Mac users have distinguished taste and as such, expect high quality in their hardware and software products. Google Chrome is the solution that over 63% of the world turns to and with good reason. You want a browser that is safe, easy to use, syncs data and content across all your devices, and operates quickly. Whether you have a new Mac or an older one, Google Chrome sets the bar high for web browsers. If Google wants to look to someone to blame for iMessage's dominance, it should start with itself, since it has continually sabotaged and abandoned its own plans to make an iMessage competitor.Chrome is an ideal browser to enjoy easy, coordinated online browsing across various devices.
As a consequence, the company has released 13 half-hearted messaging products since iMessage launched in 2011. Thanks to a lack of product focus or any kind of top-down mandate from Google's CEO, no division is really "in charge" of messaging. If the company really wants to do something about iMessage, it should try competing with it.Īs we recently detailed in a 25,000-word article, Google's messaging history is one of constant product startups and shutdowns. But Google giving other companies advice on a messaging strategy is a laughable idea since Google probably has the least credibility of any tech company when it comes to messaging services. Google clearly views iMessage's popularity as a problem, and the company is hoping this public-shaming campaign will get Apple to change its mind on RCS. As The Wall Street Journal notes, "Among US consumers, 40% use iPhones, but among those aged 18 to 24, more than 70% are iPhone users." It credits Apple's lock-in with apps like iMessage for this success. In the US, iPhones are more popular with young adults than ever.
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Bringing RCS to iMessage and making communication easier with Android users would only help to weaken Apple's walled garden, and the company has said it doesn't want that. Apple case, we know the company views iMessage lock-in as a valuable weapon.
AdvertisementĪpple hasn't ever publicly shot down the idea of adding RCS to iMessage, but thanks to documents revealed in the Epic v. The biggest holdout is Apple, which only supports SMS through iMessage. After years of protesting, the US carriers are all onboard, and there is some uptake among the international carriers, too. Since RCS replaces SMS, Google has been on a campaign to get the industry to make the upgrade. Google tries to band-aid over the aging standard with its "Google Messaging" client, but the result is a lot of clunky solutions that don't add up to a good modern messaging service. It is a 14-year-old carrier standard, though, so it lacks many of the features you would want from a modern messaging service, like end-to-end encryption and support for non-phone devices. RCS adds typing indicators, user presence, and better image sharing to carrier messaging.
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The "solution" Google is pushing here is RCS, or Rich Communication Services, a GSMA standard from 2008 that has slowly gained traction as an upgrade to SMS. Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing. Let's fix this as one industry." Google SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer chimed in, too, saying, "Apple's iMessage lock-in is a documented strategy. "Texting should bring us together, and the solution exists. "iMessage should not benefit from bullying," the official Android Twitter account wrote. The social pressure is palpable, with some reporting being ostracized or singled out after switching away from iPhones." Google feels this is a problem. According to the article, "Teens and college students said they dread the ostracism that comes with a green text. iMessage brands texts from iPhone users with a blue background and gives them additional features, while texts from Android phones are shown in green and only have the base SMS feature set. The company was responding to a Wall Street Journal report detailing the lock-in and social pressure Apple's walled garden is creating among US teens. Google took to Twitter this weekend to complain that iMessage is just too darn influential with today's kids.