Imagine cross-platform RCS support built into Signal. 🥹💭

Samsung Messages is the only other, right?

Glad that you emphasized Europe. Here in the states where iMessage is dominant, it'll make a difference.

At the end of the day it's not a bad thing. I'm also waiting for details with compatibility to be ironed out, but it's a start.

Just surprised at the whole negative energy with this announcement considering this was a "when pigs fly" or "when hell freezes over" sorta thing. Again, it's a start and hopefully Google opens it up (even if forcibly by the EU) down the road.

I care. Switched to iPhone and RCS is the one thing I miss.

People who aren’t using SMS now (Europe) will continue to not use RCS either.

We're all already on RCS in Europe. And you know what? Nobody cares. Or truly knows. Nobody opens their Messages, iMessage, whateveritbemessage.

+1 And why XMPP was always a better answer.

I don't think Apple will need (or want) to do anything "malicious" since Apple is implementing RCS the standard which between the carriers and Google mismanaging and fragmenting messaging for years - see: X carrier phones can only send RCS messages to X carrier phones, Google's implementation is not the RCS standard and is partially proprietary - it'll take a while to get S.S. RCS, The Standard steered right.

I hope Apple's involvement is ironically a kick in the butt to get everyone on the same page and get a standard rather than the current "Google iMessage" solution.

Edit: Typo

There aren't any because there's no point. And no, I hope this won't be the standard.

There are two things called "RCS": there's a theoretical specification; and exactly one implementation that has managed to get any real traction, and that's purely because it's pushed by Google.

The RCS spec was attempted by various companies and all implementations died when they figured out they'd have to make them compatible and open their servers to each other. Even if they wanted to it would be a mess.

SMS succeeded because it doesn't need servers, it's just pieces of text being sent around.

Google is the only one still pushing their RCS because they figure if they tie their version of it into Android they will own the messaging on Android forever. They don't want interoperability either.

If Google gets their way and their RCS becomes the EU standard it will lock the EU into a proprietary platform from one of the most vile data predators in the world.

There's no point in making a FOSS implementation of RCS because the spec is highly dependent on who runs the servers. The only way it would make sense is if the EU would dictate a spec and force everybody to follow it and open their servers. In that take on things FOSS would be ideal.

would much prefer matrix as the standard

If they did, it wouldn't work on Android. There's no user-level API. So only apps that come bundled with the phone can use the API.

RCS is like sms2.0, it supports better group chats, larger higher quality file transfers, read receipts... That sorta thing

For carriers it is a way to extend the (in my opinion outdated) idea of carrier-based chat system.

For Google it is a way to switch messaging on Android to their proprietary app, at least for some time, as other of their projects falied.

For users it is a way for people using Android certified by Google to normally message people using iPhone and it's preinstalled chat app.