Bad news revealed for Google as iPhone is up[dated
If the latest reports are true, Apple users have just over a fortnight to wait until the release of iOS 18.1 and the belated arrival of Apple Intelligence, the standout feature in the latest iOS release. Until then the most significant update is still RCS, the even more belated upgrade of stock SMS on iPhones.
As I’ve commented before, Apple’s RCS upgrade has a lot of gaps—no end-to-end encryption, patchy carrier adoption, no full iMessage integration, and no end in sight for those dreaded green bubbles. But Google campaigned hard for years, cajoling Apple into making this move as its own Android Messages app lost ever more ground to WhatsApp and other over-the-tops, while Apple seemingly brushed away any concerns, with its critical US user base continuing to iMessage between themselves.
And while Google has teased Apple over its compromised deployment of RCS, it has also left no-one in any doubt as to how welcome this is. But there was always a risk that Google and its users wouldn’t see the levelled playing field they so wanted, and that risk now seems to be coming true.
It turns out, as Android Authority has just reported, that “iPhone users are not as into RCS as their Android buddies would have liked.” There are some obvious impediments to better adoption—especially carrier support. But the real issue is much simpler—WhatsApp. This long-awaited part-unification of iMessage and Google Messages has been so delayed, that WhatsApp has locked every significant market pretty much everywhere outside the US (and China, of course).
It’s weeks since iOS 18 hit phones, and not a single person in the UK, Europe or Asia has mentioned RCS to me. Everyone uses WhatsApp. Android Authority reader comments say the same: “I never understood the whole drama behind iMessage and RCS. 100% of my friends who use iPhone don’t know about iMessage, 100% of my friends who use Android don’t know about RCS. It’s WhatsApp everywhere,” said one, while another said “I don’t live in the US, and you’re weird if you still message anyone through SMS… Our carriers don’t support RCS yet. When they eventually do support, I’ll probably exclaim ‘Huh, that’s neat.’ Then, less than 5 seconds later, I’ll open the WhatsApp app.”
Green bubble, blue bubble….
The irony for Apple and iMessage is that this year, just as RCS goes cross-platform, WhatsApp is finally seeing the momentum in the US that it has long enjoyed elsewhere. “Today we have some exciting news to share,” WhatsApp announced in July. “As of this month, WhatsApp now has 100 million users in the United States.”
In reality, this simply reflects what is happening within families and groups of friends. RCS solves a problem most people were not concerned with. “Many iPhone users feel RCS and the advantages it offers only affect people living in North America, where iMessage is still a big thing, and the green-blue bubble battle rages on. Everyone else is most happy using messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger. Remember, this is not us,” Android Authority says, “it’s what the people are saying.”
Android’s hard feelings
Last month, All About Cookies ran its own US research, finding that “more than 1 in 5 iPhone users (22%) say they think less of someone when they see a green bubble pop up in a text conversation and nearly 1 in 4 (23%) say it’s a dating dealbreaker. As a result, about a third (30%) of Android users have considered switching to an iPhone because of the sheer pressure and mockery.”
And with the current RCS deployment on iPhones not killing those green bubbles, not much has changed. Typing indicators and clearer images are good, however it seems that security and blue-bubble-cachet is better. But, says All About Cookies, “the good news? More than 2 in 5 iPhone owners (42%) have relied on third-party messaging apps (like WhatsApp) to accommodate non-iOS users.” Good for those users—but not so good for Google and millions of its Messages users.
Apple’s decision to persists with different bubbles and adopt a standard protocol that relied on carrier adoption rather than a direct interface between its and Google’s client seems to have burst the bubble on RCS (no pun intended), at least at this early stage. GSMA, the mobile industry standard setter is working—notably with Google—to address security, but that won’t in itself fix the bubble issue.
The big question now, is can iMessage protect its critical US market against this latest WhatApp surge, or does that if nothing else prompt a rethink. Meanwhile, there are some green (bubble) shoots. Android Authority had positive comments as well, albeit not as many. “Having RCS messaging on my iPhone has been a great experience” said one reader. “Being able to communicate with family and friends you have Android devices. Being able to send high-quality photos and videos has been an amazing experience too.” Maybe there’s more to play for after all. Watch this space…
