The problem with these messaging apps is that they’re all disincentivized to make something that works well for everyone. They want their messaging app to be the only one, so they can get all the...
The problem with these messaging apps is that they’re all disincentivized to make something that works well for everyone. They want their messaging app to be the only one, so they can get all the users (and therefore data on them for ads).
The only exception is Apple, but they want to make iMessage a thing, so they’re not going to work to make other system better either. They only support RCS because they can read the writing on the wall and realized the EU was going to come after them and wanted to head off some of their arguments.
RCS is a bit of a mess though. It’s a patchwork of who can and can’t use it because it isn’t just an app, it requires carrier level infrastructure and support. And it’s not a marketable feature, so why would they invest in doing it quickly? Verizon isn’t going to make an ad that says, “Join Verizon! Our RCS support is top notch!”
Smaller carriers and MVNOs likely have to wait for the carrier they use for their network to provide support. So it has taken even longer.
Personally I find that RCS on iOS is very annoying. I have precisely one person whom I regularly exchange text messages with, my husband, and about 5-10% of the time RCS messages fail to send....
Personally I find that RCS on iOS is very annoying. I have precisely one person whom I regularly exchange text messages with, my husband, and about 5-10% of the time RCS messages fail to send. I'll get a notification that it failed to send and I'll manually resend it and it will work. Why is Google and the carriers trying to work with a system that is so unreliable? You can't even say that this is a problem with carrier interoperability because we are both on the same carrier.
I'd much prefer that everyone moved to open systems rather than ones that are controlled by giant corporations who exist primarily to extract money from you. We have Signal, we have Matrix, and we've had XMPP for decades now.
I don't really agree with the point of RCS being a first-class passenger on Android for years though. I used only Android phones (mainly Samsung) during the inception and roll-out of RCS in the...
I don't really agree with the point of RCS being a first-class passenger on Android for years though. I used only Android phones (mainly Samsung) during the inception and roll-out of RCS in the United States and I recall RCS being kind of a mess. It depended entirely on your carrier supporting it so it was a guessing game if your messages would be sent as SMS or as RCS. It also requires you to use Google's own messaging app. This isn't really a problem nowadays for the average user as I think everyone just ships Google Messages but I remember it being an annoyance for some of my friends who'd just use their OEM's built-in app or a third party app with customizations.
The problem with these messaging apps is that they’re all disincentivized to make something that works well for everyone. They want their messaging app to be the only one, so they can get all the users (and therefore data on them for ads).
The only exception is Apple, but they want to make iMessage a thing, so they’re not going to work to make other system better either. They only support RCS because they can read the writing on the wall and realized the EU was going to come after them and wanted to head off some of their arguments.
RCS is a bit of a mess though. It’s a patchwork of who can and can’t use it because it isn’t just an app, it requires carrier level infrastructure and support. And it’s not a marketable feature, so why would they invest in doing it quickly? Verizon isn’t going to make an ad that says, “Join Verizon! Our RCS support is top notch!”
Smaller carriers and MVNOs likely have to wait for the carrier they use for their network to provide support. So it has taken even longer.
Maybe we just need a new standard?
Personally I find that RCS on iOS is very annoying. I have precisely one person whom I regularly exchange text messages with, my husband, and about 5-10% of the time RCS messages fail to send. I'll get a notification that it failed to send and I'll manually resend it and it will work. Why is Google and the carriers trying to work with a system that is so unreliable? You can't even say that this is a problem with carrier interoperability because we are both on the same carrier.
I'd much prefer that everyone moved to open systems rather than ones that are controlled by giant corporations who exist primarily to extract money from you. We have Signal, we have Matrix, and we've had XMPP for decades now.
I don't really agree with the point of RCS being a first-class passenger on Android for years though. I used only Android phones (mainly Samsung) during the inception and roll-out of RCS in the United States and I recall RCS being kind of a mess. It depended entirely on your carrier supporting it so it was a guessing game if your messages would be sent as SMS or as RCS. It also requires you to use Google's own messaging app. This isn't really a problem nowadays for the average user as I think everyone just ships Google Messages but I remember it being an annoyance for some of my friends who'd just use their OEM's built-in app or a third party app with customizations.