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Google Again Criticizes Apple for Not Adopting RCS for Messages App: 'Their Texting is Stuck in the 1990s'

brofkand said:
It would be a non-issue if Apple would let me pick a different SMS client. I could pick one that uses RCS or any other protocol I wish like WhatsApp, but as usual Apple knows best.
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You can use WhatsApp or any other third party app that you choose as long as it’s on the App Store.

Apple will not, and should not, integrate any third party app/protocol into iMessage - who guarantees the security of the messages, Facebook? Google? Yeah right.

Carrier protocols like SMS or RCS yes, but face it, RCS is a hot mess of different technology with uneven support in the US and little support outside the US. I don’t blame them for not embracing RCS.

From another site:

’Not all carriers and devices support the protocol and it can be implemented in different ways, such as encryption.

Like SMS, RCS relies on an active phone number. Texting gets tied to a cellular bill and can vanish if a payment is missed or because of other cellular network chicanery.’
 
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bodonnell202 said:
RCS isn't made by Google, it's an updated carrier communication protocol made to replace SMS.
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The encryption is a proprietary extension by Google. Until recently (days) it did not support encrypted group messaging. The unencrypted version of the protocol is what Google wanted Apple to implement and pretend was secure.
 
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Azathoth123 said:
You can use WhatsApp or any other third party app that you choose as long as it’s on the App Store.

Apple will not, and should not, integrate any third party app/protocol into iMessage - who guarantees the security of the messages, Facebook? Google? Yeah right.

Carrier protocols like SMS or RCS yes, but face it, RCS is a hot mess of different technology with uneven support in the US and little support outside the US. I don’t blame them for not embracing RCS.

From another site:

’Not all carriers and devices support the protocol and it can be implemented in different ways, such as encryption.

Like SMS, RCS relies on an active phone number. Texting gets tied to a cellular bill and can vanish if a payment is missed or because of other cellular network chicanery.’
Click to expand...

As soon as I submitted the message I knew I should have edited it to specify a replacement SMS app.

On Android you can use other apps (like Facebook Messenger if you wish) to send and receive SMS. That way if your recipient uses that service, the conversation will be upgraded to a rich feature set. Otherwise it’ll just use SMS. A lot like iMessage works - the difference is, on Android you have choice.
 
bobcomer said:
I couldn't disagree more. It's a standard and supported by most carriers in the US, and it allows better texting between OS's.

Just because Apple doesn't support it doesn't make it failed.

It would work far better than SMS.
Click to expand...

The sad fact is if you got all the carriers and tech corps together they would never come up with an evolved replacement for SMS/MMS.
RCS is far better than SMS/MMS and it has been pretty much adopted as the new standard globally, well except for Apple.
 
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Apple will do all they can to keep iMessage as their messaging app because it's the only thing keeping people in their ecosystem.😄
 
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Azathoth123 said:
Apple will not, and should not, integrate any third party app/protocol into iMessage - who guarantees the security of the messages, Facebook? Google? Yeah right.
Click to expand...

And no one has suggested that. The original comment you replied to only suggested that Apple could let the user choose the default app for messaging, it never said anything about a 3rd party app being preinstalled in iOS or integrated into a preinstalled iOS app such as Messages. And Apple most certainly can do that, in fact they’re already doing it for the email and browser apps. They don’t preinstall the gmail or chrome apps in iOS, for example, but if you do have them installed Apple does let you set them as your default mail and browser apps in iOS. They could do the same with messaging.
 
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lartola said:
The original comment you replied to only suggested that Apple could let the user choose the default app for messaging, it never said anything about a 3rd party app being preinstalled in iOS or integrated into a preinstalled iOS app such as Messages.
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I’m confused, would not Google‘s fork of RCS require messages to pass through Google servers? There is no Google public API for RCS encryption as I understand it?
 
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All I know is that whoever pushes something the most, has the most to benefit.

Apple literally gets no benefit from making Google look better by adopting a standard owned by Google (Google is pushing a proprietary version of RCS).

I’m with Tim Cook on this one. Want better experience texting iPhone users? Get an iPhone.

Aside from looking desperate, who at Google gave the go-ahead for this Micky Mouse whining campaign?
 
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lartola said:
The problem is that this is only an issue for american iphone users, who blatantly refuse to use any 3rd party messaging apps at all. That makes it easy for Apple to argue that it’s those users’ decision to stick to Apple Messages only and accept the limitation to only using SMS/MMS to text Android users. And, obviously, they won’t budge and enable RCS.
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This, in the end, IS a good description, isn’t it? The US market, as it exists, it’s the last largest number of users that are steadfastly using carrier solutions and Google’s trying its best to work their way in while there’s still flux. Once US users, as a whole, are using OTT solutions, that closes the door to any of Google’s messaging ambitions.
 
philrock said:
Agree completely. So many folks getting tribal about it. People just want to communicate effectively and easily regardless of who makes their phones.
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No, people in the US DON’T want to communicate effectively and easily regardless of who makes their phones. :) Because, if they did, they’d be using one of the MANY current ways of doing so. To really capture this would be to say they want to communicate effectively BUT ONLY in a way that is supported by their cellular carrier. Right now, carriers in the US only support SMS for communication across devices.

