Google Says iMessage Is Too Powerful

This weekend, the search engine giant took to social media to complain about the influence of iMessage on today's kids. The company was responding to a Wall Street Journal report detailing the lock-in and social pressure Apple's walled garden is creating among US teens. According to the article, teens and college students dread the ostracism that comes with a green text. The social pressure is high, with some people being ostracized after they switched to another device. This is a problem for the company.

The official account of the Android phone system wrote that iMessage should not benefit from being bullied. Texting can bring us together. Let's make this one industry. "Apple's lock-in is a documented strategy," said Hiroshi Lockheimer. It is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity to use peer pressure and bully to sell products. Today's standards exist to fix this.

Rich Communication Services, or Rich Communication Services, a standard from 2008 that has slowly gained traction as an upgrade to SMS, is the "solution" that is being pushed by the internet giant. Improved image sharing and user presence are added to carrier messaging. It is a carrier standard that has not been updated in 14 years, so it lacks many of the features you would want from a modern messaging service. The result is a lot of clunky solutions that don't add up to a good modern messaging service. The industry has been urged to make the upgrade since the introduction of RCS. The US carriers are all onboard, and there is some acceptance among the international carriers. Apple is the biggest holdout.

The public-shaming campaign is intended to get Apple to change its mind on RCS, as the company views iMessage's popularity as a problem. It's laughable that Google would give other companies advice on a messaging strategy since it's the least credible tech company when it comes to messaging services. If the company really wants to compete with iMessage, it should do so.

Further reading:

I want to bring iMessage to the phone.
Apple says that it will hurt us more than it helps us.