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More Than 1 Billion RCS Messages Are Sent Daily on Android and iOS

davide_eu said:
It's correct that not all the world is using WsUp as well as nobody here is using it, but WsUp is much more pervasive than MR users believe.
Click to expand...
I can believe that, the amount of people that used to ask me to install WhatsApp and when I ask, for what reason, they so we can message each other.
Um, can we not use SMS, email, even phone calls? I have Facebook Messenger on my phone, they are on facebook, so use that if they really must.
Thankfully, people have given up asking me now and just accept that I am not going to use WhatsApp., even people at work, who I would not give my number to have asked. Message me on Facebook Messenger, no p[hone number needed.


you get to the point, like we did years ago with all the messaging services on computers, where you have so many you start to think what is the point?
 
Rychiar said:
That’s a ridiculous stance🤦🏻‍♂️ so for some bizarre reason you turn off newer better messaging to use an ancient standard that can’t even send decent photos?
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I turned it off because me and my parents are having so many issues with RCS. Explaining blue bubbles and green bubbles took a month for my parents to click. Now they're confused as to what RCS is and are having trouble sending messages.

**** RCS. If you really want high quality media, get an iPhone or download Telegram.
 
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sideshowuniqueuser said:
Here's how it works:

Person A: are you on whatsapp?
B: yep
A: cool
[swap phone numbers]
[sends message via whatsapp]

OR
B: nope, you on insta?
A: yep
[swap instas]
[sends message via insta]

etc.

Advantages: One of you goes overseas, can still send the messages via those apps without racking up nasty overseas sms charges.
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I know how it works, if they really want to send me stuff with out huge bills then do it via Facebook Messenger, or here is an idea, use Email. The main Facebook aop I have removed from my phone, only have the messenger part, would love to remove that, but a bit late now. So why would I want to put more Meta apps on my phone?

I can see what they are trying to do with RCS, trying to get a standard like SMS is, but more advanced, which is great for people that wants it. But with so many people using Whatsapp, is it really going to make a difference? I bet most of the one billion RCS messages sent daily is nothing more than what these people would send via SMS, and the only reason they are on RCS is that they can't be bothered to change to SMS or don't realise they are not using SMS.
Someone like my next door neighbour or even one of my brothers who are not technical and still think they are using SMS.
 
germanbeer007 said:
I turned it off because me and my parents are having so many issues with RCS. Explaining blue bubbles and green bubbles took a month for my parents to click. Now they're confused as to what RCS is and are having trouble sending messages.

**** RCS. If you really want high quality media, get an iPhone or download Telegram.
Click to expand...
Not usinf RCS myself, is there anyway to set it so it can just send SMS to certain numbers> IOr maybe turn it off on your parent's phones.
 
Twingo23 said:
iMessage doesn't seem to work anymore here in Germany, don't know why. I don't get a blue background with any text sent, even though I know, the recipient is an iPhone user.
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The other iPhone user also needs to have activated iMessage.

On the subject of text messaging in general; back in the day when mobile phones with sms first came out there was no doubt as to which 'app' to use to send a text to someone else. All you needed to know was their phone number. It didn't matter what phone they had. Simple Message Service.

These days we actually have too much choice, where we spend more time setting these things up and trying to get them to work than actually communicating with other people.
 
well my carrier silly Vodafone UK dont support it yet... there last major uk network not to support even quite a few MVNO in uk support RCS
 
sideshowuniqueuser said:
Here's how it works:

Person A: are you on whatsapp?
B: yep
A: cool
[swap phone numbers]
[sends message via whatsapp]

OR
B: nope, you on insta?
A: yep
[swap instas]
[sends message via insta]

etc.

Advantages: One of you goes overseas, can still send the messages via those apps without racking up nasty overseas sms charges.
Click to expand...
Actually how it works in most countries that just default to WhatsApp, when you give a number out, it's an expectation you get WhatsApp-ed back. Similarly in some other countries you get a Line message or depending on which app reigns supreme.

No one even sends SMS/RCS because no one wants to rack up charges so it's not even worth messaging there to ask what platform they are on. The only thing SMS is used for is official verification like when you're at a public WiFi and they want user verification (common in China).
 
iOS RCS doesn't support several of the features you listed because it uses an old RCS profile. Please do research before posting.