So, “wanting to communicate effectively” and “carrier supported methods” are, as it is all over the world, mutually exclusive.
 
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Seend1983 said:
All I know is that whoever pushes something the most, has the most to benefit.

Apple literally gets no benefit from making Google look better by adopting a standard owned by Google (Google is pushing a proprietary version of RCS).

I’m with Tim Cook on this one. Want better experience texting iPhone users? Get an iPhone.

Aside from looking desperate, who at Google gave the go-ahead for this Micky Mouse whining campaign?
Click to expand...

This isn’t about Apple or Google.
RCS was adopted globally however there were many differing versions. Google stepped up and pushed for a single version and it was adopted. Well, by everyone pretty much except for Apple. The Carriers had the opportunity and muffed it. Apple had the opportunity and walked away from it.
This is just as much about the Carriers, Google, and the users. As an Android and iOS user, I would find it very beneficial if a single standard was able to be interpreted by both OS’s.

Before you claim the “whining”, perhaps a look at the evolution and adoption of RCS would be of benefit.
www.linkmobility.com

Evolution or Revolution? RCS history, current state, and market outlook

We’re kicking off a series on Rich Communication Services (RCS) starting with the background and market outlook of this next generation channel.
www.linkmobility.com
 
Azathoth123 said:
Globally? That isn’t what what our EU folks are saying in this theead I think? Apparently RCS is a US only thing.
Click to expand...

Global.
www.labsmobile.com

The evolution of SMS, RCS: what is it and how can it grow my business?

<p><em><b>Did you know that the classic SMS messaging service is almost at the point of revolutionizing customer service as we know it?</b></em></p><p>New technology RCS (Rich Communication Services) will enrich communication with your customers.</p>
www.labsmobile.com

This is a decent read
 
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Wizec said:
I think it’s partly a marketing problem. Instead of calling it “RCS”, they should have just called it “HD Texting” or something (maybe an even sillier name like “5G Texting”).
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No, unfortunately, it’s not a marketing problem. It is, at its core, a technology problem. It’s just a dated technology that, back when the carriers were busy trying to throw everything and the chicken sink into it, enterprising companies created OTT solutions that require no engagement from the carriers. By the time the carriers realized their folly, WhatsApp was already handling huge amounts of messages between customers, and growing by tremendous amounts every day.

What’s holding back any “better” way of carrier level communicating now is that the carriers
1. really don’t have anything to offer folks that have already moved to OTT solutions and
2. businesses, that pay for trillions of SMS messages each year aren’t interested in using it

With the largest number of individuals worldwide not interested and businesses not interested, the only thing left is that the carriers all over the world might do it “out of the goodness of their hearts for folks in the US”. Unlikely at best.

Wizec said:
The other thing that needs to happen is for carriers to set a date to phase out SMS, just like they did with 3G.
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Right, but, at that point, no one was using 3g, and very few 3g phones were even being released. Will there come a time when SMS phones are no longer being released? I actually believe this to be the most important development for anyone interested in wide RCS adoption, and that’s when someone releases a dumb phone with built in RCS support. Are there any non-Android RCS devices?
 
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Padaung said:
It would be brilliant to get them by a more secure way. Without knowing if a user has an iPhone or an Android phone, these messages currently have to be sent in the lowest common denominator which is currently SMS. The sooner Apple get on board with RCS, the sooner these messages can be sent out in the newer, more secure format.
Click to expand...
That’s assuming businesses would want to use it. Remember, businesses aren’t individuals, they don’t get “free” texting. They have contracts with carriers which charge per message on trillions of messages per year. If carriers go through the effort to upgrade their infrastructure to support RCS, SOMEone’s going to be on the hook for them to make a return on that investment. As many individuals have free texting plans (or just aren’t using SMS anymore), that’s going to drop on the laps of those businesses. Would carriers be able to get businesses, which are already in cost cutting mode, to use RCS with SMS is “good enough”?

More interestingly… would a business be interested in offering a “secure delivery” feature at additional cost to the user? Would users want to pay more for that security? Would they want to pay more for a business to let them know “their table is ready” securely? Figure out how the carrier’s can profit, build a modern technology, and we’d be most of the way to actually getting something implemented.
 
bobcomer said:
I couldn't disagree more. It's a standard and supported by most carriers in the US, and it allows better texting between OS's.
Click to expand...
The carriers in the US ONLY support RCS specifically via Google Messages on Android. They don’t support RCS on ANY OS other than Android AND on no feature phones. That’s their decision to make, of course, and as long as they stick to it, RCS will be Android only.
bobcomer said:
It would work far better than SMS.
Click to expand...
Right, but there’s a very long (and very dead end) path from “would” work better than SMS to “working” better than SMS. :)
 
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now i see it said:
iMessage will be left behind. The world is embracing RCS. iMessage will become another FireWire
Click to expand...
Ok, if you say so.

Tho. you seem to have some concrete data showing the trend that RCS is taking over the world. Mind if you share with us all so that we could learn from it?
 
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