factored into the US carrier’s decisions, a larger factor was probably that they couldn’t see how they could make the same or more money than they’re currently making from SMS (considering the infrastructure improvements RCS would require).

 

[hippopotamusglorypig]

It’s not unique to T-Mobile, ALL the US carriers gave up on CCMI all at once in 2021 and have made the decision to use Google Messages on Android devices (using Google RCS). None of the US carriers are interested in Google RCS for iPhones and as long as that doesn’t change, the situation for RCS in the US won’t change.

Thank you for reading the article! But again, this has very little to do with the carriers, who, again, did not want Google's version of RCS. They gave up on their effort, and had to be cajoled, individually, by Google into switching sides over many months and years.

(You can tell they were cajoled into doing so, because they're doing the same thing more publicly to Apple now. If you hadn't noticed.)

 

[PrecisionGem]

I have never sent a text with an emoji, so this is a non issue for me.

 

[fwmireault]

why stop there
What about FaceTime Audio and video call compatibility between android and iOS ?
why can't they agree to use one OS, one UI, you know when i shift from iOS to Android it confuses me.
As iOS & Android user i say Apple & Google should work on creating one OS and one UI.
If everyone starts using same technology then innovation stops.

Up to you to play dumb, the point for a stronger messaging standard remains legitimate and is certainly not a call to create a universal UI. But hey, props to you for trying to articulate an argument, it definitely doesn’t seem easy!

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple should have opened an iMessage API or something to make it a standard. FaceTime as well (in fact Steve himself said he wanted something like that back around when it was announced)

If RCS becomes a standard, Apple only has themselves to blame for not taking advantage sooner

If RCS becomes a standard, just like SMS/MMS, supported by the carrier… then the carriers would be in a position to require Apple to support it, just like they did with SMS/MMS. Apple might even be pushed, internally, to provide support for it if it was supported by every carrier in the world. Again, like SMS/MMS.

 

[Ener Ji]

My only regret is that the main alternatives to iMessage are operated by Google and Meta.

Signal would like to have a word... It's excellent; highly recommended.

Clean up your own house google:

Google is practically begging Apple to adopt RCS, but still isn't all-in itself | AppleInsider

In the middle of a push by Google to make Apple adopt the RCS messaging standard, a Google executive admits it's been a messy and incomplete process.

appleinsider.com

They are working on it. Once RCS matures a bit more all the extensions will be codified and APIs created for third party clients. Perhaps in time for Android 14, or Android 15 at the latest.

Do you realize RCS doesn't support E2E encryption? Maybe in the future it could...

It actually does support E2E encryption between one-on-one RCS chats on Google Messages / Samsung Messages. E2E for group chats supposed to come by year-end. And then cross-client E2E encryption somewhat later, perhaps next year.

Apple allows many many third party messaging apps… Google Messages is one.

The Messages by Google app is not available on the Apple App Store. (You can check for yourself!) You could reasonably ask why Google does not make the app available on iOS, and the answer is obviously that they realize no iOS user will use it so they don't bother.

As hippo said, Google Messages is not on the iOS App store AFAICT. Additionally, one important reason for Google Messages not being on iOS is that Apple does not allow third-party SMS apps.

The rest of these comments are examples of Poe's Law in action.​

I really can't tell if these are satire or if people are really this extreme in their thinking. If satire, congratulations on doing it so well!

Sucks to have to text Android users. That’s not a problem that I have. Most “grown ups” have an iPhone. I haven’t gone to college in a decade. Chances are if you love Google then you’re probably not someone I want to hang out with because we have completely different philosophies on life. And I can’t think of anyone in my family who doesn’t have an iPhone unless they are an actual child, like my kids, who have iPads with texting restricted to family and a couple friends because it’s all free between Apple devices.

I've got no time for people that make dumb decisions. Android itself is fine but the skins are ass and the apps are absolute garbage. You deserve to be ignored if you choose that life.

My thing is this ... if you have an Android phone, please don't text me. I would rather you just send an email. I'm not the only one with these thoughts

If RCS becomes a standard, just like SMS/MMS, supported by the carrier… then the carriers would be in a position to require Apple to support it, just like they did with SMS/MMS. Apple might even be pushed, internally, to provide support for it if it was supported by every carrier in the world. Again, like SMS/MMS.

