Google is silently blocking RCS on rooted Android phones and custom ROMs (Update)
www.androidauthority.com
Google famously campaigned for Apple to "get the message" and use RCS, but now doesn't let rooted Android users use RCS.

TL;DR

  • Users who have rooted their phone, have their bootloader unlocked or are using some custom ROMs report that their RCS messages are not being sent, even though RCS shows them as connected.
  • The Google Messages app does not show any error messages when blocking RCS messages of these users and does not send the messages out as SMS or MMS either.
  • Google famously campaigned for Apple to include RCS messaging in iMessage but is now blocking it for certain Android users.
  • @[email protected]English
    36•3 months ago

    Nobody who cares about RCS cares about the bubble color.

    People who care about the bubble color are tech-illiterate Apple fanbois.

    People who care about RCS care about being able to send high-resolution photos, group chats, and video calls with their tech-illiterate Apple fanboi friends and family in a default, common messaging app.

    Also the non-fanboi Apple users, and the tech-literate Apple users, and the Android users. All in one default app and an open standard. Amazing.

    • @[email protected]English
      6•3 months ago

      open standard.

      Which is why it’s such a mess. The RCS standard is defined by the GSM association, an organization with well over a thousand members. Want to add a feature to RCS? Prepare for years of bureaucracy trying to get the standard amended. Then 750+ mobile operators worldwide need to upgrade their systems, adding at least another few years.

      Meanwhile when Apple wants to add a feature they can just roll it out in the next iOS release.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•3 months ago

        And that’s totally fine.

        It runs over IP and it’s designed in a way that allows implementers to have their own adaptations within their walled garden, like End to End encryption in Google messages.

        Also important to note that Apple is not discontinuing iMessage as a result of supporting RCS. In fact, if I were a betting man, I’d imagine that within the next 5-10 years, Apple will either be moving iMessage to RCS, or to some other common platform along with the rest of the industry. It’s just not going to be worth their effort to maintain and update iMessage while also maintaining compatibility with RCS. They may even make improvements to the standard that allow them to make more features within a walled garden.

        iMessage is legit the only thing tying me to iPhone. My wife and her family just can’t be bothered to use any third party apps (except Facebook Messenger for a couple of them, and I downright refuse to use that). So, as we exchange pictures and video a lot, it’s just easier.

        Apples real secret sauce is its tight vertical integration between software and hardware. Because they have full control over both, they can squeeze out a ton of optimizations for a very limited selection of hardware. How that software interacts further up the stack…I think Apple will eventually realize that that juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

        Edit: proofreading and realizing that both the Apple puns were completely unintentional.

    • @nomadjoanneEnglish
      -4•3 months ago

      You forgot teenage girls and (apparently) dumb women on Tinder, but yes.