For example, the reactions are not natively supported. They're not using the RCS functionality. They're utilizing some custom iOS solution that is buggy.
 
Ad47uk said:
Not usinf RCS myself, is there anyway to set it so it can just send SMS to certain numbers> IOr maybe turn it off on your parent's phones.
Click to expand...
I figured if my parents are having issues, others will have issues so I just turned it off on my phone and my parents phones.
 
davide_eu said:
It's correct that not all the world is using WsUp as well as nobody here is using it, but WsUp is much more pervasive than MR users believe.
Click to expand...

Some MR readers are outside the US.

What are these SMS and iMessage things that you speak of and why wouldn't you use a cross platform solution that just works? :)

[Incidentally I do use iMessage for one thing only: when I want to send a photo that's worth protecting from WhatsApp's recompression.]
 
podycust said:
well my carrier silly Vodafone UK dont support it yet... there last major uk network not to support even quite a few MVNO in uk support RCS
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Sorry to disappoint you, but I doubt it will happen, Vodafone did have their own RCS service, but pulled out in 2023 and went to using Googles version. i doubt very much if they will change back.

9to5google.com

Vodafone is shutting off RCS messaging this week, pushes customers to Google Messages

Vodafone is shutting off RCS messaging for Android phones as it makes the switch to Google's implementation of the technology.
9to5google.com 9to5google.com
 
nottorp said:
Some MR readers are outside the US.

What are these SMS and iMessage things that you speak of and why wouldn't you use a cross platform solution that just works? :)

[Incidentally I do use iMessage for one thing only: when I want to send a photo that's worth protecting from WhatsApp's recompression.]
Click to expand...
The problem with these so-called cross-platform solutions is that not everyone uses them and have them installed. SMS, is installed on everyone's phones.
 
Lizzard899 said:
Its a cool feature but it doesnt show when theyve read the text, it shows when theyre typing though. I think its a glitch in ios 18.5 It mightve been in ios 18.4.1 but I see it in 18.5
Click to expand...

My wife uses a Pixel 8, and I get read receipts when messaging her via RCS.
 
fwmireault said:
I don’t understand why you would disable it, you dont have to use the messaging features and options if you don’t use them, even with RCA enabled. And with better compatibility and soon improved security and privacy, it is a no brainer to keep it enabled. That doesn’t mean that you MUST use all the features
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Some people what to feel "cool" rejecting stuff that other use.
Getting better quality photos is worth it alone.
 
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Twingo23 said:
iMessage doesn't seem to work anymore here in Germany, don't know why. I don't get a blue background with any text sent, even though I know, the recipient is an iPhone user.
Click to expand...
I had the same issue with a few contacts, suddenly it was just RCS with known iPhone contacts. Very weird.
 
Apple MessagePad said:
Google forces all RCS messages sent using Google Messages to go through their server.
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RCS is a carrier service, carrier can outsource it to third parties, Google offers this for carriers. I wonder if you can check this somewhere?

Apple MessagePad said:
They have a non-standard RCS implementation which allows them to capture more data about those messages.
Click to expand...
Source for that?

Essentially, RCS is the better successor to SMS, since MMS was mostly a failure on arrival. I'm surprised that RCS actually got a second chance.

Btw, RCS Universal Profile 3.0 includes end to end encryption, but it was just published in March 2025. But Google Messages is currently not using UP3/MLS encryption but its own.
 
Ad47uk said:
When something is default and most people really don't have a clue what they are using then yes, there is going to be a load of people using.

Myself, I disabled RCS, don;lt see the need for it and i don't need the features. SMS works fine for me.
Click to expand...
You must not send a lot of media with these users to disable RCS. RCS is a lifesaver when wanting to view real photo's and not pixelated messes from Android users
 
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Ad47uk said:
All phones have SMS, not all phones have RCS. So SMS is more compatible. I can text a mate who has a basic mobile phone, and it will arrive to him as it left here, not converted so his phone can cope with it.
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And in this case, your phone will switch to SMS automatically.
Ad47uk said:
The only way I can use RCS is to allow my messages to go through Google servers.
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For now, it will be E2EE soon. And SMS is definitely not a secure protocol either.

Anyway, no harm in disabling the feature, I just don't see the benefit of doing that. Whatever works for you.
 
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