Sidebar Sidebar
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

jimbobb24 said:
I guess this is good as long as my messages never touch Google servers. If they do … sorry Apple you screwed up. I cannot see a single advantage of this over iMessages. Google must have paid some pretty money or their lobbyist paid a lot to some eurocrats and hinted Apple might be forced.
Click to expand...
I guess you dont want to ever send an SMS then as well as anything you send to something other than iOS is going to hit google servers.
Also assume you dont want to use Apple products as Apple is a pretty big user of Google Cloud services.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dricci, TimFL1, NightFlight and 5 others
Nermal said:
Same here in NZ. One of the providers has said that it'll cost around $3 million to implement RCS and that it's unlikely to happen when so many people already use third-party services and are unlikely to switch away from them.


That came up as well. In many countries, providers are required by law to have a backdoor, and therefore they can't offer encrypted RCS.
Click to expand...

They could in theory still offer it just it is not true end to end encryption as they have to have a way for a break in. It would more like be secure from saying your phone to Apple servers but Apple servers being the middle person for the message so they could decrypt it and re encrypt it. That or they have have your public private key stored that could decrypt it.
 
vegetassj4 said:
You see madness Apple's support is like gravity. All it takes, is a little pusssssshhhhhh...

View attachment 2315452

I'm wearing this pic out, I know.
Click to expand...
The only beneficiary is Google, Android users don't need this, they use WhatsApp or other third party apps, Apple users certainly don't need this, as long as my messages don't touch the Google server, I'm cool with Apple holding a helping hand out
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Tim Apple’s Glasses, wnorris, amartinez1660 and 5 others
zorinlynx said:
From the article:

>There is no cost to send an RCS message over Wi-Fi.

Are there still carriers that charge for SMS/MMS messages? I figured we'd left that practice back in the flip phone era.
Click to expand...
They charge for MMS and quite a lot
 
  • Like
Reactions: TimFL1
coolfactor said:
This is NOT true. RCS does not replace SMS, it augments it, just like iMessage does. Both iMessage and RCS can "fall back" to SMS when no data connection is available.
Click to expand...

Yes. Changed the wording here so that it's not confusing. RCS will only be available when both smartphones used for a conversation support RCS, and over cellular, when a carrier does as well. When these conditions are not met, or data is not available, SMS/MMS will be used.
 
  • Like
Reactions: amartinez1660, SuperCachetes and mrnoark
"…with the aim of convincing Apple to support the messaging standard." Goading rather than convincing I'd say. Plus a significant emphasis in that campaign has been on a Google extension of the standard, not the standard it self, namely encryption.
 
So going forward the Message app will have to support three standards -- iMessage, SMS, and RCS?

And I might have conversations with three standards going on, with different appearances and functionalities, and different possibilities terms of interactivity and what I can send and receive?

True?
 
Apple also said they were going to enable sideloading this year and that never happened so I'm not holding my breath.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: Lyrics23
4odomi said:
The only beneficiary is Google, Android users don't need this, they use WhatsApp or other third party apps, Apple users certainly don't need this, as long as my messages don't touch the Google server, I'm cool with Apple holding a helping hand out
Click to expand...
Apple users benefit whenever iMessage fails/is deactivated or they're in a group chat with RCS users, it offers improved security overall.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dricci, NightFlight, freedomlinux and 3 others
antiprotest said:
So going forward the Message app will have to support three standards -- iMessage, SMS, and RCS?

And I might have conversations with three standards going on, with different appearances and functionalities, and different possibilities terms of interactivity and what I can send and receive?

True?
Click to expand...
Technically four, SMS, MMS, RCS and iMessage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tazinlwfl and antiprotest
deathcab said:
At least the blue/green bubble distinctions are remaining to confirm which friends use iPhones vs. which friends are poor.
Click to expand...

What your iPhone 15 pro max ONLY cost $1200? Oh you poor poor person, my Android phone cost much more than that.

Sarcasm there, because although on paper my Android did cost much more than that, I find it extremely sad this would be a factor. I get it, this was said in sarcasm (or at least I really hope it was), but it's disheartening to know that many really do feel this way. For myself I really really HOPE they keep green bubbles so I can differentiate myself.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Böhme417, dricci, Ghengis LeMond and 6 others
RCS wasn't just meant for rich feature messaging. Unfortunately, it ended up as that but it's purpose was a lot broader.

RCS was meant to replace all of your random accounts where you store data. It was built for simple swap between carriers and phones where all of your data such as contacts, calendar, all text messages, call history and other would transfer with an ease exactly where you left off.

It was also meant for video calling, geo-location exchange and bunch of other stuff.

Belive it or not it was deployed in 2008 as joyn and it worked.

Once again unfortunately it never got traction thanks to Apple and Google who didn't want to support it in it's native intention.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Artemis70, dricci, amartinez1660 and 2 others
Yes it's bloated SMS, but not all NR networks will support SMS given that it's jumping through hoops to get the ancient 2G technology working in modern packet switched cellular networks.

Probably some mobile carrier told Apple they won't support bother supporting SMS in the future, that's why.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dricci and amartinez1660
1129846 said:
I guess you dont want to ever send an SMS then as well as anything you send to something other than iOS is going to hit google servers.
Also assume you dont want to use Apple products as Apple is a pretty big user of Google Cloud services.
Click to expand...

Actually, SMS messages don’t go through Google, even if sent to/from an Android device. Traditional SMS texts are sent directly from one device to another via cellular networks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tazinlwfl, MacNeb and mhnd
justafew said:
Actually, SMS messages don’t go through Google, even if sent to/from an Android device. Traditional SMS texts are sent directly from one device to another via cellular networks.
Click to expand...

Someone been out of touch with the android world for a while. Google has offered the service of being able to send and receive sms from the web for your android phone for years now.

Also once it gets sent to an android phone it tends to go to the data back up.

The sms relay is the same as iMessage relay for sms. It hits your phone ans your phone relays it's to Apple's servers.

Of the android features I mess thst web sms is one of them big time for my wife who's work computer is windows so would be nice to be able to message her threw her work computer. A big reason why I wish Apple would off an iMessage to windows.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dricci
4odomi said:
The only beneficiary is Google, Android users don't need this, they use WhatsApp or other third party apps, Apple users certainly don't need this, as long as my messages don't touch the Google server, I'm cool with Apple holding a helping hand out
Click to expand...
You'd be shocked at how much you do that touches Google servers and you don't know about it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NightFlight, gusmula, ToyoCorollaGR and 2 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back