The creator of Android, Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google, is putting more pressure on Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) to adopt RCS, an SMS text standard of the future.
Google wants Apple to enable RCS for messaging.
It makes the case that Apple’s backing of RCS would aid in preventing some issues when iPhone customers text Android users. Currently, texts cannot be transmitted via Wi-Fi networks, and photos and videos don’t display as well as they could.
According to Google employees, Apple won’t enable RCS since iMessage, the Cupertino firm’s own messaging service, keeps iPhone customers by tying them to the Apple platform.
On Tuesday, Google accused Apple of producing a poor experience whenever iPhones text Android smartphones or vice versa in a website and advertising campaign.
Google’s global VP for integrated platforms marketing, Adrienne Lofton, said, “We’re hoping that Android users stop being blamed for ruining chats This is Apple that is responsible, and it’s time to own the responsibility.”
The effort marks a significant uptick in the long-running interoperability spat between the two firms that control smartphone software. Apple’s iOS or Android power almost all smartphones worldwide, and StatCounter estimates that the iPhone has more than 55% of the market in the United States.
The RCS “standard,” or set of requirements, enables numerous businesses, including carriers and phone manufacturers, to build applications transmitting and receiving RCS texts. Google expects Apple to implement this standard. In addition, RCS-compatible messaging apps are already embedded into many Android smartphones.
Tech companies competing on messaging services
Because a user is “locked-in” and less likely to shift to another system or app if all of their contacts utilize the same messaging system, messaging services have emerged as a significant battleground for internet companies.
Since iMessage is so widely utilized in the US, WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, which also owns Facebook, has claimed that it directly rivals Apple. Some legislators that are attempting to require competing providers to collaborate under fair competition laws have also taken note of messaging.
