So android people need to use the official Google text app to get RCS?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
RCS in iOS 18: What You Need to Know About Apple's Android Messaging Overhaul
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Thinkpads aren’t good. I’ll never understood why people liked them. Back in my IT days we stopped using them because they broke so damn much.
If we have a group chat with, for example, 5 iPhones and 1 RCS using Android device and not all of the iPhones have iOS 18, will it fall back on SMS?
We could have the 5 iPhones in an iMessage conversation, or an RCS conversation with the Android phone. But it seems like iOS 18 uptake could slow down the benefit to group messages until it is closer to 90%-100% (Thankfully, iOS updates seem to be implemented much faster by users then Android). Looking forward to 10+ person message threads where the single green-bubble user doesn't cause it all to fall apart.
We could have the 5 iPhones in an iMessage conversation, or an RCS conversation with the Android phone. But it seems like iOS 18 uptake could slow down the benefit to group messages until it is closer to 90%-100% (Thankfully, iOS updates seem to be implemented much faster by users then Android). Looking forward to 10+ person message threads where the single green-bubble user doesn't cause it all to fall apart.
Well, the fact that you're bringing up Google Hangouts nullifies your first point. Google had the tech (remember Allo, another one of Google's messaging apps?) and the political will to try to harmonize messages between Android and Apple. Apple chose to ignore them because at the time, Gen Z was about the blue bubbles.
Tim wasn't thinking about the future within this in mind. They should've harmonized it like many were asking for and then moved on to other important features.
even if it was a repurposed article and no old comments it would be fine. half of the reason i use this site is to see comments, so it’s a bummer when i have to find the specific page where “new” comments start.
Huh? Carriers have nothing to do with a proprietary extension added onto the RCS universal profile. E2EE is all handled on device within the Google Messages app. The carriers aren’t buying any extension from Google. Most carriers are using the Jibe RCS server which Google owns to support the backend of the service, but that’s just for data transport and storage while in transport. Both E2EE and encrypted in transit only RCS gets transported the same exact way through the same servers and universal protocol. The only difference is the state of the data as it travels through the network. If Google was implementing a non compatible version of RCS you wouldn’t be able to read the message on an iPhone. The E2EE extension only kicks in when both users are on Google Messages otherwise it’s just ignored. If you’re attempting to post this to make Google look bad at least cite some sources about Google selling their “implementation“ to carriers or how Google’s RCS isn’t an industry standard when it’s absolutely the universal profile. It wouldn’t work if it wasn’t and furthermore the GSMA absolutely allows extensions to be added on top of the universal profile as long as it does not break compatibility.
It is a misconception that Google uses some type of proprietary implementation of RCS. They use RCS Universal Profile and add features on top of it which is allowed as part of the Universal Profile specifications.
There are no Google proprietary extensions to RCS. Google supports RCS as defined by the universal profile standard which Google is currently on the latest version 2.7, while Apple is using version 2.4 of the universal profile specifications, hence there are lot of missing features.
The carriers were on version 1.0 and refused to connect with each other, it's not a joke, Verizon, T-Mobile and ATT are still on version 1.0 until they switched over to using Google Jibe.
The base implementation of RCS on Android is UP. The RCS Universal Profile (UP) enables the addition of extensions through the User Capability Exchange (UCE), a specification component that allows for the addition of features without breaking compatibility. When a user initiates a conversation, the UCE provides each client with a list of supported features, ensuring compatibility. Which is why people on Android UP 2.7 can communicate with people on iOS UP 2.4.
For example:
1. People on Android have features like message editing while that feature won't be available if they message someone on iOS.
2. People on Android have E2EE but on iOS there would be no E2EE. Google added E2EE to RCS using the signal protocol, which is an open protocol, they are also adding MLS protocol which is being added to the UP standard.
Hmm, today's article, "RCS in iOS 18: What You Need to Know About Apple's Android Messaging Overhaul" has no mention of their previous article that Apple's turnabout on implementing RCS was due to a regulatory necessity to be able to sell in China:
www.macrumors.com
-R
Apple Likely Adopting RCS Messaging Standard to Comply With Chinese Law
Apple's surprise decision to bring RCS support to its Messages app for iPhone later this year was not a result of impending EU legislation, but...
www.macrumors.com
-R
lol I know u prob joking but most my poor friends have iPhones. they just get older ones or hand me downs
Thank you for this more detailed explanation of what I was trying to say. There are a lot of made up misconceptions about how RCS operates and why it’s considered a universal cross platform carrier service. I think somehow people get confused because they think RCS is the Google equivalent of Apple’s iMessage, but that’s not the case at all. iMessage is absolutely a proprietary service that has nothing to do with being a phone number based carrier service. Maybe some of it has to do with Google in the past just going around carriers who wouldn’t serve it or serve it properly and doing it themselves with Jibe. Jibe was created for serving RCS for the carriers from the start before Google purchased it. It was always designed for that reason but it took the Google purchase and push to get them on board. The whole idea of the RCS universal profile from the GSMA is to be an enhanced data based SMS/MMS 2.0 for the carriers to offer their customers.
