RCS is the wrong one to use, since it is not an open enough standard for there to be a single FOSS RCS app on Android. Something like Matrix or the Signal protocol would be better.
Seriously? Matrix and signal already exists… So you can use them today instead of RCS to your heart’s desire.
I think they mean it more as it’s not only gonna be Google but Apple who are going to be shoving RCS down their throats of people wether they want it or not by shipping it as default.
On the other hand, the era when corporations cared even the tiniest bit for open standards in instant messaging was gone long ago. Now all instant messaging is a complete mess, we users have to deal with a myriad of apps and protocols that in the end are doing the same thing for the sake of “privacy”, and RCS will not fix that. Nor Signal, truth be told.
I yearn the glory days of multi-protocol IM apps like Pidgin and Trident on Android (though +IM seems to still be a thing) - when you could use whatever you wanted without “missing features” or risking to be banned.
RCS is the wrong one to use
For you. I have relatives with iPhones I don’t talk to frequently but when we get together and somebody takes a group photo it’s annoying. Being able to just text a decent resolution photo without people needing to download an app is a win.
I’ll continue to use Signal with friends and family I talk to regularly.
This right here. I have to have my mom send videos of the grandkids to my work iPhone because my personal Android received them heavily pixelated and compressed.
If Apple implemented the Matrix or Signal protocol it would still work the same way for you, while not forcing other Android users to use on Google or Samsung’s proprietary apps, those being the only options for RCS.
Huh? No it wouldn’t. If Apple implemented the Signal protocol they would still have to publish an iMessage app to the Play Store for Android users.
Call Google’s messaging app proprietary all you want but at least their implementation of RCS is E2E encrypted.
RCS is an open standard, but Google’s implementation of it isn’t AFAIK. That’s why there exist no 3rd party RCS client outside of those praised by Google.
Are those carrier apps FOSS? Are they on F-Droid? How do you install them? If not, it’s not really any better.
- why an ios article on c/android, 2) why RCS? SMS was a good system for what it did, so does that automatically create an obligation to mess it up?
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Most Android phones use RCS, so it’s on-subject here since most of us don’t pay attention to iPhone news - and is welcomed news because of #2’s answer
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You ever been in a low or no signal area, but have wifi, and try to text an iPhone user? Ever try to send/receive photos/videos with an iPhone and they look like garbage? Tired of getting SMS’s in group chats of “Mom loved ‘Please poop in the toilet next time, we are tired of cleaning it up’” instead of it just “hearting” the SMS message? A lot of new tech coming out today started from something that “was good” and was built on to make it better.
The thing about SMS is that it sometimes worked in low signal situations where voice and internet didn’t get through. That is a virtue that shouldn’t be given up easily. If anything its reliability should be enhanced. It’s fine to also support a fancier chat scheme as well, but a robust, 1-to-1 text-only mode is important.
At least with Google messages, you can still send normal SMS if your RCS chat can’t go through. I think there’s an option for it to automatically resend as SMS if RCS fails, too.
I guess there’s no way of knowing if SMS will eventually drop out of fashion, but it would be good to keep around so it probably will stay around as a back up
Edit: well, I didn’t see the other response say basically what I said, oops
Right, I haven’t seen any of them say they are doing away with SMS. Even Android who has RCS in place also has SMS along side it, RCS is just an enhancement.
Even with RCS on both major platforms in the near future, a lot of automations and companies will continue to utilize SMS, and I’d bet that’s true for a long time.
Isn’t RCS fully controlled by Google now, with encryption only if the messages first go through Google’s servers so they can scrape their sweet sweet advertising keywords?
Lol, the ios users will still be subjected to the eye-fucking shade of green when chatting with android users. Apple sure loves to mess with their users.
I find the green just fine! It’s my favorite color. I’m just happy I’ll be able to send high quality videos to my Android friends who refuse to download signal!
Are you using the default shade of green, or did you enable higher contrast setting in accessibility? I hear it helps with readability.
