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Many, many people here are missing the point. Apple is screwing its own customers by forcing them to have a poor experience with an outdated, unsecured chat standard. Apple can adopt RCS and still so everything with iMessage, but they refuse to move past MMS/SMS.

Apple is also shooting its future self in the foot by pushing group chats across the world in whatsapp and wechat.

This is a bad long terms strategy.
I’m pretty sure Apple is very confident in their long-term strategy.
 
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#installwhatsappyoustrangecreatures.

What's so great about WhatsApp over the other internet-based chat apps? Does it work without a data connection? Does RCS work without a data connection? (My understanding is no, but does it?)

If RCS requires a data connection, then Google is misleading people with this ad. They say SMS needs to go away, but which would you prefer ... that your message never arrives if the receiver has disabled their data (which is very common), or that it arrives in a plain-text format? The fallback to SMS delivers that latter option. Does RCS give that confidence?

Ah ha! Found the answer! Yes, RCS requires data, and they fall-back to SMS with there's no data connection on either side of the conversation. Busted!

1695341279235.png
 
It's wild to see how many folks in this comment section are defending the fact that iOS still doesn't support RCS. That's WILD to me.

Nobody cares what color a message is. Google is encouraging Apple to support RCS, and every single iPhone user should be doing the same. Lets move on from the antiquated SMS/MMS standard just like we moved on from using 3G and we moved on from unencrypted http, it's something all of us would benefit from.
 
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I’m not a fan of Google myself but I do find it absurd that we are stuck in this weird era of my iPhone not ‘just working.’

If I want to text someone a quality photo, I want to expect they can receive it… without having to think about what OS and software they are using - and hope they have whatever app is required - or maybe they receive some pixelated garbage and I don’t know.

The whole point of iMessage being the default messaging app was that SMS was originaly a global standard.

If they’re nowadays going to branch off the app into something else that’s no longer a global standard…then what’s the point of this garbage app.
 
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It's wild to see how many folks in this comment section are defending the fact that iOS still doesn't support RCS. That's WILD to me.

Nobody cares what color a message is. Google is encouraging Apple to support RCS, and every single iPhone user should be doing the same. Lets move on from the antiquated SMS/MMS standard just like we moved on from using 3G and we moved on from unencrypted http, it's something all of us would benefit from.

I care. Speak for yourself, Techie.

Whenever a message to an iPhone user falls back to SMS (green), I never know if they actually got the message. I don't get that reassuring "Delivered" status.

Yes, blue matters.
 
As someone who owns Pixel phones and has never owned an iPhone, Google really needs to stop. Apple is protecting its core business which primarily is the iPhone. I don't see anything wrong with that. If Apple wants to maintain their current messaging service then that's their prerogative.
 
I’m not a fan of Google myself but I do find it absurd that we are stuck in this weird era of my iPhone not ‘just working.’

If I want to text someone a quality photo, I want to expect they can receive it… without having to think about what OS and software they are using - and hope they have whatever app is required - or maybe they receive some pixelated garbage and I don’t know.

The whole point of iMessage being the default messaging app was that SMS was originaly a global standard.

If they’re nowadays going to branch off the app into something else that’s no longer a global standard…then what’s the point of this garbage app.

I can't tell if you're complaining about Apple or Google.

RCS is a protocol (not an app) to replace SMS because the CARRIERS don't care about innovation, so it took a profit-seeking company to develop the next generation protocol.

Apple developed iMessage to give Apple customers a rich-messaging experience built right into their phone, rather than having to install a 3rd-party app. If you want to use any number of 3rd-party apps (WhatsApp, Viber, Signal, etc.), you have that choice.

Google is just whining because their attempt to get the biggest competitor (Apple) to build RCS support into iPhone is not going as planned. They are trying to guilt Apple into it by misleading consumers with false information.

Apple will implement RCS support when it makes most sense. Now is not the time.
 
Since RCS is a protocol, Google could technically deliver an iPhone app that supports it, and then RCS would be available on iPhone. Why are they refusing to give their users an app to solve this? Why must it be in Apple's Messages app? Oh... because carriers are involved in the mix... it's not as simple as just an internet chat app.

Take your time, Apple. Wait until RCS matures.
 
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3. You're just wrong about this one through and through, and assuming that Google is just out for the greater good here. That's not the case, and this ad only furthers it.
Motivations are irrelevant here when the net result helps the end-user. And yes, it also helps any Apple users who have Android friends and they send more than just words on a screen. The multimedia experience between the 2 in 2023 and I don't give a flying crap who is to blame. RCS (even the "proprietary" variety) is still better (and more secure) than SMS/MMS. This is an irrefutable, unequivocal, undeniable point and it needs to get resolved.

