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Samsung has released a new video in support of Google’s #GetTheMessage campaign which calls for Apple to adopt RCS or “Rich Communication Services,” the cross-platform protocol pitched as a successor to SMS that adopts many of the features found in modern messaging apps… like Apple’s own iMessage.
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RCS dates to 2008 and Appul didn’t support it. Now we know that Appul is stuck in 2007 or earlier.
Edit: it seems RCS is another centralized hellscape
Does it matter if Apple starts supporting RCS? If they start supporting it, they’ll still treat it like SMS - green bubbles and all.
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iMessage works.
Who has even heard of RCS outside of tech folk?
iMessage doesn’t ‘work’ unless you’re on an Apple device. Then it’s just falling back to using SMS, at which point Apple fanboys/girls start bitching because the text bubbles are ‘the wrong color’ which it’s seriously the most ridiculous first-world problem I’ve ever heard of.
RCS is an attempt to provide similar functionality to EVERYONE without the walled-garden lock-in.
While I’d much rather a fully open (inl source), non-proprietary solution exist, until such time RCS is at least an attempt at a step in the right direction.
Insert meme: You (iMessage user) can’t use RCS because Apple won’t let you. I (Android User) can’t use iMessage because Apple won’t let me. We are not the same…
at which point Apple fanboys/girls start bitching because the text bubbles are ‘the wrong color’ which it’s seriously the most ridiculous first-world problem I’ve ever heard of.
Wait…… isn’t this the whole point of the article? Samsung and Google are bitching because they don’t want to be green bubbles. Don’t make it out like this is all iPhone users. Google has had I can’t count how many substandard messaging apps, but now they’ve developed their own proprietary format and are crying for Apple to support it.
So let me get this straight, Google & Samsung want Apple to be forced to do something that will cost Apple sales and increase sales for their competitors. Good luck with that.
I’ve never originally seen, heard, or read anyone complaining about the wrong color bubbles except for iMessage users.
The article is just about Samsung and Google poking fun at Apple about it.
What I want is for all of the companies to, use a common (preferably open) standard for messaging as a default. I don’t give a shit which it is.
Ideally they would all do so voluntarily because it’s the right thing to do for their users. Since Apple refuses to let anyone else use iMessage, RCS was created, and made available to be used, even by Apple.
But apparently Apple can’t be bothered to play nice with others no matter what because all they care about is squeezing every possible dollar they can out of their suckers, I mean users.
What I want is for all of the companies to, use a common (preferably open) standard for messaging as a default. I don’t give a shit which it is. Ideally they would all do so voluntarily because it’s the right thing to do for their users. Since Apple refuses to let anyone else use iMessage, RCS was created, and made available to be used, even by Apple.
So Apple came up with a great system that encourages people to stay in the ecosystem, and Google is mad about it. So Google comes up with an iMessage clone, and now they’re pitching a fit that everybody won’t jump onto their implementation. Which, while RCS is open, Google’s implementation is not. “Apple is locking everyone into their system! Make them stop so we can get them locked into ours!”
But apparently Apple can’t be bothered to play nice with others no matter what because all they care about is squeezing every possible dollar they can out of their suckers, I mean users.
Wait… wait… you think Apple (or any other company for that matter) should do what’s best for those that aren’t they’re customers?? So I’m going to say this again a little louder for the people in the back - Apple is under no obligation to modify the way their products work to promote the competition, which will lose them sales. And as an Apple stockholder, I’m beyond fine with that.
iMessage works
Among the 20% of all phones globally, it does. Outside the US it’s hardly usable.
Not only does iMessage work, it works internationally for free.
Edge browser works.
Who has even heard of TLS outside of tech folks?
… that’s what you sound like judging something so ignorantly. No wonder you’re an Apple user.
What is TLS?
Transport Layer Security, or TLS, is a widely adopted security protocol designed to facilitate privacy and data security for communications over the Internet. A primary use case of TLS is encrypting the communication between web applications and servers, such as web browsers loading a website.
