It has apparently been over a year since Google launched a website dedicated to begging Apple to adopt their preferred messaging standard, RCS. Over that period of time, Apple has mostly ignored Google’s cries and has taken, well, zero steps towards bringing it to iMessage or Apple Messages. That will not slow Google’s assault, though, as they’ve updated that website today and released a new video.
In the new video, Google shows off a device called “iPager,” as some sort of knock on Apple because the pager uses the old SMS technology that Apple phones fall back to when texting non-iPhone users. Yes, SMS is old and bad and this video is here to remind Apple of that, because the iPhone is a pager! It is! Or something. You get the idea.
The video points out that texting between an iPhone and an Android phone uses “outdated messaging tech” and causes “modern texting nightmares.” This old SMS tech isn’t encrypted, breaks group chats, lowers the resolution of videos, and presents green bubbles, which the world uses to bully people with. You know the story. It hasn’t changed at all.
The thing is, the video essentially points out the exact reason that Apple doesn’t care and may never. It says through several frames that “Outdated messaging tech like Apple still uses to text with Android” creates the nightmares. But it’s that “still uses to text with Android” portion that is everything. Apple wants (and has been clear about it) messaging between iPhones to be better than when messaging an Android phone. It keeps people in their ecosystem and lets them continue to sell millions upon millions of phones and services.
The bullying bubble stuff, lack of encryption, poor video quality, and broken group chats are left on purpose. They are almost like a feature to Apple, not a bug for iMessage. If Apple wanted to fix those things when an iPhone sends or receives messages to and from an Android phone, they would have. But again, the poor messaging experience helps them. This is the way, for Apple.
We are all for Google doing this #GetTheMessage campaign. Do whatever you think will help, Google, because it would be nice if Apple helped out and made messaging better for all. Google is going to have to come up with another plan, though, as I’m not sure any of this is reason enough for Apple to make a change.
Yeah I’ll play devil’s advocate here : rcs is still pretty buggy (I know plenty of ppl who have rcs issues , myself included intermittently) plus Google doesn’t let other app developers like Textra or any 3rd party devs incorporate rcs so it’s only available on Google messages m Plus Google was years and years late with rcs (remember allo ,chat , hangouts etc ) apple is gonna apple but Google stop acting like you did this right because you certainly didn’t
Awesome, but honestly, I was so hoping for a Drooooiiiiidddd right there at the end. We need that hype train back!
No…no we don’t. It took many years for people to stop saying “I don’t have an Android, I have a ‘Droid”
I never ran into that problem, and honestly, it’s been a long time since I was genuinely excited about tech.
I don’t think Google is trying to send a message to Apple. Rather, it’s trying to send a message to iPhone users (to switch to Android). BTW, the bullying is real. My 14 y.o. told me about a kid at school made fun of for having a Samsung phone. And Apple calls itself an “inclusive” company? Not so much when it comes down to market share and profits.
The bullying happens with adults too. I married into a family that only uses iPhones and I’m regularly attacked for having a Pixel.
Keep your type-c cables from them whenever they come over with their iPhone 15. “Sorry, my Pixel cables aren’t good enough for your cool iPhones.”
I can’t stand Apple, but this is not just an iMessage issue. Even Android phones do SMS/MMS with each other, unless everyone is using Google Messages for RCS. If you can’t resolve that, stop trying to give Apple crap.
RCS is turned on by default on Google and Samsung phones which is probably the vast majority of Android phones therefore those using SMS had to turn off RCS. So go cuck Apple elsewhere
What u smoking? I know plenty of folks with Samsung phones who use the stock Samsung Messages or Verizon Messages. They are still sending SMS. They don’t even know the difference and have never changed any settings. So that’s still happening with Android phones. And “vast majority” is still not all Android phones. Maybe Google should make all Android phones do RCS first.
Wrong ..google messages is the only app that does rcs (Samsung messages in very limited regions used to but it was never an option to enable )so like he said most android to Android is not rcs unless both parties are using Google messaging which …alot of the times is not the case
Glad I don’t live in the US anymore, both of those apps are only for spam in the rest of the world, or to get pin codes to register or log in to other apps, like WhatsApp ????
Places where WhatsApp is the de facto communication standard screams post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk world to me.
regardless of how you feel about it, the reality is that’s how it’s done outside the US, and it works just fine and no one cares about any of this bubble BS.
No one said anything about bubble BS and basically all messaging going thru a single big tech company that doesn’t literally believe in privacy using a proprietary technology is a no go for me and should be scary to everyone. I get it… Most people don’t care.
Google is scared, tbh
Apple will never do it. Google is wasting so much $$ with these ads.
Side bar…has anyone noticed that spammers are now using RCS? I’ve gotten two spam texts over RCS from over seas #’s over the past week or so.
This kind of ads are not that expensive, what can get expensive is distribution but I don’t think they push these too hard. Also, trust me, Google can afford having fun with this.
I know they can afford it, but still a waste of money IMO. But yes, it is fun!
Hopefully Europe can force the issue like they did standardizing USBC
This doesn’t change without legislation unfortunately. Or we all use WhatsApp.
Use a Facebook product? Yeah no thanks…
Oh I agree completely. It was more how the rest of the world communicates.
I doubt Google thinks this campaign is going to influence Apple in any way, shape, or form. It’s a propaganda campaign aimed at the public attempting to shift the iMessage/Android narrative in Google’s favor in hopes the public puts pressure on the big Apple to change. And if they happen to get a few iOS→Android converts in the process, huzzah.
That’s almost certainly the plan. And I think it’s admirable honestly. So many Apple zealots genuinely believe that the reason messaging sucks between Apple products and everything else is because the OTHER products have some sort of deficiency. Everyone outside the garden knows that that’s nonsense and that Apple could easily resolve this issue. This is just Google trying to inform the masses of the cold reality that Apple is intentionally keeping their audience caged off from the rest of the world and keeping them ignorant
Still using terminology like zealots is why I’m glad I switched to Apple. I have the new Pixel tablet and it is great but the iphone has just performed better than any Pixel and Nexus phone I’ve had (started with the GNEX).
The only people I use imessage with is my parents. Everyone else uses whatsapp or signal.
It isn’t a big deal and is just Google trying to talk about the 1 thing they have that Apple doesn’t (besides that little weather frog on the tablet, which is pretty cool)
Then it sounds like you must not live in the US, where iMessage has a massive grip as people’s primary method of messaging. And I’ll just say that I have worked in and around the industry for some time now. Every single day I’m seeing real people in the real world who 100% believe that iMessage is the best and everything else is horrid. And they think that because it is exactly what Apple WANTS them to think.
remember when apple, a software and hardware manufacturer that kept their systems locked, sued a software manufacturer for having a better system anyone could put on any computer? it’s almost like they’re still doing the same old stupid
That video was dope!
Now lets watch all the Appleheads that reside in this comment section go nuts, lol
Apple doesn’t have anything to worry about. If anything, it comes off as a bit desperate since Google knows more and more people switch to iPhones in America.
I also noticed that bad video is only seen when iphone users send video messages to android users on this case with ATT. I sent a vid to my friend and video is usually 480p on the iphone end coming from android. So pretty much apple screwing people up.
Google still is using SMS with Google Voice. When are they going to update to RCS for one of their own services? They should lead by example.
Google can’t even #GetTheMessage