Google is once again pressuring Apple to adopt RCS messaging, and this time, it's through a video that equates today’s iPhones to pagers from the 90s.
The clip has been edited to look like a typical Apple advertisement, full of splashy effects and hip music. But instead of promoting a cutting-edge iPhone, the spot peddles an out-of-date beeper, dubbed the iPager. “Been waiting for innovation?” the video asks. “It’s time to keep waiting.”
The commercial then trolls Apple for resisting RCS (Rich Communications Services) messaging, claiming the company is stuck on using “outdated messaging tech” when sending text messages between iPhones and Android devices.
Not supporting RCS means Apple uses older SMS and MMS standards when sending texts from an iPhone to an Android handset. The ensuing messages can lack end-to-end encryption, result in a diluted group chat experience, and shoddier image and video quality, as Google’s commercial points out. (In addition, the iPhones will show chats coming from Android devices over a green bubble, instead of blue in iMessage.)
“Let’s make texting better for everyone,” the video then says. “Help Apple #GetTheMessage and upgrade to RCS.”
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But it’s doubtful the video commercial will make any difference. Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook pushed back on the idea of adopting RCS. Instead, he suggested Android users go buy an iPhone, which has exclusive access to iMessage, the company’s preferred text messaging method.
Still, Google is hoping the commercial raises awareness around the issue. A year ago, the company launched the “Get The Message” website to urge Apple to adopt RCS. Now the site has been updated to claim: “texting between iPhones and Android phones feels like using tech from another era, because it is.”
That said, Google itself could do more to support RCS, like shipping a programming framework to help third-party developers add the technology into their own messaging apps.