The DOJ says Apple is an illegal monopoly.
Case file: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.544402/gov.uscourts.njd.544402.86.1.pdf
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There isn’t an alternative open messaging standard for them to use. Everything people consider “RCS being better” is proprietary Google shit.
There are plenty of open source messaging protocols that vary in features, maturity, security, and privacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messaging_protocols
The whole point of text messaging is that the number is all you need and the recipient is guaranteed to get it. That cannot be done without the carriers intermediating. It’s a completely obligatory feature.
The only actual options that Apple is capable of using with that compatibility in the US are RCS or SMS/MMS. They were slow with RCS, but the reason for that is because RCS doesn’t support any of the stuff people are complaining about. Google’s proprietary RCS extensions do, and dealing with Google’s proprietary extensions would be a massive betrayal of their user’s trust.
It’s not a question of if, but when. DMA from EU requires chat apps interoperability between gatekeepers no later than 2026. And while Apple avoided being put on the list for iMessage yet, it’s close to the line.
Just look at WhatsApp https://www.wired.com/story/whatsapp-interoperability-messaging/ as an example.
And Apple wanted to make their iMessage open protocol, but nobody cared about it.
I’m well aware, but that’s an entirely different environment. Everyone being required to cooperate is completely different than expecting Apple to somehow make RCS not dogshit on its own.
If Apple can’t figure it out with their unlimited R&D budget, then they are failing on purpose. They have full control over all aspects of hardware, kernel, software, and ecosystem. You literally can’t have a better advantage to create a new popular standard than this.
It has literally nothing to do with R&D.
You can’t make other companies cooperate with you. Google’s proprietary RCS extensions are exactly identical to iMessage, and “we’ll let you use the extensions we control” from Google is not something it could have ever been acceptable for Apple to engage with.
They don’t need to use Google proprietary extensions to enhance RCS, they can build their own. The standard is semi-open, and can be extended the same way Google did. Or, like I said, they can use a completely different standard and make it interoperable with RCS. And yes, R&D is pointless if the goal from the onset is to fail.
