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Comment by gleenn | Hacker News Reader

Citation needed. Is this really true? I keep hearing about RCS etc but I also keep hearing it's not actually a good standard. Not even sure it does encryption frankly.

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There is nobody preventing Apple from developing an Android app for iMessage. They already have a bunch of apps on the play store, including one for Apple TV, Beats, and a migration app for iOS. https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Apple

Apple can’t provide the same assurance that an android app is secured.

The degree that matters is of course debatable, but it is one of their talking points.

Apple can't provide assurance that browsers are secured, but they allow for iMessage in browsers.

Last I checked you can’t send an iMessage from a windows browser only read messages you had personally uploaded to iCloud.

Presumably they run security tests on 3rd party Mac browsers, it’s a major security concern.

Nobody really preventing GM from developing OnStar systems for Ford, Toyota, VW, etc. cars, either.

My power tools have proprietary battery's too. I buy the same brand over and over because of owning batteries already. This type of stuff is just business 101 and it’s not exactly meant to be in anyone but the company’s best interest. It can be seen in almost all industries.

Nobody prevented Microsoft from creating a Youtube app for Windows Phone.

Oh, wait. Google prevented Microsoft from creating a Youtube app for Windows Phone.

How is a Microsoft-authored app connecting to Google's YT servers comparable to an Apple-authored app connecting to Apple iMessage servers?

How does Google have the nerve to whine about iMessage after they used Youtube as a weapon to kill Windows Phone?

Nothing to do with nerve, and everything to do with self interest.

Do you think Google (or any organization) is capable of shame? I could extend your question to "How could Microsoft whine about Google shutting down its Youtube API access, while Microsoft was shaking down Android OEMs with secret patents and forciing them to make Windows phones as part of the (secret) settlement?" or "How can Apple ramp up its ad products when it rails against Google/Facebook ads?". The answer to all of those questions is self-interest.

> Nothing to do with nerve

People don't seem to agree with you. Google screwing up it's own messaging strategy for a decade and then whining about the consequences of their own decisions shows a lot of nerve.

> Google has been unable to field a stable, competitive messaging platform for years and has thoroughly lost the messaging war to products with a long-term strategy. At least some divisions inside the company are waking up to how damaging this is to Google as a company, and now Google's latest strategy is to... beg its competition for mercy? Google—which has launched 13 different messaging apps since iMessage launched in 2011—now says, "It's time for Apple to fix texting."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/new-google-site-begs...

I don't think Google would prevent Apple from publishing an app on the play store. There are already many messengers on it.

It's the same old story of perfect being the enemy of good (plus clear ulterior motives for Apple).

Adding RCS compatibility would negatively impact precisely zero iPhone users, and would positively impact literally everyone (including iPhone users!).

RCS may have its warts, but I do not see Apple proposing a better standard? Everyone agrees SMS/MMS is about as bad as it can be... and there's already a lot of industry buy-in outside of Apple for supporting RCS.

Get with the program Apple...

Visit matrix.org for a better standard

RCS (as in: the standardized version) isn’t encrypted. Google’s proprietary extensions to RCS provide the encryption layer [1]

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services

You haven't looked that much into it then; RCS has encryption[0], and works great for me. (I have an iPhone 13 Pro & a Pixel 6 Pro. RCS works as well as iMessage for Android-to-Android devices, for me.)

[0]: https://www.gstatic.com/messages/papers/messages_e2ee.pdf

Is that RCS having encryption or is that Google providing an extension to RCS only with their Messages app? And to what degree does RCS with encryption have buy-in from American carriers?

RCS is an open source protocol that can be run by different 'operators'[0]. So it's not so much as an extension, as Google's implementation of the protocol (which is open source and can be added by other operators).

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services

Sounds like whatever remained from Google Reader’s API.

> RCS is an open source protocol

No, no it isn't.

> https://www.android.com/get-the-message/

RCS is supported by most carriers, and over 500 device manufacturers. But not Apple.

*Only in the US. It has some adoption outside the US.

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