Android phones, conversely, abound here like peanut butter on bread — heaped high with the corners properly covered.

One has to wonder why Apple continues to ignore the Google-championed RCS. To you and me, RCS is designed to replace SMS as the default native text messaging service for all phones in the future.

Being blanked by Apple is a significant stumbling block if RCS is to be the SMS replacement between iPhones and Android phones.

Apparently, about 20% of Android users have access to RCS. This stat has most often been bandied around as the reason for Apple 'blue ticking' Google on RCS.

However, 20% is not that huge. According to Wikipedia, in early 2020, it was estimated that "RCS was available from 88 operators in 59 countries with approximately 390 million users per month".

In May of this year, Google claimed RCS was being used by 500 million people.

Looking at these figures, one should remember that SMS, for its part, was only used by a handful of GSM telco engineers for years before it suddenly exploded. Against this background, it seems odd that Apple has no more enthusiasm for a messaging technology potentially used by half a billion human beings.

Could this tepid reaction from Apple have something to do with the fact that one can only send iMessages on devices within Apple's ecosystem?

This comprises:
  • Macs
  • iPads
  • iPhones, and
  • Apple Watches.

RCS, conversely, can work on any Android device regardless of its manufacturer — as long as it's running Android 5.0 or later.

While SMS has found new life in corporate communication, it's clear that the 160-character messaging platform needs an update. I mean:
  • no encryption
  • no read receipts, and
  • no fancy bouncing dots to let you know someone's cooking up an exciting new message.

It really is time for a richer text-based experience. And, let us not forget that it was not Google but the industry-wide GSM Association that spent more than a decade fine-tuning RCS before it made its official debut in 2016.

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