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A lot has happened with RCS since that random article. * All of the major US carriers announced that they'd ship Google Messages by default on android phones (

A lot has happened with RCS since that random article. * All of the major US carriers announced that they'd ship Google Messages by default on android phones (including RCS). I believe Verizon was the last one [1]. * Google enabled end-to-end encryption by default for 1:1 chats [2]. They've said that e2e for group chats is coming later this year [3]. * Samsung replaced their own messaging client with a tweaked version of Google Messages on the S22 (edit: in the US) [4]. Samsung Messages already supported RCS, but I'm not sure if it supported Google's extensions like e2e. And as others have mentioned: this isn't about Google wanting Apple to replace iMessage with RCS; it's about Google wanting Apple to support RCS as iMessage fallback in addition to the existing SMS support. Apple to Apple would certainly still be iMessage. 1: https://9to5google.com/2021/07/20/verizon-will-adopt-google-messages-as-the-default-sms-rcs-app-from-2022/ https://9to5google.com/2021/07/20/verizon-will-adopt-google-... 2: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/google-enables-end-to-end-encryption-for-androids-default-sms-rcs-app/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/google-enables-end-t... 3: https://9to5google.com/2022/05/11/google-messages-rcs-group-encryption/ https://9to5google.com/2022/05/11/google-messages-rcs-group-... 4: https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-s22-series-ships-with-google-messages-in-the-us-complete-with-a-custom-ui https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-s22-series-ship...

eftychis 4y ago
And as you can see in my comment "what is Apple's motive for giving up their moat?" Edit: I am not sure I understand why the downvote. Also disagreement should not be expressed with downvote. I was stressing that my point (and Apple's I guess) is it doesn't make business sense what Google is asking.
- jvolkman 4y ago
  SMS isn't their moat, though. They wouldn't give up iMessage. Supporting RCS (again, in addition to iMessage) would make their product better: it would allow higher quality media to be sent to and received from non-Apple users; it would allow for typing indicators and read receipts with non-Apple users; and (perhaps most importantly) it would allow - if Apple adopted Google's extensions - e2e encryption with non-Apple users. Apple loves privacy, after all.
  - neo1250 4y ago
    If that's not called moat, I don't know what is.
  - lumb63 4y ago
    It results in a better experience for their users, but it would not improve their business. It would lower the barrier to switching from iOS to Android. A lot of people, myself included, only have an iPhone because of iMessage. I would love if my iPhone supported RCS. But that is at least in part because it would pave the way to me being free from Apple (not that I’d necessarily switch). And that hurts Apple directly. It also hurts them because it decreases their network effect. If people do not encourage each other to move to iMessage because RCS is more available, fewer users switch to iPhones.
Ayesh 4y ago
To add to this, Xiaomi and Oppo, which collectively dominate the South Asian markets and has big presence in Europe, also dropped their own messaging app a few years ago in favor of Google Messages app.

eftychis 4y ago

And as you can see in my comment "what is Apple's motive for giving up their moat?" Edit: I am not sure I understand why the downvote. Also disagreement should not be expressed with downvote. I was stressing that my point (and Apple's I guess) is it doesn't make business sense what Google is asking.

jvolkman 4y ago
SMS isn't their moat, though. They wouldn't give up iMessage. Supporting RCS (again, in addition to iMessage) would make their product better: it would allow higher quality media to be sent to and received from non-Apple users; it would allow for typing indicators and read receipts with non-Apple users; and (perhaps most importantly) it would allow - if Apple adopted Google's extensions - e2e encryption with non-Apple users. Apple loves privacy, after all.
- neo1250 4y ago
  If that's not called moat, I don't know what is.
- lumb63 4y ago
  It results in a better experience for their users, but it would not improve their business. It would lower the barrier to switching from iOS to Android. A lot of people, myself included, only have an iPhone because of iMessage. I would love if my iPhone supported RCS. But that is at least in part because it would pave the way to me being free from Apple (not that I’d necessarily switch). And that hurts Apple directly. It also hurts them because it decreases their network effect. If people do not encourage each other to move to iMessage because RCS is more available, fewer users switch to iPhones.

Ayesh 4y ago

To add to this, Xiaomi and Oppo, which collectively dominate the South Asian markets and has big presence in Europe, also dropped their own messaging app a few years ago in favor of Google Messages app.