The two giants of mobile devices each have an application for exchanging messages. iMessage has been the service of choice for iPhone owners since 2011, while Google Messages has been promoted since 2014 for Android users and especially on the latest Samsung smartphones.
Between users of the same type of phone, messages accompanied by images, emojis or other multimedia functions pass through the servers of the two companies.
iMessage (since the origin) and Google Messages (since 2021) also make it possible to encrypt communications between sender and recipient, a feature in favor of the protection of privacy popularized by the messaging applications WhatsApp (Meta group) , Telegram or Signal .
On the other hand, between an Apple device and Google, the messages are sent in the clear, via the SMS protocol, or MMS if accompanied by images. And they are indicated by a green tick on iMessage, with the mention “SMS” on Google Messages.
For Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president of Google in charge of Android and Chrome systems, the fault lies with the Apple brand. “We’re not asking Apple to make iMessage available on Android. We’re asking Apple to support the industry standard for modern messaging (RCS) in iMessage just as they support legacy SMS/MMS standards,” he tweeted earlier this year.
Video call
According to him, the use of the RCS standard (for Rich Communication Services), implemented by Google since 2019 in cooperation with telecom operators, “would improve the experience of both iOS and Android users. ‘Android’.
Already old – it was defined in 2008 by the international organization GSM Association – the RCS standard makes it possible to send all kinds of documents, to discuss in a group, to receive acknowledgments of reception or a seizure indicator, to send video calls. The device uses the Internet for this in addition to the GSM network.
“It’s time for Apple to fix texting,” Google insisted this summer, seeking to put pressure on its competitor, which it accuses of making its users captive to its ecosystem.
But Google is also trying to encourage the use of Jibe services, a technical solution that allows operators to offer this improved messaging.
“Buy her an iPhone,” Apple CEO Tim Cook joked when interviewed in early September by a reporter who told him about communication problems with his mother, who uses Android. “I don’t currently hear our users asking us to put a lot of energy into this area,” he added.
In the same year, the European Union reached an agreement on the DMA, the Digital Markets Regulation, which deals with anti-competitive practices by tech giants.
According to this new text, which will enter into force in the spring of 2023, major courier services must find a way to be interoperable, a global promise that has not yet been fulfilled.
Source: AFP
The two giants of mobile devices each have an application for exchanging messages. iMessage has been the service of choice for iPhone owners since 2011, while Google Messages has been promoted since 2014 for Android users and especially on the latest Samsung smartphones. Between users of the same type of phone, messages…