Rich Communication Service, or RCS, is an advanced messaging standard that seeks to eliminate the archaic text messaging standard or SMS/MMS. Whilesecure RCS messaginghas been supported by Android for a while now, Apple has been rather skepticalabout adopting this standard. Google never misses an opportunity to poke fun at the iPhone maker for its hypocrisy in claiming to be for security but continuing to resist the use of RCS messaging. We’ve already seen a few quirky campaigns by the search giant as part of the #GetTheMessage campaign. Google has now come up with another gem, likening Apple’s resistance to a gadget from the years past.
In the latest video posted to YouTube, Google introduces us to theiPager, complete with peppy music and the obvious hyping up of features that many would consider stale, using the example of thebelt clip. The word innovation makes it into the video, too, leaving no doubt who this refers to, although iPager is already a dead giveaway.
This 72-second video then goes on to talk about some of the common problems associated with standard SMS, including the lack of encryption, broken group chats, pixelated videos when shared via MMS, and the dreaded green bubble. The video description then explains - “iPager isn’t real, but the problems that Apple causes by using SMS are.” Viewers are encouraged to “help Apple #GetTheMessage” and spread the word around, followed by a URL to Google’slanding pagefor the campaign.
While it’s pretty clear at this point that Apple is in no mood to move towards RCS adoption on iPhones, Google intends to make this a key differentiator for people still on the fence about Android and iOS. It was largely expected thatEuropean regulators would compelApple’s iMessage to adopt this more secure messaging standard with the Digital Markets Act. However, despite initially being designated a gatekeeper service — based on factors like the number of users, among others — therecently posted list of gatekeeper servicesdidn’t mention iMessage in the list, suggesting that the company’s criticisms of the initial designation may have worked.
This could be a temporary reprieve for Apple, though, as the European Commission (EC) is expected to go over these gatekeeper designations again in roughly four to five months from now. But as it stands, Apple is in no hurry to get RCS onto iMessage, though that could potentially change in 2024.
For reference, companies like Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta, and Microsoft have been recognized as gatekeepers by the EC, while products like WhatsApp, Instagram, Safari, Google Search, YouTube, etc., have been identified as gatekeeper services across their respective categories.
