Switching gears on the RCS chatter today, let’s now talk about something good in the world of upgraded messaging – T-Mobile is switching to Google’s Jibe platform! Hey, that’s great.
While we know that Apple will likely never adopt RCS, T-Mobile is taking a step towards making your Android RCS experiences better. In an announcement on Twitter, T-Mobile says that changing over to Jibe for RCS means “customers will get all new features instantly and have a better experience messaging with businesses thanks to Rich Business Messaging (RBM).”
Forget that RBM part, because none of us want to message with businesses, what it really means is that as Google introduces new features or upgrades or technologies through Jibe, T-Mobile customers with supported Android phones will get those features. And that’s great, as this platform (hopefully) grows and improves.
You may recall that AT&T announced a similar move in June of this year and Google said almost word-for-word what T-Mobile said above. The big idea is that by being on Google’s platform, the features come flowing instantly.
T-Mobile did not announce which phones would switch over to Jibe or when you might notice the switch, unfortunately. In fact, they provided no specifics at all on this news, only that they are “now” powering RCS by Google’s Jibe. We assume that means for all Android phones now, rather than through their old RCS platform.
If you would like to check to see if your phone is running on Jibe for RCS, open the Google Messages app, tap on your profile (top right), then Message Settings>RCS chats and scroll to the bottom. You should see a message like the one below that reads “RCS from Google is provided by Jibe Mobile.” If it doesn’t say that, it’s probably best to assume it’s T-Mobile’s own RCS platform.
Apple, eyeing this news, chuckles in blue bubbles.
Tired of hearing my kids complain about iMessage and their “friends” not including them in group chats. I’m not buying them an Apple device as it breaks the family ecosystem (Family Link and shared apps..etc). We shouldn’t have to wait for the EU to fix this problem.
meanwhile still hasn’t changed on my s22
Bottom line is that there needs to be a mandate that updates or upgrades SMS / MMS technology period!
Meanwhile on Google Voice…
My Galaxy S10 says Jibe.
Huh? Jibe has always been in use in Google Messages as far as I’ve seen since it rolled out in 2019 on all my devices purchased from T-Mobile: Pixel 7, Pixel 6, OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 6T.
Whatchoo’ talkin’ ’bout, T-Mobile?
EDIT: Thanks to 9to5Google’s more comprehensive article, it all makes more sense now.
Still says provided by T-Mobile on my Galaxy Z Fold 4.
“RCS from Google is provided by T-Mobile”
S23 Ultra.
Same on my S23 Ultra… “…provided by T-Mobile”
Probably will roll out over time. Also could flash to unlocked software to get it immediately. And also free yourself of the few bits of unremovable TMO bloat
My Pixel 7 Pro on T-Mobile (via Mint) is indeed showing Jibe as the provider.
My 7Pro on TMo is showing Jibe as the provider.
Good news until the government sues Google for being a monopoly with RCS messages LOL
No “RCS from Google is provided by Jibe Mobile” on my unlocked Pixel on Tmo.
Really? Are you sure you have RCS enabled? Messages settings > RCS chats
Just checked, my T-Mobile z flip 5 says with jibe
My unlocked ZF5 on TMO also.
Unlocked always would have used Jibe. Only the carrier branded models running the carrier specific ROM would have used TMO RCS. I specifically upgraded from a TMO ZF4 to an Unlocked S23 Ultra for that reason. And I flashed my fiancée’s S22 from TMO ROM to Unlocked a while back to get hers on Jibe
The problem w/ AT&T is they are NOT using the google jibe servers. They are using their own servers.
Just ask someone on google messages to check their RCS settings in the messages app. They’ll see “RCS from google is provided by AT&T”.
Sadly this means:
– they don’t let you send group messages to over 10 receipients (I am sure I misspelled that)
-You cannot use a private dns because it cuts MMS over RCS due to their “security policy”.
-Causes instability and lost messages sometimes between RCS user on google jibe servers and AT&T servers.
I’ve talked about this in detail on reddit as have others. It’s sad that AT&T does this.
My AT&T Pixel 6 says provided by Jibe Mobile.
You have a pixel. I have a branded AT&T samsung s22 ultra.
Switch to the google messages app, it’s better anyway.
You must have an old phone or something. AT&T switched to Google RCS Jibe in June 2023. Shows up on my Pixel 7 since then.
On your pixel yes. On every Samsung phone (my S22 ultra) my brothers S23 ultra) it does not. See our samsung phones were bought by AT&T. And they have the AT&T suite of software.
It’s silly that they did this.
Interesting…Are you then running a Messages app from Samsung? Have you tried to install Google Messages app to see if it makes a difference?
A long time ago I had a Samsung S8 and I didn’t like all the Samsung version of the apps so I installed the Google version of a few apps and Messages was one of them. The others that I didn’t like from Samsung were Contacts and Calendar and some others. That was one of the things that drove me to just stick with Pixel instead of Samsung Galaxy as it was annoying to have to do that and then also run custom launchers too like Nova. But that is one of the nice things about Android, and you have choices so the Samsungs are superior in their own respects.
No sir, no messaging app from samsung. It’s direct google messages from the play store.
I think if I were to flash an unlocked non carrier OS for the samsung s22 ultra it may fix the AT&T issue.
I believe the ATT firmware (since that’s where we bought it from) is the reason why it’s doing this in the google messages app.
Others have reported the same thing on reddit.
Oh okay gotcha. Well sorry about that. Good info. Hope AT&T can solve this issue you all affected.
O man me too. I think they do it to have more control over what’s on their network. Sad really. Hope they see the light and let google jibe take over.
Initiated on my P7.