Google and Apple are direct competitors for over a decade. The operating systems Android and iOS are on the frontline with their own pros and cons. Despite the differences, the companies do have to come together to introduce some level of standardization in smartphones. RCS is one such technology that requires multiple stakeholders to be on the same page.
Google and Android executives have been calling out Apple for not accepting the new messaging standard called RCS. Google’s Senior Vice President of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, recently posted a harsh tweet asking Apple to stop its iMessage bullying. Many readers mistook the statement as a request for Apple to provide iMessages on Android.
Lockheimer tweeted again with a clarification explaining that he doesn’t require Apple to provide iMessages on Android. Instead, he has been asking Apple to adopt the new RCS messaging standard, which is considered as the next step in messaging evolution.
Tons of great discussion following my tweet over the weekend. Thank you for that. I wanted to follow up with some thoughts and clarifications:
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) January 10, 2022
He came forward saying, “We’re not asking Apple to make iMessage available on Android. We’re asking Apple to support the industry standard for modern messaging (RCS) in iMessage, just as they support the older SMS / MMS standards.”
What Google wants instead
He emphasised that we all depend on phone number-based messaging and that is why it is important for Apple to adopt this new messaging default.
Giving an example he said, “If you want to reach someone and you don’t know whether they use app x y or z, you have high confidence that sending them a text (SMS) will work. That’s because it’s a standard and supported by essentially all mobile devices. That’s probably why Apple supported SMS to begin with.”
RCS is expected to provide next-generation messaging features on standard messaging applications. This includes features such as read receipts, typing indicator, chat bubbles, sending high-quality media and more. It also provides end-to-end encryption, similar to WhatsApp.
Lockheimer claimed that by not incorporating RCS, “Apple is holding back the industry and holding back the user experience for not only Android users but also their own customers.”
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