With the latest update of the Messages app for Android, the dispute between the major mobile platforms about the right SMS successor is entering the next round. Competitor users are now being nudged into the issue by Google.
When Android users send a message containing an emoji to an iPhone owner, the user now only sees a text description of the image. This is according to a report by BusinessInsider. When there is contact between Android and iPhone users, the lack of compatibility between the message platforms of both systems comes into play and communication falls back on classic SMS.
iPhone users communicate with each other automatically on the in-house messenger platform. Google, on the other hand, relies on the SMS successor RCS. This was developed as the official mobile communications standard when it became apparent that messages would no longer just consist of pure text, but should also contain multimedia content such as emojis, images, or videos.
Google’s support for RCS is understandable insofar as this is the official way for message exchange, which should work across manufacturers. Accordingly, the Android developer has been putting pressure on Apple for some time to support the standard. It even launched a campaign website over the summer, accusing Apple of refusing to “adopt modern texting standards when people with iPhones and Android phones text each other.” Users should therefore campaign against Apple for RCS support with the hashtag #GetTheMessage.
However, Apple’s refusal to support the standard is understandable. RCS was adopted in 2008 and support has been a long time coming. In the meantime, the technology is outdated compared to modern messaging platforms and it lacks important features – in particular, it is still not possible to encrypt the content. Apple CEO Tim Cook also stated that there wasn’t much feedback that Apple needed to improve messaging between iPhones and Androids.
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