Google is reviewing the “Receive the message” advertising campaign began last year to pressure Apple to adopt the Rich Communication Services, or RCS, messaging protocol. The latest installment includes new content and a cheesy video advertising a fake “iPager” device – a blow to Apple for turning iMessage text messages sent to Android devices into old-fashioned SMS and MMS.
“iPager isn’t real, but the problems Apple causes using SMS are,” Google said in the video’s description on YouTube. “Let’s make texting better for everyone and help Apple #GetTheMessage and upgrade to RCS.”
RCS offers several messaging enhancements, including end-to-end encryption, read receipts, and the ability to share high-resolution photos and videos. iMessage offers similar features but only for messages sent between other iMessage users, causing Android users to be seen as bother green message bubble in group messages, a real problem in countries like the United States, where more than half of the population uses an iPhone.
Carriers and phone makers like Samsung have already adopted RCS technology, but Apple’s commitment to its own iMessage standard has drawn the ire of Google for some time now. In January last year, Google senior vice president Hiroshi Lockheimer criticized Apple for “restricting the user experience” for customers. Apple hasn’t changed its stance despite gleeful bullying from Google: Last year at the Code Conference, Tim Cook said that anyone frustrated by its green message bubbles should just buy an iPhone.
Court documents from Apple’s legal dispute with Epic Games in 2021 revealed that the iPhone maker sees its iMessage platform as a key service for locking customers into its ecosystem and that it believes moving iMessage to Android “would hurt us more than help us.” ”. Therefore, providing Android users with an iMessage-like experience by adopting RCS is probably not among Apple’s priorities.
