Google recently announced that it will add E2EE end-to-end encrypted group chat service to its RCS SMS to ensure the security of SMS content delivery, and finally announced earlier that it will provide a testing experience in beta form.
The RCS text message promoted by Google has added E2EE end-to-end encryption function since November 2020, but at that time it was mainly for encrypting the content of single-person messaging. It was not announced to join the group chat service until Google I/O 2022 this year. encryption and is expected to be tested in the next few weeks.
At present, many telecom operators have added support for the RCS text message format promoted by Google, which is expected to replace the SMS text message service that has been used for more than 30 years in the past, allowing users to deliver richer multimedia content through text messages, and even through text messages Share high-quality photos or videos, or perform more online interactive functions through text messages.
However, Apple has always allowed iPhone and other devices to use iMessage. At the same time, it also believes that adding iMessage to the Android system will cause more harm than good. Therefore, people who use Android mobile phones for messaging are likely to be “isolated” by those who use iPhones. “The reason is that the text messages sent from the iPhone to the Android mobile terminal will only be presented in the form of traditional SMS or MMS (and presented in a blue background), and the content such as stickers cannot be used, and the content of the text message is not protected by encryption.
Google, on the other hand, has repeatedly criticized Apple’s statement, believing that Apple hinders the development of equal use of SMS services, and even believes that its iMessage service has caused more gaps in user experience and affects the interaction between users.