“Get the Message”: Google requests RCS support from Apple

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get the message google requests rcs support from apple.png
get the message google requests rcs support from apple.png

With a new campaign, Google wants to ensure that Apple supports the SMS successor in iOS. The iPhone company must “fix” messaging

 

Google is trying to put more pressure on Apple to integrate the RCS (Rich Communication Service) communication standard. In a new campaign, the Android manufacturer is now calling on users to complain to Apple about the messaging problems between iOS and Android. Apple refuses to support a “modern text message standard”, it says there. This causes many problems such as the missing read status, blurry videos and the need to send SMS and MMS messages over the mobile network instead of WLAN.

 

Text messages are also less secure because SMS lack end-to-end encryption, explained Google. The RCS communication standard, which network operators have been pushing unsuccessfully for a long time, is now part of Google Messenger. In addition to the crypto messenger iMessage, which is limited to Apple hardware, Apple only supports SMS and MMS in the message app preinstalled on iPhones, iPads and Macs. SMS serve as a fallback if, for example, no mobile data connection is available for sending iMessages or the recipient has an Android device.

Google has been trying to get Apple to integrate RCS for almost a year now. The Android developer initially relied on friendly invitations to work together, but has long since adopted a more aggressive tone. By sealing off iMessage, Apple is relying on “peer pressure and bullying” to sell its products, Android boss Hiroshi Lockheimer wrote in January. Apple has not yet responded to the campaign, but it remains unclear whether there are any plans to integrate RCS into the news app.

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Court documents last year showed that Apple was internally discussing an Android version of iMessage, but ultimately decided against it, saying it would “do more harm than good.” Outside the US, where teenagers in particular communicate via iMessage, the debate seems strange, since messengers such as WhatsApp and Signal have long provided cross-platform communication. However, the Digital Markets Act in Europe could bring movement to the messaging market: According to the law, large messaging services such as iMessage and WhatsAppp must establish basic interoperability in the future – at the request of smaller providers.