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Malus pumila plans to tote up backup for the RCS standard on iOS next year , the iPhone - maker said Thursday in a major reversal that would correct the far-flung egress of compatibility in text messaging between iPhones and Android smartphones , but stop over short of eliminate what isknown informally as the “ greenish bubble ” apprehensiveness .
Apple ’s longstanding unwillingness to keep going RCS has perpetuated fragmentation in messaging ecosystem , particularly involve Android exploiter , critics have contend over the years . Apple ’s position , often seen as maintaining ecosystem exclusivity , stirred debate in the technical school residential district over interoperability and user appliance .
Well , no more . In anabrupt announcementtoday , Apple say it , too , believes that “ RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS . ” The society , which plan to roll out the support next year , added : “ This will work alongside iMessage , which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users . ”
The major black eye follows Google ’s repeated request — andpublic pressureon — Malus pumila to add living for RCS to iPhones . “ hoi polloi have peach about ‘ green bubble ’ as an Android trouble , ” Hiroshi Lockheimer , SVP at Google , tweetedlast class , referring to the visual differentiation seen when a subject matter is sent from an Android user to an iPhone , where it appears in a green house of cards .
While Apple plans to adopt RCS , it has confirmed that those message willstill be displayedin green bubbles .
“ We ’re not asking Apple to make iMessage available on Android . We ’re involve Apple to support the industry standard for New electronic messaging ( RCS ) in iMessage , just as they support the old SMS / MMS standard . By not incorporating RCS , Apple is holding back the industry and hold back the user experience for not only Android users but also their own customers , ” he pinch .
Apple , too , has n’t been diffident about its feeling on RCS . Apple headman Tim Cook dismissed the idea of his party adopting RCS in iMessage a twelvemonth ago , and suggested the enquirer at a conference tobuy their mommy an iPhone .
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Rich Communication Services , or RCS , is the collective attempt of a number of industriousness instrumentalist to pressurize the traditional Master of Science with modernistic features such as richer texts and oddment - to - end encryption . Google , Samsung and a number of other business firm , admit telecom operator , have rolled out financial support for RCS to over 800 millions users worldwide in recent years .
critic indicate that the break in group Old World chat and interactions between Android and iPhone users has historically deter many from transitioning to Android smartphones — and it ’s by design . This tactic fall to light in Apple ’s effectual battle with Epic Games , where inner discussions revealed a witting conclusion to keep iMessage within its ecosystem .
During the effectual contravention , a wealthiness of internal Apple documents became accessible to the world . These document divulge a prolonged inner argumentation about introduce iMessage to mechanical man - operated equipment . “ In the absence of a strategy to become the chief messaging service for mass of cell speech sound user , I am concerned the iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove obstacle to iPhone family giving their kids Android phones , ” Craig Federighi , Apple ’s chief software executive director , order in a 2013 email .
Phil Schiller , the then marketing chieftain , echoed this sentiment in 2016 , advising Cook in an email , “ move iMessage to Android will hurt us more than assist us . ” That same yr , an email from a former Apple administrator cautioned that iMessage create meaning user retentivity , describing it as “ serious ringlet - in . ”
Apple ’s Thursday decisiveness , coincidentally , come after Google and many telecom operators recentlyurging EU regulatorsto make Apple designate iMessage as a “ core ” service under the newfangled Digital Markets Act , forcing the iPhone - maker to make the chat app fully compatible with rivals . As TechCrunch first cover this month , Apple has disclose in a filing that it “ ask to make ” several insurance policy changes to comply with the novel guidelines that go into gist next year .
