While AT&T announced that it would use Google’s Messages app for RCS in June of 2021, the carrier maintained its own backend. That’s now changing with AT&T switching over to Google’s Jibe platform for RCS.
Expand Expanding Close
Google I/O 2023 was a place for the company to show off its real strength in AI, and it also brought several updates and announcements on existing Google products. Here are some notable numbers and metrics from Google I/O 2023.
Expand Expanding Close
RCS has grown significantly over the past few years, but one gaping hole in the product was support for end-to-end encryption. Now, after a few months of testing, Google appears to be rolling out, or at least testing, end-to-end encryption for RCS group chats in stable Google Messages updates.
Expand Expanding Close
Vodafone is pulling the plug on its own RCS implementation in the coming days, with an alert to customers going out now.
Expand Expanding Close
A few weeks ago, at MWC 2023, I had an opportunity to sit down with Hiroshi Lockheimer, senior vice president of Platforms and Ecosystems at Google, to talk about RCS messaging. While there was not a lot into the future of what Google is planning with Google Messages and RCS as a protocol, I did get a good look into how RCS came to be and how Google sees it.
Expand Expanding Close
Google has struck a deal with Vodafone, a major telecommunications company in Europe, which will expand the footprint of Pixel and Android TV and will update RCS for customers across the continent.
Expand Expanding Close
Since last year’s “Get the Message” advertising campaign online and in New York City, awareness of Rich Communication Services (RCS) is growing more mainstream. Google is now making RCS even more consumer-facing by prominently surfacing the name of the standard — a brand, of sorts — in Messages for Android.
Expand Expanding Close
Google recently finished rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for group chats in beta, but the Messages capability currently has a 21-person limit.
Expand Expanding Close
Starting today, Google is rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in group chats for Messages users enrolled in the beta program.
Expand Expanding Close
Over the past several months Google has been pushing hard for Apple to adopt the RCS standard that could greatly improve messaging between Android and iOS, and at CES 2023, Google put out huge ads for Android that further pushed that campaign.
Expand Expanding Close
Google Messages is the vehicle that drives the RCS chat experience for millions of Android users around the world, but that experience still isn’t completely done. After bringing end-to-end encryption, Google Messages still needs to support E2EE to group chats over RCS, and it seems that’s starting to show up.
Expand Expanding Close
Google is rolling out a handful of new features for Messages today to make the core experience more convenient, like a YouTube PiP. This follows a similar set of announcements back in March.
Expand Expanding Close
In announcing the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, Google started by making a series of digs about the iPhone and how the Pixel series was first to several features.
Expand Expanding Close
In Google Messages, you can send reactions to received messages with a selection of emoji, no matter who texted you. This guide will quickly show you how to react to messages.
Expand Expanding Close
Before Google’s “Get The Message” campaign in August, Android’s Messages app was updated with iMessage reactions at the start of this year. In a very weird turn of events, Apple appears to be taking credit for Google adding iMessage reactions on Android.
Expand Expanding Close
Google Messages is finally catching up with other chat apps by preparing a way to directly reply to RCS messages — here’s a first look at replies in action.
Expand Expanding Close
During an interesting session at the 2022 Code Conference with Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs, Tim Cook said that Apple customers are apparently not asking for RCS support on the iPhone.
Expand Expanding Close
Some Google Fi customers cannot get RCS to connect on their Pixel phones after installing Android 13. That said, this does not appear to be a widespread issue.
Expand Expanding Close
On Tuesday, Google kicked off its “Get The Message” RCS campaign online and will be continuing with digital billboards in NYC going after Apple.
Expand Expanding Close
For the past year, Google has been increasingly calling out Apple for not adopting RCS (Rich Communication Services) on the iPhone. Meant to replace SMS/MMS, it has a number of technical advancements that would improve the messaging experience between Android and iOS users. Google is now launching a “Get The Message” pressure campaign in hopes that Apple will change its mind on RCS.
Expand Expanding Close
In recent months, Google has been publicly pressuring Apple to adopt RCS on the iPhone, and its latest volley involves an “unofficial lyric explainer video” for “Texts Go Green” from Drake’s new album.
Expand Expanding Close
iMessage is pretty great, there’s no denying that, but adding RCS support to the app would make a better user experience for everyone – iPhone users and Android users alike. While Apple seems unlikely to ever add support willingly, if Apple has the courage to put user experience just a bit ahead of monetary decisions, RCS would be the first step.
Read More
Last month we reported on the rampant abuse of RCS in Google Messages that was flooding users in India with ads, and now, Google is stopping that abuse to address the problem.
Expand Expanding Close
Advertising tends to creep its way into anything and everything you’re using in some form, and it seems that text messaging is a focus for some brands in India. Lately, Google Messages and its RCS messaging has been abused by businesses in India.
Expand Expanding Close