 

[cocky jeremy]

So you think you’re superior. Got it.

This totally embodies the snobbery that clouds around Apple product users.

I guess that anyone who makes a dissimilar choice to you is also inferior?

I didn't say I was superior. That wouldn't be saying much, anyway. I'm saying people that buy those phones are morons because they're garbage.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Thank you for reading the article! But again, this has very little to do with the carriers, who, again, did not want Google's version of RCS. They gave up on their effort, and had to be cajoled, individually, by Google into switching sides over many months and years.

Whether cajoled or not, if the carrier didn’t decide to enter into an agreement with Google for Google RCS, then that carrier would not be using Google RCS.
Verizon and Google team up

Verizon and Google team up to bring enhanced messaging services to Android users

Verizon announced a collaboration with Google to expand advanced messaging services to Android users in the U.S. starting next year using Google’s Android Messages app.

www.verizon.com

T-Mobile and Google team up

https://www.fiercewireless.com/operators/t-mobile-google-team-up-to-promote-rcs-adoption

AT&T strikes a deal with Google

https://www.fiercewireless.com/operators/at-t-strikes-rcs-deal-google

In each case, if you remove Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T from those deals/team ups, then Google RCS in the US would not exist. And, one other decision made by ALL the carriers, is that Google RCS would be a thing ONLY for Android phones. I’m sure Google would have LOVED to have “cajoled” them into providing RCS for their iPhone users, but, quite interestingly, the carriers are not taking any steps to help Google in this fruitless pursuit.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The rest of these comments are examples of Poe's Law in action.​

I really can't tell if these are satire or if people are really this extreme in their thinking. If satire, congratulations on doing it so well!

Saying that “If the carriers supported RCS, like they do SMS, then Apple would support it.” is extreme? I’m thinking there may be some that don’t know what “Poe’s law” is.

 

[6787872]

People just want to complain.

you mean like you complaining about other people complaining?

 

[Ener Ji]

Saying that “If the carriers supported RCS, like they do SMS, then Apple would support it.” is extreme? I’m thinking there may be some that don’t know what “Poe’s law” is.

Sorry, I misquoted you. Didn't mean to include you in the Poe's law section. I was basically going to agree, and I think RCS is going to head in that direction (i.e. sufficiently standardized and sufficiently supported/encouraged by carriers worldwide to encourage Apple to add support), though it's certainly possible that Google will lose its resolve and f--- it up before it reaches that critical state...

If all goes well with RCS, I expect Apple will probably add RCS support eventually, and if I had to guess, maybe that will come in 2024 with iOS 18. That leaves sufficient time for a) RCS to mature, and b) for Apple to continue to innovate with iMessage so that if/when they add RCS support, they can still boast about all the advantages of iMessage over RCS.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Can’t wait for this to not happen to me because I use iMessage with exactly 0 people
Nobody I know is on iMessage, even my friends with iPhones just use Telegram and WhatsApp

 

[darngooddesign]

Oh noooooooo

Isn't Android the annoying catch?

 

[Johns12]

I didn't say I was superior. That wouldn't be saying much, anyway. I'm saying people that buy those phones are morons because they're garbage.

Interesting, you call people morons, and garbage because of a choice of phones. I think you are correct. You are not superior.

 

[_Spinn_]

I thought this was already fixed?

iOS 16 fixes annoying reaction texts in “green bubble” message groups

Apple is hiding annoying SMS Tapback reactions in iOS 16.

www.theverge.com

 

[Jace Bror]

It great that this was finally added. Cuz I hated the generic response on my Android from iphones. But now sometimes I get the proper TalkBack emoji from certain iphones, but other phones I get the generic text. I don't know if it's a matter of the iphone user not being on the newest update?

Loving that Android can do any emoji now too, not sure if it translates over to iPhone tho

 

[v0lume4]

I thought this was already fixed?

iOS 16 fixes annoying reaction texts in “green bubble” message groups

Apple is hiding annoying SMS Tapback reactions in iOS 16.

www.theverge.com

Oh wow! I never thought I’d see Apple do that. They love targeting SMS users. What a welcome change!