Actually, this is a good point. This is proof that RCS is nowhere near as widely supported/adopted as HTTP/HTTPS. No matter how much Google would want folks to believe that.
Support does not matter, density does not matter. If there is a better standard to use which increases security it should be used. It is a standard. Adoption
or non-adoption of that standard means nothing. With every new standard that is released, there is always initially a 0% adoption rate. So it doesn't matter where the number is.
For example, if my site had only HTTP it would still be viable. The engines being used like Chrome, Firefox only in the last few years displayed warnings about using raw HTTP, but they'll still be functional. But like that technology I expect Apple to use the more secure protocol if it is viable.
Come to think of it, it would be just as viable if Apple displayed a warning when sending to Android (the green bubble). Apple touts that it cares about consumers and is all about privacy and security but does not state that those communications are not secure. Apple needs to use the standards and make them secure where it is applicable.
This argument and precedent has been set over decades. Standards are not there for people to say "but the dominant position should be used
despite the standard, because the dominant position is just getting more dominant." If that were true, then IE would've never been dethroned as the dominant browser and it's non-compliance to standards. It took lawsuits for that to happen. The standards existed the whole time and were ignored.
In fairness, we can debate this all day - Apple has yet to issue a statement. They take no position on user security except to state that it's fine as long as it's on Apple. They don't care about the other 70% of the world, nor do they warn that when communicating with that majority,
those messages are insecure by Apple's choice. That's what needs to be addressed.
Apple will end up selling 150 million or more iPhones this year. And, will just as likely end up selling 150+ million phones next year. That is, quite literally, how the world works. If, out of the 6+ billion people in the world, 5 billion are customers that are driven away from the iPhone, that STILL leaves plenty enough people for Apple to still sell another 150+ million phones in a year.
I love these arguments because it is pretty myopic. People are born, people die, the world is not simply a static metric of precisely X amount of people that have phones are deciding their phones. There are people who have no phones whatsoever who are choosing their platform.
IOS started as the dominant mobile platform and has lost overall market share over time, now representing less than 30% of the global market. It will continue to lose market until it adopts more open standards like these. Lawsuits arguing the adoption of open markets, predatory behaviors, closed systems, and forced payment systems are not good news, and people listen.
Android sells around a billion units a year, conservatively. As of 2021 the attrition of Android to Apple has slowed to nearly zero. The innovation has really stalled in the Apple space, and Android users are poised to grow in market share. The trends show this, and in some metrics, already do.
But the context of your response was that people will buy 150mil more iphones to solve issues like this thread. You have not proven that one iota. It's reasons like this thread that drive people away from Apple. Apple does not adhere to standards for the most part until they are forced to. This isn't a secret by far. And if your answer is "but more people use apple!" that's also not true.
You DO recognize, though that SMS being a standard that’s understood and accepted on ALL phones is 100% due to the fact that ALL CARRIERS support SMS, right? If all carriers didn’t support it, SMS wouldn’t be understood and accepted. This is the core of why RCS, even though it’s an evolution of SMS, is going nowhere. Because no carriers support it.
My carrier disagrees with you. It's a small startup called AT&T. Maybe you've heard of it?
And if a singular carrier supports RCS (which actually there are lots worldwide) then see the first point of the thread: It doesn't matter the density, it doesn't matter if zero carriers support anything. It's a standard. It doesn't need density. Saying it needs to be prevalent to be adopted is completely missing the point. USB 5.0 would never be adopted. But since there are only two players in this game, it's highly convenient that the 30% market share is being bullish about standards. Apple needs to make a statement, is really all that's being asked here. But they're not even coming to the table. They just don't care about the 70% market. I also posit they also don't really want to protect and secure the 30% trying to talk to the 70% either. That's just wrong. Apple needs to do something.
Apple is religiously and vigorously anti-standard. They will do whatever they can to be proprietary. It's actually served them very well, and I applaud it for the most part, but the truth is in an interconnected world it's getting very old and people are beginning to really see that. It is possible to be innovative
on top of standards (reference: the entire logic behind Lightning vs USB-C). But you can't make as much money without proprietary cabling, closed stores, closed payment systems, closed peripherals, closed security, so they won't even address it. You must simply go all-in on Apple, and "people should just buy more Apple to fix this". Pretty insulting. It drives people away from the platform, not toward it.
As it is, it’s highly unlikely that carriers will support an app based messaging technology on any non-app enabled dumbphone. Especially one that threatens to take away their SMS cash cow.
en.wikipedia.org
www.engadget.com
