The web giant is launching a communication campaign against Apple, which refuses to embrace the RCS standard, the successor to SMS and MMS, in iPhone messaging,
“It’s time for Apple to fix its messaging.” The slogan of the campaign that Google has just launched on the official Android site is clear: the web giant is really fed up with iMessage, Apple’s messaging service, which separates smartphone users into two categories: owners iPhone users (blue bubbles) and owners of Android mobiles (green bubbles).
“It’s not the color of the bubbles that counts. These are blurry videos, group chats that do not work, the absence of acknowledgment of receipt, indicator of keystrokes and messages by Wi-Fi ”can we read in the introduction of this minisite. “These issues exist because Apple refuses to adopt the modern messaging standard when individuals with iPhones communicate with Android smartphone users. »
Texting a friend with a different phone than you should be no problem… Right? @Apple? #GetTheMessage pic.twitter.com/Qa1TDkmUSK
—Android (@Android) August 9, 2022
The standard in question is called RCS (for Rich Communication Services). Developed since the end of the 2000s by the GSMA, it was designed to succeed the old SMS and MMS, which were technically very limited, while modern instant messaging (Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc.) was gaining ground.
But the RCS had a very difficult birth: the operators never really pushed its adoption in the 2010s… and it took Google to seize the subject in 2019 for it to finally develop.
iMessage vs RCS
Apple, he led his boat as often: in his corner, and rather well. From 2011, while the RCS is far from being a reality in the Android world, it launches its own “modern” messaging technology for its smartphones: iMessage. And decides not to make it a “standard” or to port it to Android, but on the contrary to reserve it only for owners of Apple equipment. With two objectives: to lock iPhone users into its ecosystem and make it a weapon of differentiation.
Successful bet: iMessage’s “blue bubble” has sold a lot of iPhones… So much so that it would now be a must-have for young Americans, and the “green bubble” sometimes a social exclusion factor. On the other hand, and even if we know it was discussed, Apple never switched to RCS. iPhones are still content with SMS and MMS with non-iMessage compatible devices, in other words all Android smartphones.
Apple’s iMessage lock-in is a documented strategy. Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing. The standards exist today to fix this. https://t.co/MiQqMUOrgn
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) January 8, 2022
Google’s sourness goes back quite some time. Hiroshi Lockheimer, the big boss of Android, has already asked Apple several times to also support the new standard. Gently at first, then much more harshly a few months ago. He wrote on Twitter at the time: “Apple’s iMessage lock is a well-documented strategy. Using social pressure and intimidation to sell products is dishonest for a company that places humanity and fairness at the heart of its marketing strategy. There are standards to remedy this”.
With this communication campaign, associated with a hashtag and a “sponsored” video designed by Attn: , Google is opening a new front in its battle for the adoption of RCS by its rival. He wants to get Internet users on board (who for the moment are not rushing to the gate to follow him) as well as his Android partners. We have thus seen several manufacturers of Android smartphones such as Samsung or OnePlus pass on Google’s communication to their own social networks in order to give it more scope.
Texting should unite us, not split us apart. Time for everyone to #GetTheMessage. ? Learn more about RCS and better texting for everyone at https://t.co/e2KYOV1Vhj https://t.co/IZfr5bsNtH
—Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) August 10, 2022
Let us remember, however, to conclude that Google has a good game to pass for a white knight, respectful of standards, facing an Apple who would play “solo”. Because its conversion to RCS is recent: before 2018, like Apple, Google also sought to impose its own messaging services on all Android users, whether Talk, Hangouts, then Allo. But never got there. It is almost in desperation that the company has “switched” to the RCS, after having put the development of Allo on hold to devote itself to the evolution of Android Messages.
Source :
Google