Terrible. The next evolution to SMS MMS shouldn’t be proprietary and fragmented.Google Messages is meh and is the only RCS Unless you have a carrier device and use Samsung Messages which is soon going away. Apple and iMessage being Apple only ruined universal messaging and all users on Apple or Android should have not let this happen.
Unfortunately the world has moved on. As far as I cam tell, SMS is used by people in the US and little else. For the rest of the world, SMS is old news.
I have some hopes for the EU forcing all messemging apps to interoperable, but I won’t hold my breath for real user friendly change.
Honestly I think this is a standards issue not an Apple or Google issue.
Apple needs to serve their clients and iMessages is great for that. Google needs to serve their clients and they’re putting forward their RCS extension, which could be good if they can gain traction, but their reputation precedes them, so thats going as well as anyone would expect. Neither parties really have obligations beyond, as the standard beyond their own offering is SMS MMS which they both support.
GSM is responsible for the next evolution of the carrier level messaging, which is RCS (without the E2EE extension Google is putting forth), and it’s their job to make that the standard implemented by all carriers. It’d be great if they add E2EE to the standard, but the fragmentation ant carrier level isn’t going to magically resolve if they cannot get carriers to implement it properly.
Very much as expected… fragmented, incomplete, and highly dependent on carrier. Google’s non standard E2EE extension will likely only work if messages are routed through their servers, which based on the observations here, even from the Android side it doesn’t seems to be routed through Google. Larger file means better quality pictures via green bubbles, anyone who’s sent/received a garbage and cares enough knows to send via third party messaging apps anyway, so nothing life changing here.
Let’s see if Apple applies pressure and push everyone to use Google’s servers for E2EE as they move towards iOS 18, but other than that… I’m still inclined to think the down play during keynote is apt.
anyone who’s sent/received a garbage and cares enough knows to send via third party messaging apps anyway
Tell that to my in-laws
Sorry to be the one to break it to you… if that’s the feeling you’re getting, then they most likely don’t care enough…
They just don’t understand technology enough to appreciate the difference. You should see them drive with a navigation app
Yeah I know what you mean. Grandma’s the same… she doesn’t care if it doesn’t look good when zoomed in, she just wants to see the picture.
Why would they go with RCS though when Google’s proprietary messenger is the only Android client for that standard? Why not something open, like Matrix?
Apple is implementing it because China requires all 5G phones to support RCS to get certified.
Apple did not do this because they suddenly have a change of heart about the green bubbles. Apple did not do this to spite regulatory bodies and ‘malice compliance’ with some interoperability mandate.
This is not a move to make messaging more secure with the green bubbles. This is not a move to make messaging better with the green bubbles. This is a move so they can continue to sell phones in China.
Because they can’t control Matrix
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E2EE is not part of the standard and only exists as a proprietary Google extension, using Google’s servers. Implying that implementing RCS would get everyone cross-platform E2EE is misinformation.
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And why should apple (or anyone for that matter) be forced to use googles proprietary code for an “open standard”?
Also,
There is, naturally, a wrinkle here. The RCS standard still doesn’t support end-to-end encryption. Apple, which has offered encrypted messaging for over a decade, is kind of a stickler about security. Apple says it won’t be supporting any proprietary extensions that seek to add encryption on top of RCS and hopes, instead, to work with the GSM Association to add encryption to the standard.
https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/breaking-apple-will-support-rcs-in-2024
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Well then why did you describe them not doing that as malicious compliance?
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To support E2EE in RCS?
Such a sad world we live in. When the internet was hitting the mainstream, virtually everything was standardized. There were RFCs for probably every standard the internet operated on. Email, HTTP, DNS, TCP/UDP/IP, etc.
Today, we live in a world where we can’t even decide on a fucking chat protocol without making it a proprietary piece of garbage. The internet has been consolidated into giant companies that see interoperability as a weakness that enable their competitors and prevent them from oppressing and exploiting their users.
A small group of gatekeepers that kill anything nice for their own short-term gains: it is sad but true that it feels like any technology that’s commercially successful will end this way.
