Chat is Google's next big fix for Android's messaging mess
theverge.com
theverge.com
In all seriousness, how can anyone advocate for the adoption of this new chat app? After Chat/Buzz/Hangouts/Messenger/Duo/Allo and probably more, I can't with a straight face convince anyone I know to adopt yet another Google messaging product, despite whatever problem it sets out to rectify this time around.
At this point, I have zero trust that the application will continue to get long term support or will even still exist in a few years time. Remember when Google said Hangouts was going to consolidate and fix problems in all these disparate applications as well? Google has lost 100% of the benefit of the doubt with me in regards to trying out new messaging applications and it's not worth putting in the hassle to convince others to use it with me.
I think the point is: they don't need to. There will be a RCS app on Android phones sold by these OEMs/Carriers. Most of these will be Google's app. So, many people will have an RCS app, even if it is not their primary app, you will be able to send them an RCS message without needing to do any convincing.
Too bad Google dropped XMPP federation; they could have used it between their own apps. Just imagine a world where Google users could talk to other Google users!
And they aren't going to get people to adopt to a new messanger without forcing them. Most people just use the default messanger, that's why iMessanger works. The only reason I use other messangers is because texting will not provide me the one thing I want.
iMessage (being an SMS / chat system with a native desktop client) is the only reason I went back to iOS. As much as I miss and android community, my top priority is avoiding the physical use of my phone whenever possible.
So while this is on the right track, its still not there. Leaving encryption off the table, at least to me, doesn't make a lick of sense.
Combining Google Voice and an iMessage-like service would have been closer to the game-changer they keep marketing their chat apps as... but it looks like we're still going to wait.
A BGR article [1] is assuming that they'll use a browser extension for the desktop client, which is good for cross-platform work, but the ones I've tried in the past (PushBullet, MightyText, etc) all fell short.
Long story short, its a shame to see someone as big and powerful as Google struggle with something as seemingly simple as a good SMS / RCS client to properly compete in the space.
[1] http://bgr.com/2018/02/09/imessage-vs-android-messages-sms-t...
> Though Google won’t say so, I think that road is fundamentally too dangerous for the company. One would think that Google has more than enough leverage to simply create something that the carriers would have to accept whether they like it or not. What are Verizon and Deutsche Telecom and all the rest going to do, switch to Tizen in protest? Please.
> But the truth is that these carriers have points of leverage over Google that go beyond choosing to sell Android phones. Android is, after all, open source. And though Google can (and does) dictate some requirements in order to include Google services, it can’t dictate them all. A carrier could set Bing as the default search, for example, or set up its own RCS client as the default texting app.
> Perhaps Google could have gotten away with a proprietary, baked-in messaging protocol back in 2011 when iMessage launched. But in 2018, carriers aren’t fond of iMessage, and they aren’t going to take kindly to a similar service acting as the default, especially on Android, the globally dominant operating system.
I don't know if this actually happened (obviously), but it really bothers me if it did. It makes me want to boycott RCS and the carriers somehow. I don't want to reward them for winning the battle to make my Android phone less useful, less encrypted, and easier to toll.
If you're in the US, you could switch to Project Fi.
I think the crypto thing is less about carriers own opinions and more about the regulation that carrier provided services face. Hopefully it will at least have an encrypted OTT mode the same way that Allo does.
Let's also not forget how carriers have hampered Android updates.
So if messaging already happens outside of the carriers' reach, why would those carriers be upset if Google added another entry to the list of services that have replaced SMS?
Disclosure: I work at Google but not on anything related to messaging.
Its actually something that plays against the overall Android experience, for me. Its either: get a phone that has been rooted and has decent ROM support, or live with a bunch of crapware I can't remove, but might be able to disable.
Its unfortunate.
I'm not trying to promote the product so much as wondering what I'm missing out on, if anything.
Honestly, as soon as Google Voice (and its integration with the languishing Hangouts app) support breaks, which I fully expect to eventually happen, I'm jumping off the last of the Google boat. The inertia of "all my friends can at least contact me on this number that follows me around carrier-to-carrier" is the only reason I haven't stopped using Google services almost entirely:
My searches are DuckDuckGo. It's even more useful than Google for image searches because it still has a "View Image" link.
My primary email is now a private provider. The old Gmail account is kept to not miss old contacts reaching out and as a dumping ground for "sign up with your email so we can spam you forever!"
My online storage and backup is private, paid, and encrypted. There are still a few public links in my Google Drive, but I no longer use it day-to-day.
I can't remember the last time I actually needed live collaborative editing for work. I still use Google Docs/Spreadsheets occasionally, but I'm mostly collaborating with people elsewhere in the world and I wake up to see their edits/comments the next day. I'm not sure this bit even needs a replacement.
The last holdout is that sticky Google Voice number. I woke up one day a year and a half back and thought to myself, "you make real money now. You signed up for Google's free services all the way back in high school (when you had to have an invite for Gmail). You can afford paid services for these things, and the paid services are just as good. Why are you still giving Google more of your info than they would otherwise vacuum up?"
The fact that Google's "fix" for its own ADHD concerning chat/message platform(s) has no encryption is enough for me to say, "Nope. Done. Get me out of there once and for all."
Isn't it possible to migrate phone number between carriers in US?
I've switched to telegram at this point and now I have that and SMS. It's a shit show.
What Google should do is just build a shared messaging API that can integrate multiple services into one app.
You mean something like XMPP? (On which Google's original chat service was based).
Hey Google? 1992 called, they want their clear text messaging app back...
Signal exists, and that’s where my hopes lie. It’s not perfect, but it works.
(This is half-remembered memory from a DefCon talk I watched on YouTube recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQSu9cBaojc )
Telegram is a current example of the different problem of "how can a nation regulate non SMS messaging app encryption" I suspect Apple _is_ wondering just how long iMessage will "get away with" that...
Oh hey look, another app Google is going to neglect and then abandon. What a surprise.
/s
On the other hand, I believe AT&T zero rates their RCS messages if you have an unlimited texting plan. (e.g. https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/features/advanced-messagin... > FAQ > how much does advanced messaging cost). Could not find details on TMobile except this article: https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/rcs-messaging-l...
But what if you don't have an unlimited texting plan? Let's say your current plan includes data + modest amounts of talk+text, but you do most of your communication over chat apps, so you never really touch your text allowance, even though you text a lot. now with RCS, you now have to pay extra $ for those texts you're sending out, or pay $ for the unlimited plan. plus with chat apps, you could send free over wifi. so from a customers point of view, RCS is worse in every way.
Google: sms must be broken, let's fix it.
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/4/19/17252486/goo...
It's the perfect messenger for the average user.
I want to be able to chat from whatever platform I'm on right now, like hangout and xmpp previously.