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RCS fixes all the problems with green texts and then some, bringing them closer to iMessage. Which is exactly why Apple won't do it and Tim says snide comments like this, because keeping iPhone on the dated SMS system is a gatekeeping measure to keep you locked in to the walled garden and to peer pressure those around you to get iPhones too just for iMessage.
RCS doesn’t fix the problem about actually being able to be used with the largest number of phones out there. Currently, SMS does. Once you limit yourself to JUST smartphones… well, WhatsApp fixes the problem then. The only problem Google RCS fixes is the lack of a messaging client produced by Google.
 
I think iMessage gets looked at wrong and I am expecting some people getting upset about what I am about to say. iMessage has a more unique beginning compared to most messaging platforms where it began as an alternative to sms that was just integrated into their messaging app rather than getting a separate iMessage and standard sms app. This happened in 2011..
And think about this… WhatsApp was two years before that in 2009. Apple and Google both looked at what WhatsApp was doing, Apple did their thing and it’s still around today only being used between Apple phones, and Google… I don’t know, maybe that was around the time when they wouldn’t sell vectorized map data to Apple? Being shortsighted?

Because if Google had done on Android what Apple did on iOS, WhatsApp wouldn’t have had a chance. Oh and if they’d allowed Apple to use the vector map data, every iPhone in use now could be sending data to Google’s back end instead of Apple’s.
 
Ridiculous stance. This inconveniences iPhone users as well. It's annoying that I have to leave iMessage to get decent quality media from my friends on Android.
Why haven’t they shared their social media contact information with you? That’s how millions around the world share decent quality media with their frien… oh. Nevermind.
 
Why haven’t they shared their social media contact information with you? That’s how millions around the world share decent quality media with their frien… oh. Nevermind.
So, uh, both my wife and I have iPhones and I never actually consdered how the green bubble would affect certain things until your post. I think I understand a fair chunk of this frustration for some folks a lot better than I did a few minutes ago
 
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makes me just want to get rid of my iphone for good s22 Ultra seems good right now
I think you should. A lot of people that buy products from companies they actually don’t like find their feeling about life improved when they stop dealing with those companies.
 
rcs is not encrypted by default, also if its not supported by a carrier its worthless

The Google "universal profile" is encrypted and carrier support is irrelevant as it is built in to the Google Messages app.

You're sharing basically 4 year old information. RCS is an entirely different animal today.
 
So you didn’t actually read what I wrote, huh?
I did actually but I'll state again, it's not Apple's obligation to make things easier for it's competition nor is it their obligation to adopt a standard that is in essence a Google Fork.

I get that you want the messages you send & receive to non-iOS users. I do as well sometimes when a picture I send doesn't go through.

Could Apple adopt RCS? Of course they could.

Does is make sense for them to adopt a competitor's (Google) "standard" when that competitor has a history of abandoning its messages apps/protocols? Absolutely not.
 
Apple is keeping it around because they don't want Android users to have a good experience when chatting with iPhone users. That's incredibly petty.
Apple isn’t keeping SMS around. The carriers are. Right now, if TMobile was to adopt RCS and send those messages to the iPhone just like it does SMS messages, they would show up on the iPhone. Apple wouldn’t have to do anything. Same with any other carriers.

Thing is, carriers aren’t going to support RCS in that way as they see no benefit to adopting it. There’s just no market need for a worldwide, all phones, carrier based solution that’s higher fidelity than MMS is currently.
 
I did actually but I'll state again, it's not Apple's obligation to make things easier for it's competition nor is it their obligation to adopt a standard that is in essence a Google Fork.

I get that you want the messages you send & receive to non-iOS users. I do as well sometimes when a picture I send doesn't go through.

Could Apple adopt RCS? Of course they could.

Does is make sense for them to adopt a competitor's (Google) "standard" when that competitor has a history of abandoning its messages apps/protocols? Absolutely not.
It doesn’t have to be RCS specifically. I never said it had to be RCS specifically. That’s just the option that Apple is being handed because they’re dragging their feet to the detriment of their own customers’ experience.

Apple could invent their own standard that works the way they want it to, or work with Google to create a fork of the RCS or whatever that they deem is acceptable, all we as users want is a better experience.

I shouldn’t have to hawk iPhones to friends, family, and acquaintances just to send high quality media. Apple can and should do better.
 
What puzzles me is that instead of being snide and condescending Cook should just explain this so consumers understand its not so black and white. But then again the intelligence level of consumers seems to suffer more with each passing year.
RCS is hard to understand by the organization that created it (so much so that they don’t even mention it anymore on the GSMA website). Expecting Cook to try to explain to an audience at the Code Conference (which, I mean, if one is attending a Code Conference, one SHOULD already know the answer to that question).
 
it just sounds classist and like we need to start getting ourselves Androids like our mothers and not the other way around.
I believe that would be a good idea for those that find the statement troubling. The sooner they can remove devices from that company from their purview, the better it would be for their mental well-being.
 
It doesn’t have to be RCS specifically. I never said it had to be RCS specifically. That’s just the option that Apple is being handed because they’re dragging their feet to the detriment of their own customers’ experience.

Apple could invent their own standard that works the way they want it to, or work with Google to create a fork of the RCS or whatever that they deem is acceptable, all we as users want is a better experience.

I shouldn’t have to hawk iPhones to friends, family, and acquaintances just to send high quality media. Apple can and should do better.
I actually hope they might be working on developing something to better facilitate communication between messaging platforms, regardless of what they might be because you are right - Apple can and should do better
 
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Buy your mom an iPhone
Wow, this is such a BS entitled thing to say. Reporter should've responded with "great, I'll send you the bill".

