Google Executive Wants to Help Apple Make Texts Between Android and iPhone Users More Secure

A Google executive is extending an open hand to help Apple adopt RCS, a new communication protocol called Rich Communication Services to iPhone and iPad, that would replace standard SMS and offer improved cross-platform messaging capabilities.

General Apps Messages
In a tweet, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's senior vice president of Android, said that "group chats don't need to break this way," referring to a sub-tweet about the inconvenience Android and ‌iPhone‌ users have in communicating via messages. Alluding to the ‌RCS‌ protocol, Lockheimer goes on to state there is a "Really Clear Solution" and that he is offering an "open invitation to the folks who can make this right," with the "folks" in question being a reference to Apple.

Google has been rolling out ‌RCS‌ for the past several years, and in July, all three major carriers in the U.S. pledged to adopt RCS, which, compared to SMS, offers support for higher quality photos and videos, audio messages, improved security, and better group chats.

With ‌RCS‌, Android to Android messaging communication will become fully end-to-end encrypted. In contrast, Android to ‌iPhone‌ communication often referred to as the "green bubble," will be less secure due to Apple's unwillingness to adopt ‌RCS‌.

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Top Rated Comments

xxray Avatar
45 months ago
Use Signal
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
@Brett Avatar
45 months ago

Perhaps Apple could develop RCS support using some of the $11 Billion Google pays privacy-minded Apple every year to put its corporate fingers in its ears and pretend Google isn't monetizing Apple's users search queries.
They may pay Apple to be default but I am sure there are Apple users like me who quickly change that to something like Duck Duck Go.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SpringKid Avatar
45 months ago

In Europe, WhatsApp is standard. It's not ideal (Facebook owned), but at least its available on every phone.
As a fellow European, I'm not entirely sure I believe this, unless you have some statistics to back it up with?

I've never used WhatsApp, by the way.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
45 months ago
Perhaps Apple could develop RCS support using some of the $11 Billion Google pays privacy-minded Apple every year to look the other way and pretend Google isn't monetizing Apple users' privacy.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IsaacM Avatar
45 months ago
Americans seem to use "blue chat bubbles" as some sort of class differentiator and a bragging right, so Apple will hold onto that selling point for the foreseeable future.

In Europe, WhatsApp is standard. It's not ideal (Facebook owned), but at least its available on every phone.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jecowa Avatar
45 months ago
I'm only just hearing of RSC, and i don't know anything about it except that i definitely want it on my next phone. SMS is super old. An upgrade sounds great.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)