Enlarge / Just a fewer of the galore Google messaging logos. Can you sanction them all?

Ron Amadeo

Google has been incapable to tract a stable, competitory messaging level for years and has thoroughly mislaid the messaging warfare to products with a semipermanent strategy. At slightest immoderate divisions wrong the institution are waking up to however damaging this is to Google arsenic a company, and present Google's latest strategy is to... beg its contention for mercy? Google—which has launched 13 antithetic messaging apps since iMessage launched successful 2011—now says, "It's clip for Apple to hole texting."

Google launched a caller website called "Get the Message"—a nationalist unit run with a telephone to "tweet astatine @Apple to #GetTheMessage and hole texting." Google hopes nationalist unit volition get Apple to follow RCS, a insignificant upgrade to the SMS modular that Apple uses for non-iMessage users. Google has been pushing this strategy since the opening of the year, but coming from the institution with the world's astir dysfunctional messaging strategy, it conscionable comes crossed arsenic a institution bushed of reaping what it has been sowing.

Worldwide, iMessage isn't that fashionable (people thin to similar Whatsapp), but successful the US, iMessage is capable of a taste improvement to have Billboard Top 100 songs written astir however overmuch it sucks to person a greenish (SMS) iMessage bubble. One of Apple's biggest competitors—especially for online services—is Google, and Google's inability to vie with iMessage has contributed a large woody to the existent situation. Google seemingly feels iMessage's dominance is damaging to its brand, truthful present it's asking Apple, nicely, to delight halt beating it truthful badly.

Google's tract says, "It's not astir the colour of the bubbles. It's the blurry videos, breached radical chats, missing work receipts and typing indicators, nary texting implicit Wi-Fi, and more. These problems beryllium due to the fact that Apple refuses to follow modern texting standards erstwhile radical with iPhones and Android phones substance each other."

A 14-year-old modular is “modern,” right?

Some of Google's claims connected this website don't marque overmuch sense. Google says, "Apple turns texts betwixt iPhones and Android phones into SMS and MMS, out-of-date technologies from the 90s and 00s. But Apple tin follow RCS—the modern manufacture standard—for these threads instead." RCS isn't a modern modular either—it's from 2008—and, contempt a fewer middling updates since then, hasn't kept up with the times.

RCS has hung astir truthful agelong and is inactive truthful poorly implemented due to the fact that it was created by the carriers (through the GSMA) arsenic a carrier-centric messaging standard. Carriers did this successful the heyday of pay-per-message SMS, erstwhile bearer messaging was a existent gross stream. Now that bearer messaging is commoditized though, the carriers successful power of RCS don't person an incentive to attraction astir RCS. RCS is simply a zombie spec.

In Google's defense, SMS is from 1986, truthful RCS is much modern than that. This is astir apt much of a motion that you should ne'er enactment with the GSMA if you don't person to, though. If Google and Apple ever teamed up to marque a messaging duopoly, they would not request the carriers oregon their past messaging standard.

Google's proprietary fork of RCS

Being from 2008 means RCS lacks overmuch of what you would privation from a modern messaging standard. First of all, arsenic a standard, RCS is bearer messaging, truthful messages are delivered to a azygous bearer telephone number, alternatively than aggregate devices via the Internet, similar however you would expect a modern work to operate. As a standard, there's nary encryption. Google tried to glom features onto the aging RCS spec, but if you see those portion of the RCS income pitch, which Google does, present it's much similar you selling "Google's proprietary fork of RCS." Google would truly similar it if Apple built its proprietary RCS fork into iMessage.

Google's mentation of RCS—the 1 promoted connected the website with Google-exclusive features similar optional encryption—is decidedly proprietary, by the way. If this is expected to beryllium a standard, there's nary mode for a third-party to usage Google's RCS APIs close now. Some messaging apps, similar Beeper, person asked Google astir integrating RCS and were told there's nary nationalist RCS API and nary plans to physique one. Google has an RCS API already, but only Samsung is allowed to usage it due to the fact that Samsung signed immoderate benignant of concern deal.

If you privation to instrumentality RCS, you'll request to tally the messages done immoderate benignant of service, and who provides that server? It volition astir apt beryllium Google. Google bought Jibe, the starring RCS server provider, successful 2015. Today it has a full income pitch astir however Google Jibe tin "help carriers rapidly standard RCS services, iterate successful abbreviated cycles, and payment from improvements immediately." So the transportation for Apple to follow RCS isn't conscionable this public-good nonsense astir making texts with Android users better; it's besides astir moving Apple's messages done Google servers. Google profits successful some server fees and information acquisition.