Corporate execs live in a different world where there is unlimited money to throw at any problem, and forget their company's customers do not.

"I also have friends that use Android" "Buy them all iPhones too"
 
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Nah. He’s making fun of the reporter for being a cheapskate. I’m sure it got a lot of laughs in that room.
I think he’s making fun of someone coming to a Code Conference and asking a “How can I send pictures and video to my mom” question. :) Was this a high schooler that asked the question? Actually, I’d have to guess “no”, at their age, they’re already using their social media/messaging platform of choice and have already set up an account for their mom.

Why has this person not set up a social media account or instant messaging client for their mom to share media? There’s a deeper question in there somewhere.
 
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since messages surf over the telecom wires (at some point), the FCC will probably step in and force a mandate on uniform consistent protocols (ala USBC and the EU ... and the EU will probably beat the FCC to this fight)
There’s already a uniform consistent protocol, SMS/MMS, that the carriers already support. I guess the government could set up their own brokerage servers to send non-carrier based messages from one network to another. People seem to be 100% ok with the government in the middle of all their messaging, don’t they? /s
 
The US carriers just adopted this over a year ago, along with Google, so Apple could be playing the waiting game on it.
To be clear, the carriers didn’t “adopt” it. Adopting it would have been the outcome from the CCMI initiative, where it’s supported by the carriers and those signals get sent to iPhones and either get degraded to SMS or get sent as RCS. What the carriers did is give up on it and told Google they could do whatever they want. I wouldn’t doubt that some decent amount of money changed hands in order for Google to say “So-and-so supports Google RCS!”

There’s nothing preventing Google from releasing an RCS client on the iPhone. I find it interesting that they haven’t.
 
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That's not entirely correct. Group chats don't, at the moment.
My statement is 100% correct. The RCS standard has no encryption as part of the standard. Google added encryption on top of RCS, so right now the only way to use RCS and have encryption is to use google implementation.
 
It’s a bit Marie Antoinette and let them eat cake. A multibillion dollar company wanting people to buy a product of theirs because they want to eek every last bit of money out of those in less privileged situations.

What happens if they cannot afford to buy their parents new iPhones? And just want to be able to have that convenience which is easy for Apple to implement.

Nor is it very eco friendly or good for the planet to advocate buying new products when Apple could easily integrate the software to all existing iPhones. This would involve reducing e-waste.

I am sure that RCS could be implemented in a way that would enable cross communication and maintain if not enhance security in messaging while also encouraging Apple to make iMessage as good as services like telegram. Text messaging is effectively an equivalent to the disparity in capabilities that could be there to encourage iPhone adoption/retention. The problem for Apple is that it would involve investment in making iMessage a better service, which Apple is reluctant to do as it wishing to produce products for the least amount of input. I understand this is capitalism, but as the saying goes… with great power comes great responsibility, Apple is in a position to change lives for the better because of its dominance, we should all encourage and want Apple to make those changes.
I mean there are apps for that. iMessage is really only still a big deal in the USA, because we’re as stubborn as Apple is about simply installing another app—we’ll install apps like TikTok (well, I won’t) but an App that universally works? Nah.
 
"The lack of RCS support on iOS makes it much harder for iOS and Android users to communicate normally, forcing them to use third-party messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram."
Can someone explains me what makes it harder to communicate with Android users? The only difference I see is the green bubbles.
Images and videos come across as pixelated garbage in many cases
 
Wow. I know you said "a bit" but to compare a cell phone company to a murderous dictator is a stretch even when caveated.

As for "those in less privileged situations" that is quite the weak attempt to turn SMS vs RCS into some sort of class struggle of the proletariat. Someone doesn't want to or can't afford to buy their parents new phones? That person can:
a) continue to text them the way they always have *gasp*
b) download any of the dozens of FREE messenger apps on the devices. Whatsapp for example has more users worldwide (including in less privileged countries) than iMessage. Signal is great for those who value privacy.


I switch back and forth between apple and android quite often. How did I communicate with my apple family when I was on my pixel 4 a few years ago? I just had people download Whatsapp. Problem solved. When I was on android, RCS was coming out and frankly was already DOA. RCS Sucks and is DOA because:
  • Currently no encryption enabled
  • Of all of my 20+ android friends, only ONE of them could actually receive RCS. This is a combination of android phone makers never bothering to upgrade their phones, carriers being difficult.
  • If my friend has to switch from their default messenger to google messenger for RCS, they may as well download Whatsapp or Signal.
  • Nobody outside of the US or Canada cares about RCS anyway because they have migrated to messenger apps years ago due to expensive per sms pricing in their countries.
Lol. I have tried ridiculously hard pre-me having an iPhone to get people to download WhatsApp. They have 50048484 game apps on their phone but wouldn’t do it.
 
Apple isn’t keeping SMS around. The carriers are. Right now, if TMobile was to adopt RCS and send those messages to the iPhone just like it does SMS messages, they would show up on the iPhone. Apple wouldn’t have to do anything. Same with any other carriers.

Thing is, carriers aren’t going to support RCS in that way as they see no benefit to adopting it. There’s just no market need for a worldwide, all phones, carrier based solution that’s higher fidelity than MMS is currently.

Carriers don't support RCS at all anymore. They all gave up on it because Google was willing to carry the mantle with their universal profile.

I don't know what you mean when you say T-Mobile could send an RCS message to an iPhone. iPhones don't support the RCS protocol at this time.
 
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Carriers don't support RCS at all anymore. They all gave up on it because Google was willing to carry the mantle with their universal profile.

I don't know what you mean when you say T-Mobile could send an RCS message to an iPhone. iPhones don't support the RCS protocol at this time.

Verizon and Google teamed up for rcs and it's supported on Verizon
 
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