What exactly is the problem between Apple’s iMessage system and RCS on Android?
In: Technology
Apple’s iMessage and Google’s implementation of RCS (universal profile with Google extensions) aren’t interchangable: conversations between those devices will always fall back to MMS/SMS.
Apple has recently announced that they will implement RCS universal profile in their messaging app, which will solve a lot of that problem, so that’s made a lot of headlines.
iMessage isn’t texting, SMS, MMS, RCS or any of those other formats you might wanna think of. Its a chat program more like Whatsapp. Apple just integrated their messaging program into the phone to appear like its traditional texting, even though its basically just “Apple Whatsapp”.
Asking whats the situation with imessage and RCS is like asking whats the situation with whatsapp and texting. It looks similair but its not related.
Apple in ios18 is going to add RCS support, but that has nothing to do with iMessage. It will just apply to doing texts to other non-iphones that support RCS (assuming your mobile phone provider also supports it)
RCS is an open standard created by telecom companies as the evolution of SMS/MMS.
There are significant drawbacks as end-to-end encryption is not part of the RCS standard.
iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, etc. are secure messaging platforms that superseded SMS/MMS messaging because of better media support, unlimited messaging, and messaging across devices.
If privacy and security are major concerns, RCS is a non-viable solution in its current form, with or without google’s non-standard extensions (which add end-to-end encryption between Google RCS users only).
As much as Apple may be gaining advantage from staying proprietary, they are currently one of the only viable privacy focused communications technology vendors consumers can choose.
An actual eli5 answer – it’s basically like apple and android devices speak a different language. They want to speak in the same language so that they can fully express themselves to each other, but since they can’t, they have to resort to speaking to each other using old outdated hand signals.
RCS isn’t finished or really solid yet. Apple may have purposefully be holding off for all the “wrong” reasons but their delay was beneficial.
E2E encryption doesn’t even really “work” yet unless you’re already on googles platform, which sounds a lot like iOS right? And there’s no indicator if it isn’t ENC.
Because apple insists on being different and difficult so they make the rest of the world pay for their bad business and tech decisions.
Basically a skill issue. Apple struggles to support decade old formats such as rcs and still hasn’t adopted the API of older tech such as sms and mms.
it’s like always, everybody is using an agreed upon standard but apple just refused to comply until the EU bullied them to comply
Imessage as others have said is basically apple messaging app. I believe RCS on “google” side is more of a updated Texting system over the internet and its universal. Much like USB C has become the standard now while apple is purposely using proprietary expensive cables for more $$$. I think europe was it? is forcing apple to go to usb C to get with the bigger picture.
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