This is funny because it has always been Apple making texting between Apple and Android trash. It was not Android devices that were the culprit here. It has always been Tim Apple trying to play games to get people to buy iPhones.
I am happy about this change. Now when I send pictures or videos to android friends it will go through instead of getting a "not sent" error message over and over again.
It's so funny when Apple people say this is a google thing or an android problem when it has always been about Apple's greed.
Im lovin' RCS texting with my friends
My non iMessage users are still receiving my videos small and blurry. RCS is switched on and I have AT&T in the USA.
first setting to turn off when i get the OS upgrade.
disable RCS...
disable RCS...
Thank you for that clear explanation.
You say that Google's implementation is not proprietary. Is Jibe open source? Where may I download it? I can't find it. All I can find is information about carriers using Google's software/service. There's no mention of it being open or modifiable. Of course, I could have missed that since the Google websites about Jibe that I found are clearly made by marketing people, not engineers.
Google has implemented RCS UP 2.7, and you say Apple’s implementation of UP 2.4 lacks features. However, 2.7 was issued as a standard in June, suggesting Apple’s implementation began before the release. It’s misleading to say there are many missing features since implementations aren’t released on spec approval. In my experience, supporting later revisions is a marketing decision and subject to product-cycle timelines, unless a company is politically driving the standard (as Google is).
It sounds like what you are saying is that the implementation of RCS across different carriers has been borked until quite recently. I agree. We can appreciate the trouble Google has gone through to try to force a clean up of the mess. (Indeed, reading through the history, RCS has been as bad a political nightmare as it gets in industry standards bodies.)
We shouldn't criticize Apple for having different priorities from Google. The two companies have always had radically different business models and product development processes and views of the computer industry.
On End-to-end encryption (E2EE)... It isn’t part of the standard. The implementation on Android is a non-standard Google extension using the signal protocol. This extension is unique to Android and isn’t guaranteed to be used by anyone other than Google. So complaints that Apple’s RCS implementation lacks support for Google’s E2EE reflect a misunderstanding of RCS’s scope.
Future E2EE support on Android will depend on the proposed MLS standard extension. Until GSMA includes it, Google will be the only one implementing it. Given the likelihood of standard inclusion, Apple may support it in future Messages releases. Criticizing Apple for not implementing it now is misplaced.
I hate this implementation. Hard to tell what previous messages were sent as. I’d prefer that all non-sms messages use a WhatsApp/signal style setup where you get one check when the message makes it to the server, another one when it is delivered, and a color or fill change to indicate it was read.
why? Spite?first setting to turn off when i get the OS upgrade.
disable RCS...
RCS is not the solution to all things... it relies on carrier compression and file size limits.
The EU forcing this will result in people STILL complaining Apple is the problem because they dont know the carriers decide to implement at all or what standards they use.
Turning it off is my protest at the EU forcing things when they dont understand the technology.
Besides, who uses old messaging protocols for large file sizes anyway?
I use a Galaxy S24 Ultra, however I also have an iPad, an iMac and a Windows PC at work. I like to enjoy all of the platforms and know how to use each of them. As my iPhone friends have slowly been upgrading to iOS 18, RCS has been great. It's not quite as fully featured as chatting with other Android users, but it works well and offers a much better experience. My iPhone friends tell me it's much better on their end too.This is funny because it has always been Apple making texting between Apple and Android trash. It was not Android devices that were the culprit here. It has always been Tim Apple trying to play games to get people to buy iPhones.
I am happy about this change. Now when I send pictures or videos to android friends it will go through instead of getting a "not sent" error message over and over again.
It's so funny when Apple people say this is a google thing or an android problem when it has always been about Apple's greed.
Im lovin' RCS texting with my friends
This tells me that Tim Apple cared less about iPhone users having the best messaging experience in Apple Messages and cared more about the bottom line and the bonuses it would earn. I'm glad someone talked some sense into him. With that said, I hardly doubt having RCS Messaging capability on an iPhone is going to do anything to cause a customer to chose one platform over the other, but it does improve and modernize the experience. For that we should all be grateful. As Google would say, I'm glad that Apple finally got the message.
Jibe is a server. That's it. It serves the service known as RCS. It's a cloud based solution that carriers contract with to handle their messaging. You can't download Jibe (or modify it) because it's not software. It's a physical server. Think a big computer center full of physical servers that handle data traffic. That's Jibe.