Apple is bringing RCS to the iPhone in iOS 18 | The new standard will replace SMS as the default communication protocol between Android and iOS devices

What if they kept the green color just to troll...

Apple could easily do the bare minimum to keep regulators at bay while still keeping the experience as shitty as possible so that Android will continue to look bad. For example they could refuse to implement reactions or typing indicators, or they could even deliberately compress videos. I'm expecting the worst until we see otherwise.

I loved how blasé he mentioned it and moved right along. It is a pretty big announcement and I’m glad they are finally doing it. It will benefit many even if only indirectly.

I know people want this. I do to. But SMS going away will suck. Even in 2024, there’s still that moment you have every now and then that you can’t get a call out but a sms will make it out just fine. SMS rides along with the carriers ping signal. It’s not part of the data signal.

And yet Google still hasn't rolled out RCS for Google Voice, and last I checked there was an issue with it and Google Fi as well. (It works but it precludes some advertised feature of Fi or something.)

I'm still of the opinion that the basic message app should only be SMS.
Then anything else should be its own thing. Mixing the two is a recipe for disaster, where it's a consumer product.

RCS is the wrong standard to use though, as there isn't a single FOSS Android RCS client. They should support something like Matrix.

Here me out, iMessage on any OS, wait, no, not just that, how about no hardware vendor is allowed to produce software that only runs on their hardware and for any given core function the hardware must prompt the end user with a competitive selection of capable apps to accomplish said function (to be downloaded and installed upon selection) instead of coming with a default option enabled. Let's get crazy and say that any hardware vendor must allow software they produce for their own hardware to be uninstalled and replaced by software of the end user's choosing.

I'm talking some "treating United States v. Microsoft" as legally binding precedent" shit.

Meanwhile, regulators be like... .

(Side note: what's up with the bullshit where Apple makes an Android-native AppleTV app that will install on a phone fine but is blocked from running once it detects it's not an AndroidTV device? Apple acts like it would be an undue burden to make iMessage for Android (and pretends they didn't make the decision to not release an Android client with their hardware business in mind) but their Apple Music app somehow runs better on Android than it does on iOS...)

RCS is crap, inconsistent, unreliable, lacking, buggy. It doesn't even handle Dual SIM .....

Android needed a native "iMessage" style solution at least 10 years ago.

I can buy a $99 flip phone, basic phone, up to a $1,500 premium device, SMS/MMS will function the same across all 3 devices. RCS however will not. So how is this the answer to advanced messaging on Android? It isn't.....

If Google bought BBM & made it their own when it was still relevant in the consumer space, made it native on all Android 10 devices & later with SMS/MMS fall back, this would be something! Damn I miss BlackBerry....

RCS is not seamless, not native, and it simply is not it. It's the 1 thing I hate about Android, as creative and customizable as the software is, we need more.....I hate what Apple represents in the consumer space and how people often think who use an iPhone which makes me never want one.....

The moment Google saw the exclusivity Apple was doing, Android should have followed suite.

RCS sucks.....

Man it's a shame that Google RCS doesn't run on android phones by default if you have a custom rom or rooted your device or have an unlocked bootloader. Guess this won't really affect me then and it doesn't really matter.

I just want my gf to have the same SMS app as me so she can see the silly emoji animations I see 😢

RCS is proprietary, right?

Finally, I'll be added to the group chat for work. I'll know where to report to just as early as everyone else.

So when are they making FaceTime open source too? That's what Steve Jobs said when he first announced it.

Also, FOSS clients for RCS messaging should exist. My only options so far are Google's messaging app, Samsung's weird thing, and if I don't want either, an iPhone. Eh... I'd like more options. Let's just have all messaging applications support open source protocols, including Signal because why not??

I guess, if I'm on Android, this will make no difference to me?

Has hell frozen over?

I don't know if it's a good thing... To use RCS you have to use a compatible OS + device and use the google messages app (maybe also the Samsung one now) and why does the brand implemented this is because google "offered" the servers to run this protocol. I think even today the best way is to get onto secure messaging apps (like Signal, Session, SimpleX...)

RCS is a terrible standard. But China wants it, so Apple is forced to add it.

I’m gonna wait to see how this is implemented but it sounds bad on the face of it.