This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
On the tech side, Android users also get lower-quality photos and videos when they're sent through iMessage.
Android users don’t receive anything at all through iMessage; the whole conversation becomes SMS/MMS. I suppose getting major, relevant tech details is hard for an outlet like Engadget.
I think you're just being pedantic here.
I'm pretty sure they meant when messages are sent using the iMessage app - from the point of view of iPhone user distinction between iMessage protocol and SMS/MMS doesn't matter.
The app is called Messages. The entire point of the article is to discuss iMessages versus SMS so I absolutely do think it’s important to get the distinction right in this case.
But the statement made is not incorrect. I agree that a note that it's because the conversation switches to S/MMS would be handy, but they're not incorrect.
(When photos and videos are sent to an Android user through iMessage), (Android users receive lower-quality photos and videos [via being downgraded to SMS/MMS).
when they're sent through iMessage.
Android users don’t receive anything at all through iMessage
Your whole argument is based on failing to distinguish sending from receiving. You understand those are different things, right?
But nobody in Europe uses iMessage.
I presume apple users do occasionally..
I guess this is a way for google to force apple to open the protocol since they can't just open it in the EU, so it affects the US too. But the EU don't have to listen to google.. if imessage is such a minor player they may just leave it alone.
We use it when WhatsApp has server problems every once in a while or for a round of GamePigeon.
Ironically, in Europe you'd be "missing out" on most group conversations if you'd insist on using iMessage, as most of your buddies probably have an Android phone with WhatsApp installed.
I never understood why WhatsApp is so popular. I used it (a long time ago) and just don't see it.
It's the network effect. Everyone else uses it - so it is easier to just use it than to not use it.
Basically in a lot of Europe texting was or still is expensive and not unlimited and WhatsApp was a free alternative and Meta did not own it at the time.
So everyone was like well fuck texting and adopted apps like WhatsApp and then Meta bought WhatsApp. Now in these countries it's the defacto standard whether you like it or not. Businesses, people, and even sometimes government uses it as the default way to text. It sucks.
Because it gave the possibility of free text and calling over the internet , that was a big deal for many developing countries and it is very simple to use. Like I heard some Apple fanboys said that iMessage comes already installed with the phone? And on my mind I am like : How hard is to download an app and just put your phone number you are up and running in less than 2 minutes.
Even in non developing countries. Texting has historically been expensive and limited in a lot of the EU. My plan is still limited to something like 150 texts a month and I'd have to pay extra to work around that, but even if I did it wouldn't be worth the money because nobody uses text here.
The fuck is with all these comments? Since when are we siding with Apple and closed off communications standards around here?
Since Google is just trying to get people to use their closed off communication standard (they added a bunch of stuff to RCS and that’s what they want the eu to force Apple to use). And I don’t trust Google with anything anymore, not sure why you would. The killed by Google website is proof enough of that.
This feels a bit like asking MS Teams to play nice with Google Meet, or demanding that Apple’s office suite (Pages, Numbers, etc.) deliver the exact same product when files are saved in an OpenOffice format. This doesn’t seem to be an issue with any other products…
Apple have designed their product to work well with their devices. The Messages app still functions with non-Apple devices. SMS messages can be sent and received to anyone. The fact that pictures and whatever come through like crap is more an issue with the SMS platform than it is with Apple’s app.
Ultimately, Google dislikes the fact that there is a “green bubble” stigma (for lack of a better word) on Apple devices that encourages those who care about such things to prefer Apple devices. Because Google doesn’t have their own widely used iMessage equivalent, they can’t turn around and make messages outside their platform appear as red bubbles or something, so they are attacking from this angle instead.
Sent from my iPhone
Yes but there is no green bubble stigma in Europe... We all use whatsapp and signal.
I mean, fuck, there's no green bubble stigma in the US either. I have never once heard people complain about it in the real world
Google is pushing RMS, which they would control, and is designed to push you ads and usage metrics back to them.
I haven't seen a valid reason to get rid of SMS though.
It's RCS not RMS and Google didnt even want control of it in the first place, it's well documented Google has been trying to get US carriers to stop dragging their feet on RCS for a long time. They never did until Google literally went "Fine, I'll do it myself then"
AND RCS is an open protocol, nobody really has "control" over it, Google runs some RCS servers but if it disappeared tomorrow (Or you changed the defaults) RCS itself would run just fine on whatever including if Apple supports RCS
ETA: Also SMS is absolute trash, it's from the early 90's (it's older than me FFS) it doesn't really support what we want out of it media wise today, and what it does support it was forced to. It'll send "video" but it'll be completely unrecognizable. It needs to be put to pasture already.
Google is pushing RMS, which they would control
Hardest of hard passes, even if I were on Android.
Again, Google don’t have their own iMessage that is widely used, so instead of compete on that level, they want to own the whole system.
Anybody remember Hangouts? Google’s iMessage that was better in every conceivable way than its Apple analog, integrated with Google voice, could be accessed anywhere you could get on Gmail etc? Dropping the ball on Hangouts to favor carrier pre-installed messaging Apps was such an incredible and short-sighted blunder. I concede that exactly like their many app deprecations/cut-and-runs that did not take the long-term sentiment of the end user into account and damaged their reputation and adoption. And now here we are… trying to grovel back into iMessage’s purview.
