Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
If we can transition 90% of SMSs and MMSs to RCS, isn't that still a win? Get us delivery notifications, higher image quality, and maybe e2e encryption for the majority of messages that are currently flying around as SMS and MMS?


It doesn't have to be "Google RCS", it can be "Verizon RCS" or "T-Mobile RCS", Apple could choose to support whichever RCS standard it wanted. They're interoperable

None of those other RCS things exist anymore. Its Google RCS or nothing. And it needs to be in Google Messages to be E2EE.
 
I dont understand who this ad is for. Apple users dont give a flying F about green bubble people...you aint gonna change our minds. Android users have 2 billion other people they can text using RCS. If it's so good and popular, why trash Apple? Because they're still threatened by iMessage.
 
I dont understand who this ad is for. Apple users dont give a flying F about green bubble people...you aint gonna change our minds. Android users have 2 billion other people they can text using RCS. If it's so good and popular, why trash Apple? Because they're still threatened by iMessage.

I think it’s more because the platform may have that 2 billion user base, but RCS has barely more than 100 million users - and there’s no way to quantify how much usage that is. It’s like saying iMessage has 1.3 billion users. It’s really “how much” that matters. Google is hedging on the Apple user to increase their user base… and to inform their billions of users it even exists… if it doesn’t fail in transmission like they often do.
 
This is true, it's not the techies getting impacted, it's the grandma that's trying to send a video of her grandchild or a photo from a birthday party that's getting screwed by the hardcode MMS compression. It's the family group chat that that includes grandma, where photos and videos are coming in compressed.
If we’re talking grandma’s, they’re using Facebook. :) Again, the solutions are already out there. It’s only when one intentionally ignores ALL OF THE INTERNET that having difficulty sending images/videos becomes a problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: strongy and gusmula
All of that is on WhatsApp already for free!
It would be nice to have a provider-independent interoperable text messaging protocol built into all smartphones by default, like a more modern SMS. That’s what RCS was originally intended to be. The EU will probably be forcing something along those lines.
 
RCS is much more featureful than SMS, it supports images, videos, geolocation, file attachments and so on, and also end-to-end encryption, which SMS does not. It’s not about the color of the bubbles, it’s about the capabilities of the protocol.
MMS supports the majority of those. RCS does not define encryption; that is a google-specific extension.
 
  • Like
Reactions: strongy and gusmula
Apple really should revise the Mac vs. Windows campaign. Only replace Windows with Google. It would be even more popular than the original ads and make Google look silly overnight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chuckeee
I understand what you are saying, but if Apple wants to look at your messages and your photos, they can. They may not make it known and they would of course deny this to the bitter end, but they have access...trust me.
They have yet to abuse that power. Until they do, Apple has earned enough goodwill for me to think they're trustworthy with my data.
Don’t care about bubble colours
Everyone is pink bubbles on my phone.
 
They have yet to abuse that power. Until they do, Apple has earned enough goodwill for me to think they're trustworthy with my data.

Everyone is pink bubbles on my phone.
How do you know they haven't abused that power? Apple can most definitely look at your photos and texts at will, whether it is in an Apple store or from their space ship in Cupertino. So can the government, they just hide the fact that they can by putting Cook and other Apple employees on TV during hearings to say that they can't. That is what gives people a false sense of security. Big tech is bought and paid for, just like our congressmen/congress women and our senators. Again, if you want to believe big tech and our government doesn't have this power, go for it. Makes no difference to me.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: gusmula
Seeing people stan so heavily for a Meta product in these discussions will never cease to make me facepalm.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: strongy
It's frustrating that Apple so often pretends Android doesn't exist. A phone is a communication device; it should be able to communicate as securely and reliably as possible with all other phones.



You make it sound like RCS is some universal messaging standard everyone else is using and Apple users are the only ones who aren't.

Reality is that 99% of Android users don't even know RCS exists.

No one cares about RCS. Not customers, not carriers, not even Google's partners making Android devices.

Google is trying to create some false impression here, because they want to break the stranglehold iMessage has in certain circles and they want to collect even more user data.

