Google is launching a new publicity campaign today to pressure Apple to adopt RCS, the cross-platform messaging protocol that is meant to be a successor to the legacy SMS and MMS standards.
The search giant has a new site called Get The Message that lays out a familiar set of arguments for why Apple should support the standard, which revolves around smoother messaging between iPhone and Android devices. And, of course, there's also the hashtag #GetTheMessage to really get those viral juices flowing.
For most people, the problems Google describes are more familiar in the form of green bubbles indicating messages for Android users in Apple's Messages app.
While the iPhone app uses Apple's iMessage to send texts between iPhones (complete with modern features like encryption, support for group chats, and high-quality photo and video transfers), it reverts to legacy SMS and MMS when sending a text message to Android user.
Not only do these messages appear in a green, discolored bubble, but they also crash many of the modern messaging features that people rely on.
To fix this, Google has dropped a series of inaccurate tips in recent months for Apple to support RCS, which offers most (but not all) iMessage features in a protocol that can be used across both iOS and Android.
The company said it hopes "every mobile OS... upgrade to RCS" is on stage at its annual developer conference this year as well as in several tweets over the months.
The iPhone maker has everything to gain from the current situation, which has a locking effect on customers. It provides seamless communication (but only between iMessage users) and turns green Android bubbles into minute chapter marks.
That's why Apple officials have admitted in internal emails that bringing iMessage to Android would "do more harm to [Apple] than it helps us."
Google's arguments for RCS were not supported by the slow and fragmented introduction of the standard, which initially relied on carriers to add support.
But the situation has improved since Google effectively took over in 2019, which means that RCS is now easily available almost everywhere around the world.
This year also saw the world's largest Android manufacturer, Samsung, switch to using Google's RCS-compatible messaging app by default in its flagship Galaxy S22 lineup.
The Remote Control System (RCS) has also slowly gained feature parity with iMessage encryption. It now supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in one-to-one chats, and E2EE is due to be used in group chats later this year.
So, will Google's new publicity campaign be the thing that finally pushes Apple to see the light of day and launch RCS support on its phones? Given the huge incentives Apple has for not playing ball, I have to say the search giant's chances don't look good.
At this point, the RCS-embracing Apple feels the possibility that the US will collectively abandon iMessage and move to a cross-platform encrypted messaging service like WhatsApp or Signal.