Tach person stuff.
Ok. What makes anyone want RCS?
What makes anyone want iMessage?
Why would anyone want to stop using iMessage? It’s honestly quite good and the app integrations are great. Honestly the only iPhone users I know who don’t use iMessage are due to network effects (families in foreign countries where Whatsapp dominates).
Because it’s obnoxious to anyone not using an Apple device.
It’s not about people wanting to stop using iMessage. It’s that over half of the mobile customer base CANNOT use iMessage because apple refuses to allow it. If Apple had created a solid Android app for iMessage, RCS would never have been created.
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It works and I don’t need to know what TLS is to use it.
Apple bitch detected
How rude of you.
How rude of you.
You should never invest or start a business. Sincere advice from an internet stranger.
Insincere.
iMessage works.
So does 4G. Imagine if apple refused to support 5G? Yes the end consumer might not notice but apple refusing RCS is them refusing to update an old standard to it’s next version. I guess they dragged their feet with USC C and kept with a old USB 2.0 lighting cable for so long…
They could adopt RCS. But still keep iMessage users using their iMessage service backend and have the green/blue bubble thing still.
More like Apple already has 5G and you want them to support a different standard that you made up.
Breaking news: Apple and majority of its users still don’t care.
I’d love to have RCS, but it’s not a make or break feature for me, and I’m tech savvy enough to know what it is and what it does. Good luck trying to convince the average consumer to give a fuck about invisible tech that doesn’t meaningfully change their experience.
Considering how much time Apple users spend bitching about green text bubbles and “shitty android photos” it would meaningfully impact their experience when talking to anyone that’s not on iPhone.
They blame Android for that for some reason. Makes no sense.
Apple deliberately makes it appear that way so the competition looks bad.
They don’t really advertise the fact that they’re quietly intercepting all of their customers messages to other customers and routing them through a proprietary network.
And if you dare leave, messages from your old iPhone friends mysteriously won’t arrive unless you proactively deregister your number from iMessage or it eventually expires out.
…or when you are given a new number from the provider and dont find out it doesn’t recieve messages from iPhones.
Happened to my fiance a few months back. She got a new number, and her dad received no messages from her. (He had an iPhone) It was fathers day weekend. All plans fell through.
Cause they don’t realize it’s a protocol issue, they just imagine that only iPhone has progressed past 2007 photo technology I guess.
First part is true, second part isn’t. Most people aren’t that dumb.
Apple users are.
That is a terrible generalization and even my less tech savvy Apple friends and family don’t think this.
Well, it would change their experience. They would see improved photo quality to/from Android users via text messages. But Apple has managed to train people to think that Apple’s refusal to put iMessage on other devices is somehow a shortcoming of Android.
Yes, until now we’ve accepted to be governed by what Big Tech can convince “average users” to use and here we are.
Internet is controlled by a handful of company who decide what you read, what you watch, how you communicate with friends and family.
It sucks because there are so many great alternatives to most big tech solutions but it doesn’t matter until you can convince people of the benefits of using those alternatives.
Apple don’t want it because it removes part of their marketing strategy. (Being, if your friends have Apple, you also need apple)
Apple Users don’t know what it is.
You say you don’t know what it is or does. Yet you say you’d love to have it. That’s quite contradictory don’t you think?And it WOULD impact their experience.
It amazes me that people like you, who don’t actually know or understand the topic, can be so vocal about your opinions and conclusions. About something you don’t know.It’s the USB-C standard all over… “Apple and majority of their users don’t care”. And that’s still not what it’s about. It’s about setting a standard so we don’t need 9 different cables and 7 different apps, just to send a God damn picture or video.
Edit: I misread the comment. I take back what I said that’s striked over. My bad. Sorry.
They said in the comment that they are tech savvy enough to understand what RCS is and does.
