Starting today, Google is rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in group chats for Messages users enrolled in the beta program.
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Over the past several months Google has been pushing hard for Apple to adopt the RCS standard that could greatly improve messaging between Android and iOS, and at CES 2023, Google put out huge ads for Android that further pushed that campaign.
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Google Messages is the vehicle that drives the RCS chat experience for millions of Android users around the world, but that experience still isn’t completely done. After bringing end-to-end encryption, Google Messages still needs to support E2EE to group chats over RCS, and it seems that’s starting to show up.
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Google is rolling out a handful of new features for Messages today to make the core experience more convenient, like a YouTube PiP. This follows a similar set of announcements back in March.
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In announcing the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, Google started by making a series of digs about the iPhone and how the Pixel series was first to several features.
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In Google Messages, you can send reactions to received messages with a selection of emoji, no matter who texted you. This guide will quickly show you how to react to messages.
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Before Google’s “Get The Message” campaign in August, Android’s Messages app was updated with iMessage reactions at the start of this year. In a very weird turn of events, Apple appears to be taking credit for Google adding iMessage reactions on Android.
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Google Messages is finally catching up with other chat apps by preparing a way to directly reply to RCS messages — here’s a first look at replies in action.
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During an interesting session at the 2022 Code Conference with Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs, Tim Cook said that Apple customers are apparently not asking for RCS support on the iPhone.
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Some Google Fi customers cannot get RCS to connect on their Pixel phones after installing Android 13. That said, this does not appear to be a widespread issue.
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On Tuesday, Google kicked off its “Get The Message” RCS campaign online and will be continuing with digital billboards in NYC going after Apple.
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For the past year, Google has been increasingly calling out Apple for not adopting RCS (Rich Communication Services) on the iPhone. Meant to replace SMS/MMS, it has a number of technical advancements that would improve the messaging experience between Android and iOS users. Google is now launching a “Get The Message” pressure campaign in hopes that Apple will change its mind on RCS.
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In recent months, Google has been publicly pressuring Apple to adopt RCS on the iPhone, and its latest volley involves an “unofficial lyric explainer video” for “Texts Go Green” from Drake’s new album.
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iMessage is pretty great, there’s no denying that, but adding RCS support to the app would make a better user experience for everyone – iPhone users and Android users alike. While Apple seems unlikely to ever add support willingly, if Apple has the courage to put user experience just a bit ahead of monetary decisions, RCS would be the first step.
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Last month we reported on the rampant abuse of RCS in Google Messages that was flooding users in India with ads, and now, Google is stopping that abuse to address the problem.
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Advertising tends to creep its way into anything and everything you’re using in some form, and it seems that text messaging is a focus for some brands in India. Lately, Google Messages and its RCS messaging has been abused by businesses in India.
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Today at Google I/O 2022, Google confirmed that over 500 million people are actively using RCS messaging and took the chance to throw another dig at Apple.
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In a big win for Google, its Messages app is the default client for the Galaxy S22 in the US. However, Google’s RCS backend might not be powering your messaging experience and that might result in an extra step during the set-up process.
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Google and Deutsche Telekom today announced an “expanded partnership” that covers RCS, Android TV, and cloud. On the consumer-facing front, Telekom Germany users will be getting access to RCS, while there’s a new MagentaTV One streaming device.
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Over the past year, Google has publicly pressured Apple to support Rich Communication Services. The latest salvo this weekend was the harshest yet, but RCS on the iPhone is not the panacea to Google’s historical messaging woes, nor will support lead to a transformatively better experience for Android users when interacting with their iPhone counterparts.
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After critical comments on Saturday, Android chief Hiroshi Lockheimer is back with some “thoughts and clarifications” on RCS and iMessage.
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Messaging is a core part of any smartphone, and it’s something that Apple has really nailed with the iPhone and iMessage. Googlers have voiced their frustration recently over how Apple uses iMessage as a tool for lock-in and while Apple’s resistance to RCS and other cross-platform standards is certainly annoying, the context of Google’s countless failures in messaging don’t really help the company’s case.
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Hiroshi Lockheimer oversees all of Google’s operating systems as Senior Vice President of Platforms and Ecosystems. In recent years, he has been very critical of Apple not supporting the RCS standard to make iOS messaging more interoperable with Android, and the latest salvo on iMessage is the harshest yet.
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In the midst of Hurricane Ida, I’ve found that RCS is not ready to be depended upon, while Google Messages has not thought out all the edge cases for the future.
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