All RCS messages are routed through Google servers and RCS doesn't have proper end to end encryption. Encryption is done via an optional add-on that isn't supported by all devices and RCS isn't transparent about this at all. You as the user have no idea if you are currently sending encrypted messages or plain text through Google's servers.
 
MMS supports the majority of those. RCS does not define encryption; that is a google-specific extension.
And even if RCS is E2E encrypted, who holds the keys? Does anyone actually trust Google? You can complain about many things Apple does, but I trust when they say some **** is private, that it’s PRIVATE.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: strongy and gusmula
Google are the LAST people who should be making fun of messaging apps, haven't they launched and closed about a dozen in the last ten years and they never take off?
 
How do you know they haven't abused that power?
I don't. Since there hasn't been any big news of Apple abusing that power, I will presume they don't. If you can bring evidence that Apple is abusing that power, that would change my mind.
Apple can most definitely look at your photos and texts at will, whether it is in an Apple store or from their space ship in Cupertino. So can the government, they just hide the fact that they can by putting Cook and other Apple employees on TV during hearings to say that they can't. That is what gives people a false sense of security. Big tech is bought and paid for, just like our congressmen/congress women and our senators. Again, if you want to believe big tech and our government doesn't have this power, go for it. Makes no difference to me.
Having power and abusing power is two different animals.🧐 The FBI can break down my door and arrest me whenever they want. They have that power. That they haven't done so shows that they do not abuse that power.

Now, if you have evidence to showing Apple looks at my photos or reads my text, I'm all ears.👂✋
giphy.gif
 
I don't. Since there hasn't been any big news of Apple abusing that power, I will presume they don't. If you can bring evidence that Apple is abusing that power, that would change my mind.

Having power and abusing power is two different animals.🧐 The FBI can break down my door and arrest me whenever they want. They have that power. That they haven't done so shows that they do not abuse that power.

Now, if you have evidence to showing Apple looks at my photos or reads my text, I'm all ears.👂✋
giphy.gif
Id like to hear more about this, as well. I happen to have enabled the advanced security/ full E2E on my entire iCloud. Apple says the keys are only on my devices and have no access. I believe them. Does @Mac_The_Ripper have some info or knowledge we dont?
 
  • Like
Reactions: strongy
I don't. Since there hasn't been any big news of Apple abusing that power, I will presume they don't. If you can bring evidence that Apple is abusing that power, that would change my mind.

Having power and abusing power is two different animals.🧐 The FBI can break down my door and arrest me whenever they want. They have that power. That they haven't done so shows that they do not abuse that power.

Now, if you have evidence to showing Apple looks at my photos or reads my text, I'm all ears.👂✋
giphy.gif
I am a Hulkamaniac so I will give you points there! I have evidence that Apple looks at people's photos and texts. I know people who worked at Apple Stores that went through peoples photos and text all the time. I never talked to them again after they told me this because that is creepy and weird to say the least, but it happens daily. Luckily they were all at Apple training locations where I went for work so I never had to speak to them again. If you think Apple cannot view your photos and texts from wherever they choose on top of this, you have your head in the sand, with all due respect. It would not make sense for them to not have this kind of access, it's their OS and they built the security. You really honestly think they can't hack their own cloud servers? It wouldn't even be hacking at that point really. Don't even get me started on what the DoD can do.

Anyway, I'm finished with this topic. You believe your data is safe from Apple and the US government, fine. You do you. Have a nice day as well!
 
Last edited:
Use WhatsApp it is better than what Google is offering
I use WhatsApp. I use Signal. I use like 5 different apps to message the various people in my life, all because Apple and Google won’t play nice together and just make messaging between their platforms a good experience.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mac_The_Ripper
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.
I remember downloading the three current apps of the time to chat with my Android-using friends because I had no idea why they were all just a little different. I'm betting that none of the three exist any longer, even on Android.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cyberius11
The EU will probably be forcing something along those lines.
Actually it’s guaranteed that they won’t. Because, for something interoperable between carriers, it’d have to be done at the carriers, which would mean a significant cost to those companies for little to no benefit. It’s one thing to bully companies overseas. It’s quite another thing to foist a large infrastructure project on their own constituents.

What they’ll end up with is yet another over the internet app, probably called EU Chat that all OS’s have to support and which won’t be any better than what they have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: strongy and gusmula
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.