Today, Google is launching a new ad campaign to pressure Apple to adopt RCS, the cross-platform messaging protocol that is supposed to be the successor to the outdated SMS and MMS standards.
The search giant has a new “Get the Message” website that lays out a familiar set of arguments for why Apple should support the standard, revolving around smoother messaging between iPhone and Android devices. Naturally, there’s also the #GetTheMessage hashtag to really get those viral juices flowing.
For most people, the problems Google describes are most familiar in the form of green bubbles that signify messages to Android users in Apple’s Messages app. While the iPhone app uses Apple’s own iMessage service to send text messages between iPhones (complete with advanced features like encryption, support for group chats, and high-quality image and video transfers), they fall back to old-fashioned SMS and MMS when sending text messages to an Android user. Not only are these messages displayed in a colorful green bubble, but they also break many of the modern messaging features that people rely on.
iMessage should not benefit from bullying. Texting should bring us closer, and the solution exists. Let’s fix this as an industry. https://t.co/18k8RNGQw4
— Android (@Android) January 8, 2022
To remedy this, Google has dropped a series of not-so-subtle hints in recent months for Apple to support RCS, which offers most (though not all) of iMessage’s features in a protocol that can be used on both iOS and Android . The company said it hopes “every mobile operating system … will upgrade to RCS” on stage at its annual developer conference this year, as well as in various tweets over the months.
The iPhone maker stands to gain everything from the current situation, which has a lock-in effect for customers. It provides seamless communication (but only between iMessage users) and turns Android’s green bubbles into subtle class markers. That’s why Apple executives admitted in internal emails that bringing iMessage to Android would “hurt.” [Apple] more than helping us.’
Google’s arguments for RCS were not helped by the slow and incremental rollout of the standard, which initially relied on carriers to add support. But the situation has improved since Google effectively took over in 2019, meaning that RCS is now readily available almost anywhere in the world. This year we’ve even seen the world’s largest Android manufacturer, Samsung, switch to using Google’s own RCS-compatible Messages app by default on its flagship Galaxy S22 range.
RCS is also slowly gaining feature parity with iMessage encryption. It already supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in one-on-one chats, and E2EE in group chats is expected later this year.
So, will Google’s new ad campaign finally be the thing that pushes Apple to see the light and roll out RCS support on its phones? Given the huge incentives Apple has to not play ball, I have to say the search giant’s chances don’t look good. At this point, Apple’s adoption of RCS seems as likely as the US collectively abandoning iMessage and moving to an encrypted cross-platform messaging service like WhatsApp or Signal.
Add Comment