Google did not design RCS. They bought a company that also did not design RCS but was capable of leveraging it in a way Google could use.
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Google Reveals When to Expect RCS Support on iPhone for Improved Texting With Android Users
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The Verge: "Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association,” Apple spokesperson Jacqueline Roy says..."
All true, almost. I have seen where Apple said they will be using the standard (that’s why E2EE) but I have yet to see where Apple says the will allow full RCS functionality in iOS Messages. Even the 2025 Chinese law requiring RCS support states “support”. If you have something that says that full standard functionality will be included kindly let me know. All I have found to date is opinion. 👍
It wasn't created in 2008, the project began in 2008. It wasn't actually published for years after that, and Google didn't start leveraging it for many years after that.
The Verge is like many others stating “support” using the GSM standard. Nothing about having full RCS functionality. When you look at all that RCS can do, I see iMessage as supporting all of that as being a challenge.
RCS was but a twinkle in the GSMA's eyes in 2008. The Universal Profile wasn't released until 2016 and Google didn't get their act together until like 2020.
You're needlessly parsing the statement. Apple has committed to supporting the features that are part of the Universal Profile. That includes things like typing indicators, read receipts, audio messages, hi-res phots/video, etc. It does not include encryption.
From GSMA: "The Universal Profile contains core features such as capability discovery (interoperable between regions), chat, group chat, file transfer, audio messaging, video share, multi-device, enriched calling, location share and live sketching. It also introduces the key enablers for Messaging as a Platform (MaaP). This includes support for RCS business messaging, Rich Cards, privacy control and spam protection."
RCS still has a limitation over iMessage. Your RCS username is tied to the device, iMessage is not.
iMessage couldn't be used cross platform unless Google allowed it to be the SMS client for Android - it would have simply been yet another whatsapp alternative that also happened to work with SMS for iOS/MacOS users. Let alone that Apple had no incentive to solve Google's problems.
What is actually needed, and has been brushed up against quite a few times in the past 25 years, is a complete messaging standard similar to email. Federated, cross platform, interoperable, with as many services operating their own as would ever be wanted or needed. And with that, SMS/RCS should be completely deprecated - the signalling protocol between a cell phone provider and their devices was never intended for messaging anyway. I really fail to see why it's needed even now, your primary email should be like your primary messaging address, and it should follow you anywhere and everywhere.
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I hope you are correct.
It will be interesting to see if it is embedded in Messages (iOS) or if it is a parallel function like SMS/MMS currently is.
Thanks.
Is this actually effective? I had thought that people still regularly get RCS spam.
On another note... I finally no longer get voice spams on my phone number. If you turn on voice spam protection, my new carrier requires caller interaction on the first call in order to get through to my number. (ie. "Press 1 to proceed.") This can be a problem with 2FA via voice, but I always just choose 2FA via text instead.
Okay so now the argument is changing from messaging platforms that are "universal" and/or "cross-platform" to platforms that users may or may not want on their device. Look I am not against RCS at all and I am all for RCS as I have friends and family (like most) that have androids and I would rather use one app (specifically the default messages app on iPhone) to be my only messaging app needed.
But on the flip side to say (not that you specifically stated it) that there are no options for those that use iOS and Android and Windows and Mac to not communicate and have videos and photos and links and whatever else sent between each other is far from the truth. Laziness is the hindering factor as there are messaging platforms that are E2E encrypted so you can't say privacy is a reason, and literally just boils down to one or the other person not wanting another app to keep track of. My rebuttal to that is always well that person must not be that important to communicate then.
This is yet another reason why I think neither RCS nor SMS should exist and all messaging platforms should federate on an open standard.
SMS should be banned at this point. It's more a security threat than usefulness.
Even with RCS implemented, everyone outside the USA uses WhatsApp as their primary messaging app.
That's very good point! The EU even stated SMS is insecure and should not be used as 2FA for the banking access.
Please no. That would make many devices unusable. Think of alarm systems, car GPS trackers etc. All these are working via SMS and while it's not optimal, it's very okayish and definitely better than having to replace the whole device.
Nothing has changed in my argument despite your efforts to claim otherwise. The point remains the same. RCS is universal and cross platform and requires no third party app. That is its advantage (or which will be relatively soon). And it's a huge advantage. Every single person who has a recent iPhone with an iOS version released this fall will have RCS support.
That is not to say that RCS will actually necessarily dominate going forward, but Apple adopting is nonetheless an enormous boost to that standard.
You are correct: I never said there are no other options, because I know there are many other options. But as you said, some people don't want to install a bunch of different apps that effectively do the same thing. In my case, personally I won't install Messenger since I don't have nor want a Facebook account. If you won't communicate with me simply because I don't have Messenger installed, then that's fine with me.
Not just WhatsApp. WeChat in China (or with Chinese expats in other countries), and Messenger to a lesser extent in some countries. However, that's the problem - several different apps that don't communicate with each other.
In the US, Canada, and Japan, iMessage is the predominant messaging app and iOS has the majority share of smarthones. And WhatsApp may be the most popular of the two globally, but China relies on WeChat. Many asian countries use LINE. It's a complex mix depending on geography and smartphone OS penetration.
Do you mean GSM, not SMS? There are many that phased out simply because of the move to and from LTE already.
Google adopted MLS shortly after the IETF approved it.
Messaging Layer Security: Secure and Usable End-to-End Encryption
The IETF has approved publication of Messaging Layer Security (MLS), a new standard for end-to-end security that will make it easy for apps to provide the highest level of security to their users. End-to-end encryption is an increasingly important security feature in Internet applications. It...
www.ietf.org
An important step towards secure and interoperable messaging
Posted by Giles Hogben, Privacy Engineering Director Most modern consumer messaging platforms (including Google Messages) support end-to-...
I mean both. The commenter said ban the SMS. That would make all the devices I mentioned unusable.
GSM will be banned eventually of course (but it is not yet). Still you can send SMS via LTE. So banning the SMS would kill quite a lot of devices - even those with LTE modems, but still using SMS for communication. And SMS for the communication is the cheapest way if you need just few messages per month. Definitely cheaper than paying for the data plan. And there's no way all these devices would get RCS upgrade.