My bad. I completely read that wrong. Could have sworn I saw a “not” in there.
I’d love to have RCS if only because iMessage is literally the only reason I have an iPhone.
I got roped into it because all my friends and family refuse to change to be able to exchange media messages with essentially just one person.
Granted, as far as phones go, it’s pretty damn good and aged incredibly well. My 12 pro max performs better than any flagship I’ve owned previously would’ve at the 3 year mark.
Then you just refuse to chat with all of your friends and family. Problem solved. They don’t get to pick which phone you are going to buy because of a mere communication problem.
Let me be clear, I care more about my friends and family than I do about what kind of phone I have.
Nobody wants to use anything except the default app or maybe FB Messenger (which…just…no, for so many reasons). But Apple wants to make sure that their default app remains intrinsically incompatible with the default app on every other major brand phone.
Not that they have much of a choice. They know that if iMessage were compatible with RCS, they’d lose a handful of customers like me. And they probably wouldn’t earn any new Android customers as a result.
Supporting RCS in iMessage is the “right” thing to do, IMO, but there’s absolutely no incentive for Apple to do it, so they will probably only ever adopt it if their hand is forced.
yeah, people are use to having 10 different chat apps, and it seams to be normal, which is sad (somebody should make a standard! *insert that xkcd comic about making a better standard)
With RCS there seams to be less chance that they destroy it like they did with XMPP (google / Facebook and cie)
This isn’t about making iPhone users care per se, I really think it’s just a public perception thing.
Everyone (in America) wants them to be together
Rest of the world already moved on to better services.
I’d be ok with everybody adopting Signal protocol but I can safetly say no government anywhere would “allow” that
I am beyond bummed that Signal abandoned SMS support. It worked, it isn’t a constantly evolving standard. Just leave it alone, Signal!!
No one should be using SMS in 2023, and I’m really sorry for you Americans who are still using this ancient garbage technology.
You’ll notice Signal backtracked on supporting SMS as soon as they got an ex-Googler as their new leadership.
I always thought having SMS support in Signal created a significant risk of confusion about what kind of message the user was sending. Of course sophisticated users always knew the difference, but it’s for software that emphasizes security it’s better not to have to tell people who don’t understand the technical details “it’s secure unless…”.
It’s a valid point that it could potentially create some confusion when a user assumes that everything in Signal is secure. Unencrypted SMS threads could contain an open padlock icon and even an ominous red window border, but someone inevitably will not understand the difference.
However, my frustration has been how both convenience and security is reduced by removing SMS from Signal.
Many people will continue to use SMS for a variety of reasons, necessitating the use of an additional app. So now we have people continuing to communicate over this insecure protocol, but with the additional target vector of potential vulnerabilities in the supplemental app.
I used it too. I miss it, but i get why they removed it: it just kinda breaks the Signal user experience and trust model. This app lives and dies by the users trust their conversations will be private. By having an option to message someone in a completely unencrypted, easy to intercept mode like SMS it risks this trust for little gain (some power users like us liked it). By removing it, the app concentrates on what is expected from it and removes a big possibility for user error while fleshing out its marketing image even more. It makes perfect sense but its a tad annoying.
I understand what you’re saying, but I feel it was pretty transparent the way they handled SMS vs. Signal Messages. I suppose it’s a bit like the D.W. meme, though.
Unfortunately, in doing so, Signal became Yet Another Messaging App. It really damaged their value proposition in my eyes.
If I need a separate app for SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, Signal, etc, it just becomes a chore to find enough friends willing to move to it exclusively.
The IM ecosystem really needs to be harmonized on the user end. I remember Trillian was this great app back in the day that brokered all your MSM, Google Chat, etc IM accounts into a single app that let you just focus on messaging people and not worrying about what platform was being used. We badly need this again.
A shared frontend would be a little more convenient, but is having multiple apps that big a deal? I think I have eight right now.