All-end users are helped. Period.
 
You're never going to get an end user (most of whom are NOT technical) to shout "We want you to support RCS!" from the rooftops because.... they don't care! Anyone who actually cares about that sort of encrypted group chat just uses WhatsApp or similar. This is a solution looking or a problem.
They would if they knew their pictures wouldn't be all pixelated and their videos not the size of a pixelated postage stamp.

It is an absolute solution to a ridiculous problem.
 
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I care. Speak for yourself, Techie.

Whenever a message to an iPhone user falls back to SMS (green), I never know if they actually got the message. I don't get that reassuring "Delivered" status.

Yes, blue matters.
You just unwittingly made the case for RCS, since it would solve that problem too, of not knowing. You'd have an icon knowing they did get it.

But it's not about iPhone to iPhone it's about the interoperability between the 2 platforms. Forest for the trees.

Blue can matter to you. Keep your blue, I couldn't care less about the color in the grand scheme.
 
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As someone who owns Pixel phones and has never owned an iPhone, Google really needs to stop. Apple is protecting its core business which primarily is the iPhone. I don't see anything wrong with that. If Apple wants to maintain their current messaging service then that's their prerogative
But 90 percent of my friends own iPhones (me Pixel) and when the send me a video its pointless as the experience is garbage. Im all for all the heat on Apple anyone can get. The MMS experience is terrible and they can keep all the bubble colored exclusivity they want. I just want send and receive quality photos and videos to (and from) opposite platform
 
But 90 percent of my friends own iPhones (me Pixel) and when the send me a video its pointless as the experience is garbage. Im all for all the heat on Apple anyone can get. The MMS experience is terrible and they can keep all the bubble colored exclusivity they want. I just want send and receive quality photos and videos to (and from) opposite platform
I can't disagree with anything you said but Apple's i.e. Tim Cook's take/answer on the matter is, then buy an iPhone. Apple is in the business of selling iPhone's. That's their bread and butter and they will hold onto any hook they can use to keep their customers to buy more iPhones.

I see their point of view while I understand your POV as well.
 
That's just embarrassing. Considering how many messaging apps Google has launched and killed over the years, I'm not sure they should be the one throwing stones here.
No kidding. The list of Google communication apps/projects/features over the past few years is frankly kind of ridiculous, and the number that they've killed (often after only a brief run) is genuinely embarrassing and kind of hilarious.

Mostly out of "word from above" necessity we've settled into Google Chat at work, which is... well, better than it was a when we first started using it, at least. That's assuming, of course, that Google doesn't decide to cancel it and replace it with something else in another year or two.
 
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Since RCS is a protocol, Google could technically deliver an iPhone app that supports it, and then RCS would be available on iPhone. Why are they refusing to give their users an app to solve this? Why must it be in Apple's Messages app? Oh... because carriers are involved in the mix... it's not as simple as just an internet chat app.

Take your time, Apple. Wait until RCS matures.

You took a wrong turn there. Google RCS is just your common OTT messaging service and they could release it today. It's no different than WhatsApp or Signal in this regard, it uses a phone number to validate you exist. Carriers had self-contained versions of actual RCS, with no interoperability - though those, too, were OTT; straight data transmissions. One of Google's planned updates to their service is to eliminate the need to use a phone number; you can use an email instead and, with it, have support for the messages on other devices. But that's also the rub... just go to where the people are already, the aforementioned WhatsApp or Signal.
 
I use Android for my phone, as does most of my family, and I find RCS frequently has problems in that messages don't get delivered, while SMS works every time. And my biggest problem is this was a silent change. When I use the "Message" app, I expect to always be using SMS unconditionally, to be using the "text" feature the cell networks are providing, "Message" is supposed to mean texting. If I want to use internet/data I use a different app, that's what's supposed to happen. But at some point the program auto-updated and started using RCS instead for everything. I only noticed the difference when message delivery failures started happening. Fortunately I was prompted to resend with SMS which worked. Fortunately I can tell it per person I'm talking with to always use SMS, but unfortunately I can't seem to tell it application wide to do that for all people.
 
That's just embarrassing. Considering how many messaging apps Google has launched and killed over the years, I'm not sure they should be the one throwing stones here.

This is absolutely true but I still find it ironic that Apple is pushing eSIM so hard while pretending RCS doesn’t exist.
 
android people use Facebook messenger, telegram, WhatsApp, and a dozen other apps to text. I honestly don’t know how they keep up with it. Maybe they don’t know the freedom of just having a single app. For the record I travel all over the world for work and I’m not joking. WhatsApp looks and acts like hot garbage and it’s what everyone in Asia is using. No thanks.
 
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