Apple announces that RCS support is coming to iPhone next year - 9to5Mac
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In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard. The...

In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard. The feature will launch via a software update “later next year” and bring a wide range of iMessage-style features to messaging between iPhone and Android users.

Apple’s decision comes amid pressure from regulators and competitors like Google and Samsung. It also comes as RCS has continued to develop and become a more mature platform than it once was.

  • LWD@lemm.eeEnglish
    289·
    1 year ago

    Right now, RCS seems to be pretty Google controlled. In order to send and receive messages, you need to…

    1. Run a Google-approved Android device (a redundant statement; the word Android is trademarked by Google and they get to decide who calls their device that)
    2. Use Google Messenger, the only app that reliably allows you to send/receive RCS messages
    3. Allow your messages to go through Jibe (if your provider doesn’t handle them itself), which is a server infrastructure owned by Google.
    • gnurd@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      21·
      1 year ago

      I’m not denying that. Later on in the article it goes into further detail about how apple use the GSM RCS standard and “work to improve it”. Which means they won’t use Google’s version. So now we see what Google will do as Apple will not be working with them on the Google version after all their fuss about rcs.

      My wife and I have a pixel while the rest of my family useses iPhone so I am quite interested in how this will turn out. If there is a way the two meet on the GSM standard I think it will be great. But will Google be willing to do that?

      • LWD@lemm.eeEnglish
        43·
        1 year ago

        I’m curious too. How do you get two competing companies to hammer out a half decent standard without just telling them exactly what to do? I’ve heard of embrace, extend, extinguish before… But usually, there’s one player that holds all the capability to do that, and it can tread all over the other ones. In this case, the field is a whole lot more even.

        • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
          16·
          1 year ago

          Name literally any technology standard, and it was probably co-developed by competing companies. It’s the rule, not the exception.

      • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        Only because they have some leverage over Google. It’s also reliant on using Jibe. Which is where Google can get info on your social graph.