It's quite literally well documented that Apple doesn't want to support RCS because it pressures people to get iPhones. SMS is an ancient garbage protocol, what Google is trying to do is get Apple to support SMSs 21st century replacement and RCS support will fix literally every issue iPhone users have texting Android users. Broken group chats, trash quality videos, ultra compressed images, no reactions or stickers, threaded chats etc etc
Google wants Apple to use Google’s proprietary extension of RCS, which runs on Google’s own servers as is precisely as open as iMessage. Effectively nobody uses the industry-standard version of it.
Where's the source for that? Last I read, Google was using the GSMA Universal RCS profile
Google does own and run the Jibe platform as an RCS vendor, but Apple doesn't need to use it. They can go with a different vendor or run their own RCS servers just as easily
Google's astroturf campaign for "RCS" promotes encrypted messages but RCS has no support for this. Google wants to force people to use its proprietary extension, which runs exclusively on Google's servers.
And absolutely nothing is stopping Apple from rolling its own RCS extensions that apps can support as well
Oh, now you want Europe's strong arm? Google? Now? Fuck off, you yankee!
EDIT: Also, we European literally don't care. Everyone is using Whatsapp or Telegram. There's no "Blue vs green bubble" war here in Europe, only America can get angry on such idiocy.
Let's be clear - only a subset of Americans care about the bubbles. And it's annoying to the rest of us too.
The iMessage approach is the obvious solution, Google had a competitor over 10 years ago and killed it. Signal took the same approach and killed SMS just this year.
It's frustrating, because US has the particular problem of SMS being ubiquitous because it became zero-additional-cost for most people by about 2005. The same mindset that keeps people on SMS also creates the blue-bubble nonsense: ease of use and not having to think about it. Signal was making inroads on this, makes me wonder why they stopped supporting SMS.
I have friends who say "I don't want to have to think about where to message someone". Oh, ffs, do you struggle with calling their home/work/cell, or choosing to email or send a letter?
So yea, it's not America vs the rest of the world, it's us vs the complacent/unaware.
I get that this is a silly issue that only a subset of Americans actually care about, but if you think that Google is doing this for any other reason other than that they don’t like how popular iMessage is and want it to end, you’re fooling yourself. Google hopes to eventually make more money when one barrier between an Android and iPhone is removed.
So Google will reciprocate and open up its RCS platform right? Right? I doubt it.
If this law passes they may very well have to.
The messages app supports SMS. That means it already “interoperates” with common messaging apps and platforms.
SMS is the bare minimum. The only reason iPhone supports it is because it was supported before iMessage was a thing. It was also so it could still communicate with "dumb" phones.
Wrapping an internet messaging service with a text messaging system was probably one of the worst things that Apple did.
When I had switched to Android, I was hoping I'd still be able to use iMessage from my iPad occasionally, But eventually I had to give up because whenever I sent an iMessage from my email, my family would just try responding from there as well, Even when I sent a SMS message afterwards.
I managed to convince my father to download WhatsApp (since he doesn't want to use signal or telegram, and personally, I don't really like signals lack of external features like no smartwatch app or assistant integration. And I don't know why not Telegram), but the only other messaging platform my mom uses is Facebook Messenger so that kind of sucks that it's my only option for communicating outside of SMS. Can't really convince my sister to switch to something else (and she blocked me on discord for whatever reason, probably because she's 16 and going through this huge phase right now and I tend to use my sona for almost all online accounts as opposed to my real name)
My family kept complaining that by using something else beyond SMS, requiring them to check yet another messaging app, I'd be complicating their lives too far. But I'm still continuing because there is absolutely no reason for me and my family to be using SMS anymore, and I personally would like to have things like typing indicators and higher quality media back
On a side note, why is Facebook Messenger so much worse than WhatsApp despite being owned by the same company?
They didn't make WhatsApp, they bought it. And were smart enough to leave it mostly alone. They don't even really need to outright spy on convos, just sucking in all the contacts, building shadow profiles and figuring out relations from who's talking to whom is worth gold.
Although, I get the argument and sure go ahead and do it.
I have to laugh at Google calling for the regulation of Apples monopoly but are happy to maintain their monopolies.
It’s be like Apple calling out Bowers & Wilkins for high prices.
Or Bezos calling for more piss breaks for Walmart staff.
Glass houses and stones.
Until Google supports RCS on Google voice, I can't take their requests seriously.
Nobody in EU uses SMS, it stopped being a thing as soon as everyone had phones with internet and you could use better chat apps. So we don't give a crap about iMessage being open or not.
I only just found out this year that text messages from IPhone or Android are a different colour in the US, and people would judge you on that.
Fuckin hell, that's elementary-school-level behaviour 😂
Google and company can go fuck themselves on this one, and I'm usually the first one to bash on Apple for selling overpriced status symbols.
I'm frankly amazed at how much importance Google gives iMessage, when it's not the number 1 messaging app anywhere in the world. Hell, even if you assume Apple halved its report of monthly active users in Europe, that's 90 million people in Europe. Significant, but less than 25% of the total population of the EU
Outside USA and Canada, you'll be hard pressed to find people who give a damn about iMessage, because most are using a different, cross compatible app anyway, like Whatsapp or Telegram, even across most European countries.
because iMessage is probably the number 1 reason for iphone purchase in USA
this will obviously help google gain market share in the us
Why would you be against standardizing messaging over the net? How is that a bad thing?
SMS would basically be dead if Apple adopted RCS, that's why it's important. SMS needs to die.
