Google would like everyone to be able to communicate in a fun way, but Apple won’t budge. In the popular iMessage, Apple’s messaging app, it is not possible to communicate with Android users in all its glory. At least, it would be possible if Apple enabled RCS (Rich Communication Services). However, it doesn’t want that.
RCS instead of SMS
RCS can be seen as the successor to SMS and MMS, so the way to send messages via the telephone network, instead of via WhatsApp. It is a good alternative, because SMS has never been so secure and RCS is. However, Apple does not like it, because it has its own iMessage and does not want to get rid of it. Too bad, because RCS is an open standard. Although it is probably precisely for this reason that Apple does not like it: it prefers to keep everything within its ecosystem to itself.
Sounds childish, but it also has its advantages. For example, Apple products are perfectly coordinated and your data remains more secure as it is more locked into the security options that Apple has selected very specifically for its products. But at the same time it’s a shame, because when people use iMessage now, it always gets a bit strange when an Android user is in the conversation. It does not see all kinds of images, because they only exist within iMessage. If Apple had implemented RCS, that would be a completely different story. Then Android users could also see everything.
Apple won’t
Google reiterated at I/O yesterday that there are more than 800 million people in the world using RCS, but that it would have liked that to be higher if Apple had “got the message and adopted RCS.” After all, it would be nice if everyone could be in a group chat together, without the fear of being locked out of certain content based on the device they are using.
For now, Apple remains firm. You only buy an iPhone for your grandmother, according to the company’s CEO. Or yes, just use WhatsApp? In any case, iMessage is a program that is particularly popular in the United States, which is why it is most noticeable there that RCS would not be an unnecessary luxury for Apple. Will it ever change your mind? We think not. iMessage is even a reason for some people to choose Apple over Android.
