this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
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Samsung has released a new video in support of Google’s #GetTheMessage campaign which calls for Apple to adopt RCS or “Rich Communication Services,” the cross-platform protocol pitched as a successor to SMS that adopts many of the features found in modern messaging apps... like Apple’s own iMessage.

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[–] [email protected] 113 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Unless the EU makes them, they're not adopting rcs. I could see them putting out an imessage app for Android though. Probably ad supported to make the experience extra shitty for us. They'd quickly own the messaging market, at least in the US.

[–] [email protected] 146 points 1 year ago (23 children)

Internal memos explicitly stated execs were worried that if they brought iMessage to android, poor families might buy their kids cheap android phones instead of iPhones.

You can't make this stuff up

https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22406303/imessage-android-eddy-cue-emails-apple-epic-deposition

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The audacity of parents trying to buy something less expensive in these crazy inflated times

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Ok I'll ask, how is iMessage fundamentally any different from texting (other than this RCS stuff)? You can still text. Or is it that weird color thing or checkmark that kids are social pressured into?

[–] eletes 45 points 1 year ago (5 children)

The color is one part, the other is that it breaks functions in iMessage. So the elitism doubles up

[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Liked "The color is one part, the other is that it breaks functions in iMessage. So the elitism doubles up"

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

Gave thumbs up to "Liked "The color is one part, the other is that it breaks functions in iMessage. So the elitism doubles up""

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Iphone users keep sending me long horribly compressed videos i can't see at all because it's not a problem between iPhones. And something about group chats?

That's all I know of based on my experience.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (14 children)

And Android users send me postage-stamp sized videos I can't see at all. Not gunning, just saying it's a problem in both directions (and apple's fault). Also, Android doesn't have the same easter eggs, like automatic confetti filling my screen when someone writes the word "congratulations!" in iMessage. Oh, right - iMessage gives me in-line replies and the ability to give a thumbs up/down/heart etc. response to a single message. Don't know if android has this feature, but android users just get a blank text if I "thumbs up" a comment, for example.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

Yes, we literally have all of that including normal quality images if Apple would just play fucking ball outside of their own ecosystem.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Reactions are a thing in most messengers. It's just apple using proprietary code.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some android messaging apps have the ability to interpret emoji reactions and display them correctly. The issue with photo and video quality is infuriating, though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Google Messages (RCS app) does that. It even works from iMessage to Android but that is just because Google parses the SMS text that says they reacted that iMessage passive-aggressively sends and makes it appear correctly. It's not following RCS protocol, it's basic text parsing is all.

Incidentally, Google also started sending the same pass-aggressive reacted SMS messages to iPhone users for those using those RCS features, so now Apple gets the messages Android users had to deal with for years (and still do, if they aren't using Messages). I don't know is Apple is doing the same parsing or not as Google, if they aren't then somewhat ironically to Apple's intention Android now has the better react experience.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It goes both ways. Both videos and photos from Galaxy phones end up at like 128x80 on my iphone.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

It would be fixed both ways if Apple adopted rcs

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

iMessage is basically proprietary RCS. SMS doesn’t support images, for example. When you send an image via “sms” you’re really probably using “mms” behind the scenes, which has severe limits to quality. If you send an image with imessage, RCS, or any of a variety of custom messaging protocols, you can get the full-quality image.

They also support gimmicks like “reacting” to messages which get overlaid in-line with a heart icon. On SMS it is sent as “MooseBoys loved ‘be right there’”.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

They also support gimmicks like “reacting” to messages which get overlaid in-line with a heart icon. On SMS it is sent as “MooseBoys loved ‘be right there’”.

Technically, yes SMS doesn't support reactions. But you can do what Google does and just parse that text and "turn" it into a reaction for viewing purposes.

If an iPhone user sends me a reaction it looks fine to me, but funnily enough now when I send one back it looks the exact way Apple sends it to non Apple devices.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

how is iMessage fundamentally any different from texting

Not entirely sure what you're asking but

  • iOS does not allow you to use any other messaging app for SMS. This is surely intentional to lock you into iMessage.

  • If you're messaging iOS --> iOS your "text" messages (SMS) are automatically upgraded to the iMessage protocol, and there are a wide variety of features that are enabled without the user downloading any other apps or switching the protocol. It just happens.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

You can turn off iMessage and you’ll be sending texts as regular SMS.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Since not even iPhone users in Europe use iMessage I highly doubt anyone would use it outside the US.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I feel Europe is a lot more diverse than you think. In Norway, which have a fairly high percentage of iPhone users, iMessage is the most used - or at least I don’t know anyone who doesn’t use it by default.

A few friends chat are on Messenger or Snapchat. Signal / Telegram / WhatsApp etc are extremely rare.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And also as a Norwegian I don't know a single person that uses iMessage.

Everyone I know are using Facebook messenger, Snapchat or WhatsApp.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I tried using the Apple app on Android for tracking the tracking thingies. Horrible, horrible app. I will not be trusting anything put out by Apple for Android unless they do a Microsoft and go all in. Otherwise, they will always have a reason to make the Android experience worse than the iPhone experience.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Under new EU laws, Apple will be forced to allow interoperability with iMessage in the future. That doesn't necessarily mean them adopting RCS or bringing iMessage to non-Apple platforms, but it does mean they'll need to at the very least publish an API allowing external software or services to use iMessage.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I just expect them to make the interoperability as shitty as possible

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[–] netchami 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

RCS isn't a good solution. As long as all RCS implementations are proprietary and Google doesn't even include an RCS client in AOSP and doesn't let you use a third-party client it's just as shitty as iMessage. Just use Signal, it's FOSS, cross-plattform and stores as little data about you as possible. It's also not run by some garbage big tech corporation.

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