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The long-running battle over iOS’s blue and Android’s green text bubbles may soon end More friendly turn.
Apple on Thursday announced plans to adopt a messaging standard that will eventually bring iMessage features to Android users, eliminating features considered by some as an element of Apple’s wallowing.
The changes – first reported by tech site 9to5Mac – will include features like read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats, and higher quality media sharing of images and videos across all platforms.
Apple told CNN in a statement that it will add support for the standard called RCS (Rich Communication Services) late next year. RCS is considered a replacement for alternatives such as SMS or Short Message Service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.
“We believe the RCS Universal Profile will provide a better interoperability experience than SMS or MMS,” the company said in the statement. “It will work with iMessage, which continues to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.”
This change is due to pressure from both regulators and competitors for operating systems to work more seamlessly. For example, the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires companies to make their core services interoperable between platforms. Earlier this year, it began investigating whether it considered iMessage a core product.
Meanwhile, Google, which already has support for RCS in its messaging app, has been vocal about Apple adopting this standard. In early November, the company wrote a letter to the European Commission arguing that iMessage is indeed a flagship product of Apple and should be required to comply.
“Everyone deserves to communicate with each other in a modern and secure way, no matter what phone they have,” Google said in a statement. “That’s why we’ve worked closely with the mobile industry to accelerate RCS adoption, and we’re pleased to see Apple take its first steps by coming on board to adopt RCS today. We welcome Apple’s participation in our ongoing work with GSMA to develop RCS and make messaging more equitable and secure, and look forward to working with them to implement it on iOS in a way that Be good to everyone.
Over the past few years, Apple has pushed back on this type of connectivity. When asked how Steve Jobs would feel about the state of communication on different platforms, CEO Tim Cook said during a conference last year: “I haven’t heard our users asking why we don’t have a lot at this point.” Putting in more energy.” When an audience member said he was unable to share some videos with his mother, who is not an iPhone user, Cook responded: “Buy your mother an iPhone.”
This change comes almost two months after Apple announced that its next-generation iPhone 15 will feature a USB-C universal charging system for the first time. The change comes less than a year after the European Union voted to approve legislation requiring smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers and other small devices to support USB-C charging by 2024.
VP Principal Dipanjan Chatterjee said, “The adoption of USB-C for the new iPhones, as well as support for RCS messaging, is Apple’s way of getting ahead of EU regulations that could potentially compel it to do so in any case. ” Analyst at Forrester Research. “It would be better if the company owned it and marketed it for its own profit.”
According to Michael Inouye, a principal analyst at ABI Research, Apple is also expected to work with the GSM Association, a nonprofit that works with mobile operators, to make RCS more secure through encryption. and bring it closer, if not closer, to iMessage – “something that all users can benefit from.”
“Some have also questioned whether this will open the door for more Apple users to try new Android devices, as communications across iOS and Android will be better supported, such as foldable phones,” Inouye said. “But I don’t think it will play a significant role in the change in demand for iPhones.”
However, this move doesn’t mean that the green bubbles (Android or other users) and blue bubbles (Apple users) that are displayed when sending a message to someone on another platform will be going away anytime soon.
Chatterjee said that maintaining color is an Apple marketing strategy that is likely to continue despite changes to the RCS standard.
“The blue bubble is a badge of the Apple tribe, and that distinctive identity, as well as the company’s iMessage platform, aren’t going anywhere anytime soon,” Chatterjee said. “Instead, RCS support will enable a seamless and improved customer experience for iPhone users communicating across all platforms. The company hopes this is a win-win – their customers will get the opportunity to live in the Apple world, but also be nice to others.”
Source: www.cnn.com
