'Green Bubbles and Blue Bubbles Want to Be Together' Says Samsung Ad Pushing Apple to Adopt RCS

[uxdom]

The green bubbles are a message in themselves, it says - "watch out, this one makes bad life choices" 🙃

 

[BuffaloTF]

RCS, an open standard, was created by GSMA, a non-profit which has also created standards like SMS and VoLTE. Not created by Google.

Yes, Google currently has the most at stake around the success of RCS, and they do have their own flavor of it that they’ve added on to, but RCS itself is not a Google-created standard. Anybody could go and build on it just like Google has.

Google RCS, a closed source variant, was created by Google and only fully works if you use the Google Messages app - though they'll happily accept your other messages if they connect to Google Jibe (which they all now do, all other versions of RCS are dead) and send clear text to them. The GSMA, creators of GSM and basically nothing else (everything else being from the 3GPP, which the GSMA adopts the policies from since its own 3G variant named EDGE crashed and burned), has fallen several releases behind Google on RCS. Google's upcoming RCS release removes phone numbers as a requirement for account creation and verification. GSMA RCS does not support sending to outside networks. GSMA RCS does not encrypt data. GSMA RCS is from 2008 and looks a lot like what you'd expect... in 2008.

 

[bigheaddoug]

There is a blue one who can't accept the green one for being such a robot one who won't accept the apple one.
Different strokes for different folks.
And so on and so on and scoobie-doobie-do-be
ooh sha sha
We got to live together

(Reference for all you young folks)

 

[Way2Poppy]

Care to elaborate? I'm genuinely curious how RCS support is a worse idea than what we have now?

This article is about a year old now, but it summarizes the issues with RCS fairly well.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Yup. At this point the world has to look to the EU as the only consumer-focused government entity with enough power to make Apple take this seriously. They got us USB C, now let's see if they can get us better messaging.

I was referring to data collection etc, I do agree with you though.

Thankfully probably won’t happen at least in the US. I support a company who is a for profit consumer oriented producer of premium products prerogatives’ to run its business legally- free from government regulations. (As long as life, limb or finances aren’t being manipulated)

I can see apple pulling iMessage in the EU since according to posters it’s not used anyway.

Again I was referring to the surveillance capitalism that big tech rely on. Apple should definitely be looked at by regulators though. More the App Store than iMessage.

 

[rorschach]

Google’s default implementation is encrypted out the box now. It’s an evolving standard and I’d say the fragmentation everyone is complaining about is due to a very large, influential player in the phone industry refusing to engage in a productive way. They don’t have to, but the end result is fragmented RCS and green messages being unencrypted and fully visible to our carriers.

Right. Encryption requires Google’s proprietary fork that runs through their servers. I don’t think Apple will ever implement that (nor should they IMO).

 

[hans1972]

It's so shocking how people here are genuinely opposed to better interactions between iPhones and Androids. I don't understand that. SMS is terribly limited and outdated, and not E2E encrypted. And it's not like Androids are going away, so why keep the experience this bad on iMessages?

Because it's a Google standard in how it is implemented. Only Google and Android users gain anything significant.

Every Android user is a detriment to the Apple ecosystem. Less income for Apple and developers in the Apple ecosystem, companies using resources to support Google and Android when they should use those resources to help only Apple users etc.

 

[hans1972]

Why is everyone so against rcs on here? All it would do is improve the texting experience with android users… it wouldn’t hurt current user experience in any way. It might get some people to leave iOS if they don’t feel locked in anymore, which I get from apple’s standpoint, but that’s a pretty bad reason from a consumer perspective.

Not if you're into Apple's ecosystem. We're a minority under attack from EU, Google, Spotify, Samsung, Meta, Amazon and others.

We have nothing to gain by making Android better.

 

[ericthered926]

Google RCS, a closed source variant, was created by Google and only fully works if you use the Google Messages app - though they'll happily accept your other messages if they connect to Google Jibe (which they all now do, all other versions of RCS are dead) and send clear text to them. The GSMA, creators of GSM and basically nothing else (everything else being from the 3GPP, which the GSMA adopts the policies from since its own 3G variant named EDGE crashed and burned), has fallen several releases behind Google on RCS. Google's upcoming RCS release removes phone numbers as a requirement for account creation and verification. GSMA RCS does not support sending to outside networks. GSMA RCS does not encrypt data. GSMA RCS is from 2008 and looks a lot like what you'd expect... in 2008.

I see what you’re getting at, but I think you’re too in the weeds there. I even agree with you, I don’t necessarily think RCS is the answer, but we do need a better solution.

As it stands today, iMessage falls back on SMS, a standard created in 1986. We can do better. The cool thing about RCS is that it’s open. If Google can add to it, so can anyone else, and maybe even come back and make it a new universal standard. Just an idea, I’m not married to RCS, though.

So many things in the industry are iterative, like how the original iPhone OS was advertised as a version of OS X. We don’t hear that marketing talk anymore, but a lot of that code still lives in the OS. That doesn’t make iOS bad by any means. It’s been iterated on and improved. We should expect the same for our texting standards, but as others in this thread have stated, we probably won’t see anything without regulatory intervention.

 

[boss.king]

I was referring to data collection etc, I do agree with you though.

Ah, whoops, I think I switched from a different tab and read that totally out of context.