Android’s default Contacts app has buttons for each option a given contact has so there’s not even much cognitive load to pick the app you need if you start from there.
I don’t have people saved in Contacts, they are only saved in my apps directly
Most chat apps will sync with Contacts if you allow them to. If you don’t do that, then you have to remember which app you want for each person, which becomes inconvenient if you have a lot of contacts who use different apps.
Matrix can kinda emulate this kind of “all messages in one app” experience with bridges but you introduce a single server who decrypts all your end to end encryption so you pretty much have to self host. Also the bridges arent perfect so your msgs will sometimes look weird or not support some features.
I understand that they wanted stay true their philosophy but that decision is the reason we will never see Signal be relevant ever again. I hope they do a U turn
Yeah, I don’t follow the details on this much and my first thought was “Signal had SMS support? WTF?”
it isn’t a constantly evolving standard
lol you can say that again
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- EU passes the chat interop legislation.
- Apple is forced to do RCS.
- ???
- Corpos that shout now declare victory.
First privacy, then USB, now RCS.
Apple will never listen, but maybe the EU could decide it’s important enough issue for them to force it. It’s starting to feel like we should just go to them, first. I’d like to imagine we have another candidate problem for regulation enforced fixing, with Mac laptops’ long-standing displayport multistream problem. Macs will only mirror and never extend to an nth monitor over displayport splitting … but the availability of thunderbolt adapters as a workaround takes some of the “oomph” out of that argument. That one’s been around like ten or more years.
The other issue alluded to by another commenter, though, is that rcs is not low-level in Android os quite like SMS is. Like the API to get the information into other competing apps is not there, so it seems a little bit hypocritical.
Maybe don’t buy Apple hardware? Why is it the government’s job to fix every minor annoyance you have with Apple?
Most people complaining about imessage are people who bought Android devices. In places where imessage use is prevalent, people with iphones tend to leave their android owning friends out of group chats and complain about their text bubble color being green if they text an android phone.
Someone leaves me out of a group chat due to the color of my text bubble, I doubt there was any benefit to being included in the conversation anyway.
Well they aren’t leaving you out because of the color of the text bubble. It’s because having a phone that isn’t an iPhone in the group causes it to fallback to using MMS instead of imessage. They lose a lot of the features that iPhone users love about imessage and the quality of shared images and video is much worse. The moment someone tries to share a video and everyone just gets a blurry smudge of pixels is the moment all the iPhone users get their own group together.
And you want the EU to fix that?
I haven’t said anything about the EU. There’s no way the EU would address this, it’s almost exclusively a US problem.
I mean… I did and you were replying to me so… Guess you just ignored my point and posted with a “fun fact” for no reason then.
Oh, I see the problem. You seem to have forgotten that you wrote:
Maybe don’t buy Apple hardware?
I was responding to your point. You appeared to be arguing that this was a problem that could just be solved by just buying a different phone. I was saying that the people complaining are already the ones buying different phones.
You seem to think you know my point better than me.
The EU could have had an effect on it via the DMA, but it seems that not many people use iMessage in the EU. People use Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger way more here, so those are forced into opening up.
iMessage message bubble colors seem to be an US problem.
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Signal is the way to go. No need to expose metadata to your mobile carrier via RCS. Also, currently you need Google’s proprietary garbage message app to make use of RCS. There’s litterally no reason to do this.
RCS needs to happen, I’m so sick of Whatsapp.
The only way something replaces WhatsApp is if WhatsApp stops existing.
Besides, RCS is not in any shape or form ready to the general public, considering all the blatant inconsistencies and instabilities, let alone replace one of the most used, tried and tested messaging platforms out there.
I switched my parents group chat to RCS from whatsapp after pestering them for ages.
Over the span of 2 months we had 4-5 inconsistencies where I would recieve a message from my mum or dad in the group that would be in another language or clearly not be written by them. It wouldn’t show up on her phone but my brother and dad would see it.
