Integrity Notice: This article was initially published on 23rd September 2023 at 1:27PM on our old site; and was migrated to this new site for the purpose of backwards compatibility. An update to this story has been added at the bottom of the article.
New York, NY -- Google launched a campaign called "#GetTheMessage" to pressure Apple into supporting RCS (Rich Communication Services) on the iPhone. The campaign humorously mocks Apple's continued use of the outdated SMS/MMS protocol for messaging with Android users, comparing it to an "iPager" in their most recent video that's reminiscent of a product announcement reel. Google highlights the issues caused by the lack of RCS support, such as zero encryption and broken group chats, and encourages users to use the hashtag #GetTheMessage on social media. Despite Google's efforts, Apple has not yet added RCS support to its messaging system.
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Here’s a TL;DR of this story's background:
For consumers and tech enthusiasts looking for consistency across ecosystems, the recent announcement of Apple's shift to USB-C due to EU demands (a move they said would 'hurt innovation' when the legislation was proposed) marked a shift in interoperatability between devices from manufacturers. However, this interoperability doesn't extend to messaging, which Google and some members of the public say is something that needs to change. Google has released a new commercial, mocking Apple for using SMS and MMS technology, instead of RCS.
SMS, or Short Message Service, is a text messaging technology that allows the exchange of brief written messages between mobile devices. It's like digital postcards, enabling users to send and receive concise written communications via their cell phones. While, SMS is only capable of sending text, video, photos and voice notes are sent through MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) which allows images and videos to be sent over data when available.
People have noticed that media sent between Android and iPhones are poor. This is because Android cannot support the iMessage protocol, because it's exclusive to Apple. As a result, the iPhone, noticing that the Android will not be able to recieve the message and using MMS instead as a fallback to send the media.
MMS has a number of drawbacks including a limitation on file size that is (more-or-less) arbitrarily set by carrieers. To cut media down to meet that file size, it has to be compressed. This worsens the quality, as the video continues to get compressed. Further compression may be applied if there's poor network coverage, and different phones and carrriers handle MMS differently so there may be an even further quality disparity from there.
RCS is a newcomer, bridging the gap between SMS and MMS, while adding new features of it's own: letting users send photos and videos and higher, the ability to when someone's typing, newer and more improved group chats. RCS also brings improved privacy with end-to-end encryption. This works by turning messages sent into secret codes that can only be deciphered by the recipient. Unlike SMS, this means that messages sent cannot be scrutinised by your cell phone provider (which they do keep records of, by the way). This risk to user privacy, considering Apple's stance on Privacy has left some members of the public questioning if Apple really supports privacy.
Update: It is speculated that Apple will update the iPhone to be compatible with RCS with iOS 18, which releases later this year.
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