 

[hans1972]

I say it. The poor communication between Android and iPhone goes both ways, it's as frustrating for the iPhone user to chat with an Android user than the other way around.

It's not frustrating at all. All the text arrives well at the Android side and I receive all the text I need from the one person I communicate which uses Android.

 

[boss.king]

Not if you're into Apple's ecosystem. We're a minority under attack from EU, Google, Spotify, Samsung, Meta, Amazon and others.

We have nothing to gain by making Android better.

You're a consumer who bought a phone, not some marginalised group that's fighting to survive. You're not under attack from anyone.

 

[sack_peak]

If Google and Samsung each paid Apple $1 billion annually to adopt RCS then I do not see Apple saying no.

It may be cheaper for both companies to lobby the EU to adopt RCS to replace SMS so Apple is forced to adopt RCS.

 

[BuffaloTF]

I see what you’re getting at, but I think you’re too in the weeds there. I even agree with you, I don’t necessarily think RCS is the answer, but we do need a better solution.

As it stands today, iMessage falls back on SMS, a standard created in 1986. We can do better. The cool thing about RCS is that it’s open. If Google can add to it, so can anyone else, and maybe even come back and make it a new universal standard. Just an idea, I’m not married to RCS, though.

So many things in the industry are iterative, like how the original iPhone OS was advertised as a version of OS X. We don’t hear that marketing talk anymore, but a lot of that code still lives in the OS. That doesn’t make iOS bad by any means. It’s been iterated on and improved. We should expect the same for our texting standards, but as others in this thread have stated, we probably won’t see anything without regulatory intervention.

Yeah, but see - SMS is the fallback for RCS too, an RCS system that frequently requires it because... it's just not good.

But SMS will always be there. SMS is the paging line that keeps your phone connected to the tower. It uses the remaining 140 bytes of data in that stirring-straw connection, hence why it maxes at 160 7-bit characters.

If you want something to be an answer, it needs to be something entirely new. Something that comes as a default on every phone. Something that can't not work, like SMS. If a government steps in and mandates it, stay away - you know it's going to be leaky.

Edit: my computer was going ape-**** so I submitted early to save it and reboot.

Anyway... Google's adds aren't everyone's adds. If you send to a Google Messages user while not using Google Messages, nothing is encrypted. If you want the encryption, you have to use their specific app. They've cornered RCS, they have an incredibly low use rate, they're banking on Apple users falling back to RCS as the next step-down to lift that - and to give them clear text to collect all kinds of information from. RCS, any version of it specifically, isn't good... for anyone.

 

[NT1440]

I see what you’re getting at, but I think you’re too in the weeds there. I even agree with you, I don’t necessarily think RCS is the answer, but we do need a better solution.

As it stands today, iMessage falls back on SMS, a standard created in 1986. We can do better. The cool thing about RCS is that it’s open. If Google can add to it, so can anyone else, and maybe even come back and make it a new universal standard. Just an idea, I’m not married to RCS, though.

So many things in the industry are iterative, like how the original iPhone OS was advertised as a version of OS X. We don’t hear that marketing talk anymore, but a lot of that code still lives in the OS. That doesn’t make iOS bad by any means. It’s been iterated on and improved. We should expect the same for our texting standards, but as others in this thread have stated, we probably won’t see anything without regulatory intervention.

Your last sentence is the crux. It will take regulation to move on from SMS, but no country is going to force a secure solution because they’re respective interests don’t allow for it.

 

[bergmef]

all I know is when a doctor, or something else on that line, texts me to confirm an appointment, I have to call them because the text will not go through. I'd like something that just works for a change

 

[ryguyMN]

This has a "first world problems" vibe to it.

 

[v3rlon]

Whatsapp: hey America stop using SMS like it's the 90's

also WhatsApp: Hey America, which cryptocurrency scam would you like to have wipe out your bank account? I am a '24 year old fashion designer from Hong Kong living in LA.' Let me help you wipe out your savings.

 

[BobVB]

The Green Bubble stigma must really be hurting Samsung.

Will I read that RCS will allow advertising so instead of little text ads you will get fullblown advertisements.

No thanks.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have no interest (of my own volition) of mixing with green people.

 

[sack_peak]

This has a "first world problems" vibe to it.

Isn't most complaints here 1st world problems? Most do not realize that Steve Jobs came from a middle class background.

 

[J___o___h___n]

It’s always my poor friends, the people with no taste and the window cleaner that has green bubbles 😂😂😂😂

 

[josebus]

RCS, an open standard, was created by GSMA, a non-profit which has also created standards like SMS and VoLTE. Not created by Google.

Yes, Google currently has the most at stake around the success of RCS, and they do have their own flavor of it that they’ve added on to, but RCS itself is not a Google-created standard. Anybody could go and build on it just like Google has.

This is a pointless and misleading comment, Google is not asking Apple to implement the vanilla version of the RCS protocol, that was developed by GSMA. They want Apple to implement the Google version of RCS.

Don’t try to make it seem like this is a fight with Apple to adopt an open protocol, because it is not.

If Apple adopts the open protocol, there are no security features, so what benefit is there to just plain old SMS, which is already there. And when everybody created their own RCS flavor, like the carriers did, they couldn’t talk to each other.

 

[JeMeCasse]

I want good message interoperability. I'm a user, not a shareholder.

 

[Mr. Jenkins]

And over to Apple for a response: