AxionGoogle Messages turning on RCS by default, group E2E encryption launches
pnutzh4x0rYeah, I already noticed this in the last few days… my texts now show two checkmarks and a lock… at least when I text another Android user.
You should also be able to swipe on the message to direct reply and send reactions too
ThenThreeMoreThat’s nice. But without some serious marketing they won’t get people off of WhatsApp in Europe.
I don’t know how much better going to another closed system is. AFAIK it’s only Google running these servers and only their implementation.
Yeah. I don’t really think it’s better either. I just think it’ll fall flat on its face like Google’s many many previous attempts at messaging unless they actually tell people it exists.
nudny ekscentrykT-Mobile and Samsung have their own implementations (which are compatible with Google’s)
ayyndrewI don’t think they care about beating WhatsApp, they only care about iMessage. WhatsApp doesn’t stop people from buying Android phones, iMessage does.
As someone who currently uses Pulse SMS+ and has been looking for alternatives like Google Messaging, are there any major issues I should be aware of?
I liked Pulse since I could send messages from a desktop app, but I can’t install it on my work computer any longer.
I also liked the WearOS app from Pulse, but they discontinued it.
The one bug that I’ve had for a long while now is the “auto resend as SMS” feature that’s supposed to kick in if the RCS chat fails, takes forever to work. It’s much faster to just manually hit the send as SMS option if there are issues going on.
It uses the Signal protocol for its encryption so they went with a well known and proven option, but metadata isn’t encrypted like it is with the actual Signal app apparently so it’s not quite as secure.
A good chunk of my family uses Android and all have RCS enabled so I get to use it a good amount and it’s been pretty solid for me.
You probably shouldn’t send private messages on your work PC though.
Google’s messaging app actually has a desktop browser based client that you can use to send messages from your computer. So that might actually be a good solution for you. I use it regularly and have no complaints about either the phone app or the web app.
I’ll have to try that out, thanks.
I moved to Google Messages when Signal dropped SMS support and it’s been fine. Most people I know who aren’t on Signal or WhatsApp are on iPhones, but there are a decent number who apparently have RCS so – perversely – Signal dropping SMS support had actually resulted in a net increase in my secure messaging.
Makes sense. Thanks
That is why signal dropped support for it.theybssid it was to increase security because users could accidentally be using signal sending regular SMS. The way you got lore secure is not how they advertised the removal, but makes sense that happens in some cases. Same thing happened to me.
Only “benefit” of RCS I’ve seen is the avalanche of spam from companies. I’ll be turning it off. Don’t text that much anyway.
How do you get so much spam? Where are you from? I want to understand since usually I get no spam at all…
Apparently it’s a problem in some countries. I have read many Indians complaining, for example. I myself have never received any spam though (Europe).
voxeli mean sms messages are extremely expensive and when you need to contact someone over sms rcs can be a life saver
I didn’t know you could even get a phone subscription without unlimited calls, sms, and mms anymore.
PxtlI actually have a dirt cheap $15/mo Public plan that has 250MB data and 100 minutes… and even that has unlimited SMS.
Warrior of Ukraine15$ for 250MB of data? God that’s expensive
It’s literally the cheapest plan I can find anywhere that includes any data. I can get $8/mo for unlimited talk and text but zero data.
well I’m in Ukraine, don’t know anything about us.
yeah, all plans have unlimited calls (within the same carrier) but not sms (which usually cost around 2 cents)
yeah, all plans have unlimited calls (within the same carrier) but not sms (which usually cost around 2 cents)
LaughingFoxThat’s so strange! Here in the US lots of people still use sms, and it’s free/included unlimited in all the plans. I have heard previously other countries like in Asia and stuff, don’t really use sms either though, so that’s interesting to me…
blackn1ghtSMS has been free in the UK for a long time but nobody uses it, I think WhatsApp killed it around 2010ish. I think the main drivers for people switching to WhatsApp from SMS were:
- Works with WiFi when you have no network signal. A lot of times, especially back then, phone signal would be almost non existent inside larger buildings, especially older buildings where the walls are like 1metre thick.
- Way way faster and more responsive, you can see when it’s sent, received and read
- Can send pictures and messages! You could do it via MMS but that was (and is today) expensive (it’s like £0.50 per message according to my contract). Plus MMS was slow, sometimes messages wouldn’t send, or they’d get sent to an email inbox provided by the phone network, and/or they’d arrive days later.
- Group chats
It’s also interesting that the top comment here mentions wanting SMS fallback. For me it would bug the hell out of me if it did fallback, I’d rather the message just not send.
Can confirm. With rcs on I get more messages from fucking insurance companies than my own people. Fuck Google and fuck their products.
N-E-NI thought it was already on by default? Or is that just for pixels
it’s not. atm it’s not only opt-in but also requires to actually go to settings and enable it, it won’t prompt you when launching the app
Hmm on my Pixel it prompts me every now and then with a popup, even though I don’t want to enable it.
I never use text messages, I already use Telegram and WhatsApp, and I don’t like that, in the rare case I need to send an SMS, I’m not sure if it uses my internet connection or not.
weird. I had to manually enable it for several members of my family because “they couldn’t join group chats” and “received poor quality photos”
But google voice?
Fix the goddamned failover to SMS you morons! My kids don’t have data plans and I usually keep data turned off on my phone (because Canada), I keep having to turn off RCS altogether because if I try to send them a message over RCS it doesn’t failover to SMS, it just sits there dumfounded saying “can’t deliver”.
You fail at failing.
You don’t get a promotion for blocking a buggy launch.
danielfgomYes this is the biggest issue. It’s caught me out several times where I thought the message was sent but wasn’t.
I’ve reported it to Google. I hope someone reads the feedback…
I usually keep data turned off on my phone (because Canada)
What does this mean? I’m in Canada and I’ve got data turned on virtually the entire time
As in “data plans are stupid-expensive here”.
Ah fair enough. Yeah moving here from a country where unlimited data was around $3 a month was a shock. That said I get 40 GB for $50 a month with Koodo so I’ve never even come close to reaching my limit.
I’m really cheap when it comes to anything monthly. I only got a data plan really recently and it’s bare minimum - before that I was paying $8/mo for just talk and text. I’m a luddite, I like owning stuff. I’d rather have an expensive phone and a cheap plan than the reverse, and at $40/mo a good deal but that’s still pricier than a good phone after 2 years.
I finally gave up on rcs and I’m on beeper now. I had one or two friends that it just never works with and there is no way to disable it per conversation so I was unable to talk to just those people. Hopefully when beeper adds rcs soon it’ll be better.
TwinkI’m on Beeper too! I’m waiting for Whatsapp calls to work on it. That’s what I personally need.
I see it’s currently invite only - just signed up for the waitlist because wow that looks awesome.
Beeper seems to be open source!
How are you liking Beeper? I’m on the wait list.
I can’t overstate how big of a fan I am! There are certainly a few rough edges (particularly with attachments and gifs for text convos) but other than that it’s been great. I use the iMessage integration but only with one friend cause I’ve been nervous to rely on it. The devs are really good at communicating when there is an outage which gives me a lot of confidence.
quortezMLS please come and save us...