Here’s the proof of the last occassion it happened. They’re never going to switch now…
Get your parents to use Signal. It’s superior in every way.
Why not switch to something not owned by Facebook like Signal (or something on an open protocol like Element)?
No one I know uses Signal or is skilled enough to switch away from Whatsapp. 100% have WhatsApp.
Trying to switch, would be like talking people into using Linux. Not going to happen unless the current option got much worse.
Yeah that’s a big problem that I’m trying to research solutions for myself too. It was way better when I could tell people to just install Signal and it’d replace their SMS app but be secure when others use it, but unfortunately Signal dropped SMS. Currently I just have all the apps, but since Signal does contact discovery (like Whatsapp) I follow a Signal, Whatsapp, FB Messenger, RCS (via Google Messenger), then SMS pattern and stopping when I can contact someone. Obviously, this has the issue that all these apps are getting far more data than they need and I’d like to look into a multiplatform app that does e2e. From what I’ve researched so far, Matrix bridges (servers that connect your Matrix account to a third party messaging service) might be the answer.
I haven’t tried it yet but there is a Matrix bridge that you can host if you are selfhosting a Matrix server (or use a commercial Matrix provider that already hosts it) that will allow you to connect to your Whatsapp friends without needing the Whatsapp app yourself that could be interesting for at least that use case https://docs.mau.fi/bridges/go/setup.html?bridge=whatsapp .
Using Signal is incredibly easy. Unless your friends are too incompetent to even install an app, they can be set up in a couple of minutes.
Notice I said using and not switching, because there’s no need to pick just one.
They are incompetent enough. They also see no reason to switch. They will tell you that other apps will also use your data and that Whatsapp is working fine for what they do with it. Doesn’t matter if it’s true.
Some even use the status to share stuff like Instagram and are addicted to it.
They’ll tell you that there’s no point in installing two apps. I’ve had that topic often enough.
You originally said nobody was skilled enough. It seems what you really meant is nobody cares enough.
Unfortunately, that’s the actual reason in my experience. I got most friends and family to run Signal next to WhatsApp though.
You underestimate how tech-dumb the majority of people are
A few years ago I thought so as well, but today, everyone of my friends and family is on Signal. Also, it’s not complicated to use, it’s basically the exact same user experience as on WhatsApp or Telegram. If normies can figure out WhatsApp, they can figure out Signal.
skilled enough to switch away from Whatsapp
Wat? If they managed to register with WhatsApp, they can do so with literally any other messaging service.
Google’s RCS is as proprietary as iMessage
Looks like it’s not open sources, yes.
But it is at least available for Apple to implement if they do choose, unlike iMessage.
Signal is also available on every platform, you don’t need to use whatever chat app your phone’s manufacturer wants you to use, it’s your choice. And Signal is probably the best choice right now.
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No, its not available. There is no FOSS RCS app, because its not available
I didn’t say it was FOSS. I said that unlike iMessage, which Apple refuses to allow Android to use, RCS is available to be used by Apple if it so chooses.
Yes, a FOSS protocol/standard would be better, and I hope we have one done day that is actually available and used by default by both iOS and Android (and any other future players in the field). But until that happens, RCS is at least allowed to be used by other companies so it’s at least a small step in the right direction, even if Apple continues to stubbornly refuse to use it.
- Google controls RCS servers. Collects data and sales it. Apple adopting RCS would mean monopoly situation
Yes, a FOSS protocol/standard would be better
Open standard is the only option
RCS is at least allowed to be used by other companies so it’s at least a small step in the right direction
…of a single company controlling major sms functions turned on by default by every phone?
I use SMS mostly. From time to time Google asks if I want to activate RCS and presents a policy along with it, which I decline. Does it pass through their servers? If it does, that’s gonna be a big no.
Apple users are absolute shitheels. And that’s why I’ll continue releasing bugs I find into the wild.
