Google's new publicity campaign tries to pressurize Apple into adopting RCS

Google kicked off a new “Get The Message” public campaign yesterday, attempting to pressurize Apple into adopting the RCS communication protocol for smoother messaging between Android smartphones and iPhones. RCS is the successor to the good old SMS and MMS standards. In a tweet regarding its campaign, Google directly called out Apple and said, “It’s time for Apple to fix texting.”

For years, the problem of broken texts, blurry videos, broken group chats, missing read receipts, etc. has existed between Android and iPhone users, simply because Apple refuses to adopt the RCS protocol. Google also notes that with this campaign, they are not only addressing the green/blue bubble problem, but also the other common challenges in cross-platform messaging.

iMessage is the source of Apple's eco-system lock-in, so this new RCS campaign might not be successful

Google describes the most familiar form of the green bubble, since it represents Android, whereas, Apple messages are defined by the blue color in Apple's messages app. Along with other problems with cross-platform messaging, there are important issues, including end-to-end encryption, because of Apple's continuous usage of dated SMS and MMS standards. Besides, RCS has been gaining multiple security-related features, such as end-to-end encryption in one-on-one chats, with end-to-end encryption for group chats to arrive later this year.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a green bubble vs. blue bubble debate in the group chat.
Texting with friends shouldn’t be complicated. That’s why it's time for Apple to #GetTheMessage. Learn more ↓ https://t.co/guGdlHT2k8
— Google (@Google) August 9, 2022

Apparently, there is a #GetTheMessage hashtag as well to make the campaign viral. On the other hand, iMessage is Apple's main source of lock-in in the ecosystem. So, it does not matter to them much if they do not adopt the RCS protocol. Moreover, court filings reveal that Apple does not want to make iMessage for Android as this would not help but damage the company.

iMessage should not benefit from bullying. Texting should bring us together, and the solution exists. Let’s fix this as one industry. 💚💙 https://t.co/18k8RNGQw4
— Android (@Android) January 8, 2022

Considering all of this, this Google Get The Message campaign would not be enough to pressurize Apple into adopting the RCS protocol for cross-platform messaging.

Sagar Naresh

General Android Apple Google RCS