If you want third party app stores, please go to Android. Leave iOS alone. I don't want Android's crappy operating model to ruin Apple.
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Apple to Adopt RCS Messaging Standard for Better Interoperability With Android Devices
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You know, if you are texting Europeans, just use whatsapp. I think they will appreciate it more
Right, the poster you’re responding to seems to love “Embrace, Extend, Extinguish” when it’s Google doing it.
I suspect that the EU is gonna force Meta to add RCS support to WhatsApp. We’ll see if the carriers make RCS free, otherwise it’ll probably lead to Meta hosting their own RCS infrastructure, at least in the EU.You know, if you are texting Europeans, just use whatsapp. I think they will appreciate it more
It's less about the baseline they're starting with right now, and more about where they go from here ( and how quickly). My understanding is that the Google e2e extension they use is based on the Signal protocol which is not proprietary. I'm sure Google would be thrilled to work with Apple to enable Apple's own extension to interoperate with Google's. I'm not saying that would be the best way forward, but Apple has options to get this working in the short, medium, and long terms all on their own. It remains to be seen if they head down those paths, or are content to let the situation languish in GSMA committee.
They aren’t going to do that, they are forcing Meta to make messages sent of over the WhatsApp protocol to be interoperable with other messaging protocols.
I've already addressed the points you bring up above in previous posts but in short, it does hurt Apple's business model as it provides one less reason for Android users to move to iOS. It damages Apple's ecosystem and hurts their profits as a result. There is NO need to have EVERY feature of iMessage available to Android users. None. Google is jealous because they can't break into the premium smartphone market and the EU is taking advantage of Google's lame complaints by threatening regulation.
The biggest issue overall is the EU's overreaching regulatory dictatorship. I guarantee that this is only the beginning. The Apple that we love will change for the worse because of the EU.
Google needs to get those E2EE extensions into the RCS universal profile then. For all we know Apple will support them in that, but there’s only so much they do can when it is ultimately up to the GSMA what goes into the standard.
Gimping? You'd rather have all your messages and information being routed through Google's servers for them to parse at will? No thanks.
Google cannot see what is inside the message due to E2E only metadata. Keep in mind with Apple using the RCS Universal Profile which no other wireless carrier in the United States is using it still has to be sent thru Google's servers, the difference is Google is now able to read them thanks to Apple Inc not adding E2E which they could easily do. It is just yet another example of Apple intentionally gimping a feature or service they never wanted to implement.
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Yes, but the competitive advantage of WhatsApp over RCS/MMS/SMS is free messaging. If WhatsApp is to be interoperable, then that would mean sending RCS messages via carrier infrastructure, which would likely result in users incurring fees. Since European telecoms are pushing for this, I’d imagine that the EU won’t force them to provide RCS for free. If Meta wants to preserve WhatsApp’s position, they’d have to find a way to make the interoperability free to users. Easiest way to do that seems to be to host their own RCS infrastructure (maybe their own instance of Jibe, they probably wouldn’t want to invest too heavily into it).
They're going through Google's servers because that's who provides RCS connectivity to all US carriers. Without any kind of encryption (Google extension compatible or future RCS UP encryption) the they just go through those same servers unencrypted
You seem to misunderstand the basics of what standards are about. That is very similar to the problem that made WhatsApp so big. Standards are there for a reason, standards are great for global integration and implementation, having a variant may have short term immediate advantage but in the long run never works.
They’re not using the standard, they’re explicitly using Google infrastructure through partnerships because *none of the telecoms have any business incentive to build the infrastructure themselves*.
RCS won’t be a true telecom level fallback protocol (what sms currently is) until congress basically has the public pay for it directly, because there is no business justification for a telecom to sink capital costs into this.
The standard is what everybody is using, guess what nobody in the entire United States is using the RCS Universal Profile. I would argue it is not a standard if nobody is using it. The only reason why we have E2E is because Google added it on top of the existing standards that were adopted by the US wireless carriers. This is just Apple crippling the standard intentionally on their devices so they can say your messages are not secure and can be read on advertisements but they conveniently leave out the part Apple was solely the reason why everybody can read those message openly.
It's not about wanting to “break” American tech firms' business models. Some of it is about standardization or interoperability and some of it is about enforcing antitrust laws dealing with "dominance" and "anticompetitive behavior." Apple's iOS and iPadOS are each one of only two major operating systems (part of duopolies) in their respective markets. In the EU, iOS has around 35% share of the mobile OS market and iPadOS has around 50% share of the tablet OS market. As far as antitrust issues are concerned, the EU feels that Apple's dominance combined with anticompetitive behavior (e.g., restricting alternative app stores, browser engines, etc.) is an antitrust violation.
They're using the standard they wanted and chose Google. The issue is Apple being monopolistic and sabotaging the implementation of the standard on iOS devices that do not exist on Android.
Considering that you are conflating "adding a new feature to an existing messaging app that you already use" to "using a completely different messaging app," I'm not sure I'm the one who is confused here.
Thanks, I just looked into it and it does indeed intend to address the issue of E2EE across federated services. It's still very new, though, even Google hasn't adopted it yet.
That‘s not correct. Apple can provide RCS hub functionality to it‘s whole userbase without carriers supporting it. Google just didn‘t bother up until 2 years ago, where they flicked the switch and allowed anyone, whos carrier dragged their feet on supporting RCS, to use Jibe as a fallback.
There are currently carriers world wide that don‘t have a RCS hub or agreement with Google. RCS simple is no thing with them, but their customers can still open Google Messages and opt into using Jibe to get RCS.
Apple is not responsible for the lack of functionality, and it isn't artificial. A full decade passed between iMessage and RCS, let's not pretend Apple held the industry back.
That is not intentional on apple's part. An iMessage group chat is not the same as an MMS based group chat. You get all the functions available to MMS in the group chat, which is limited compared to an all iMessage group.
iMessage is independent of a cellular service provider as well. Which is why it works across devices like Macs and iPads. RCS is still just a bandaid in that regard, a phone number should not be my unique identifier or anyone else's.
Perhaps Apple could change their business model to one where they actually design compelling devices with unique features that people actually want instead of just relying on vendor lock-in to keep their customers.
Every feature of iMessage is already available to Android users. Just not when they communicate with Apple users.