Tag: sms

Apple Finally Agrees to Bring RCS Support to iPhone Next Year

Apple is reportedly working towards improving the texting experience between iPhone and Android devices by adopting the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol in 2024. The new RCS standard will work alongside iMessage and bring several messaging features including read receipts, typing indicators, the ability to share high-quality images and videos, and more. RCS can work over mobile data or Wi-Fi. Currently, Android phones and carriers support the RCS messaging standard. The feature is said to reach iPhone models through a software update next year.

As per a report by 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson said in a statement that the iPhone will be gaining RCS (Rich Communication Services) support starting next year. The report quotes the statement — “Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users”. We’ve reached out to Apple for a comment. 

The RCS feature will launch on iPhone models via a software update next year and add a wide range of iMessage-style features to messaging between iPhone and Android users including read receipts, and typing indicators. Also, users will be able to share and receive high-resolution photos and videos between iPhone and Android handsets with the new protocol. The adoption of RCS on iPhone models will also let people share their location in text threads and operate group chats quickly. Unlike regular SMS, RCS can work over cellular and Wi-Fi as well. RCS messages could be shown in green, like SMS messages.

Apple had pushed back the RCS standard backed by the GSM Association for more than a year, despite repeated requests from Google and Samsung. The messaging standard has already been adopted by Android phones and carriers nationwide. The implementation of RCS on iPhone will pave the way for a balanced communication experience between Android and iPhone models. However, iMessage will remain exclusive to Apple devices.

In response to Apple’s new announcement, Google’s Senior Vice President of Platforms and Ecosystems Hiroshi Lockheimer posted on X (formerly Twitter)— “Everybody should have secure and modern messaging without worrying what kind of phone they’re texting to. So glad to see Apple joining our ongoing work with the GSMA on RCS to make texting better for all!”.

The announcement also comes just days after Carl Pei-led Nothing announced that its Android phones would support iMessage via a new feature.

Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Facebook Messenger Will Drop Support for SMS Messages in September: All Details

Facebook Messenger will drop support for sending SMS messages over a cellular network soon. The Meta-owned messaging platform introduced SMS integration on Android smartphones in 2016 and allowed users to view text messages alongside messages from Facebook users in a single app. Currently, SMS text messages appear in purple, and Messenger conversations are shown in blue on the app. However, soon this integration will be dropped, months after it was revealed that the message inbox feature was returning to the Facebook app.

A Facebook Messenger support page has revealed that Meta will drop support for SMS messages on the Messenger app on Android on September 28. The company has said that the change will appear once users update the app. According to the details shared by the company, users will no longer be able to use Messenger to send and receive SMS messages sent over cellular networks. Instead, they can do so through the phone’s default messaging app.

Meta also adds that if users do not choose their new default messaging app, SMS messages will automatically be saved in the Google Messages app. While the cellular SMS appears in purple, the Facebook Messenger conversations are shown in blue in the app. Users can manually switch to another application such as Google Messages or their smartphone maker’s SMS app (such as the one provided by Samsung) before September 28.

Messenger’s SMS integration was introduced by Facebook in 2016 to rival Apple’s iMessage and Google Android Messages across mobile phones. Users who set Facebook Messenger as their default app were able to view SMS alongside messages sent by their Facebook friends in the app.

The updated support document comes months after Meta announced the return of the message inbox feature to the Facebook app. The platform started testing the feature earlier this in March by enabling users to share content through messages on Facebook without having to switch to the Messenger app. At the time Meta stated that over 140 billion messages are sent across the company’s messaging apps every day. 

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Bitcoin and Ether Reap Small Profits, Losses Strike Some Altcoins Like Cosmos, Tron



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Google Launches Campaign to Pressure Apple to ‘Fix Texting’, Adopt RCS Messaging

Google has launched an online campaign asking Apple to “fix texting” by adopting the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol for messaging. Currently, Apple uses the outdated SMS and MMS technology for communication with users outside the company’s ecosystem. According to Google, this has led to users sharing low resolution videos. Google, the firm that develops the Android operating system, also highlighted that the outdated SMS and MMS technology has also led to broken group chats and missing read receipts. Without RCS, Apple users cannot send messages to Android phones over mobile data or Wi-Fi.

The US tech giant, Google, has launched an online campaign via the Android website, asking Apple to forego the outdated SMS and MMS technology and adopt the RCS technology instead, for messaging. Google claims that this wouldn’t hamper the experience for users communicating within the Apple ecosystem, but will improve messaging between Android phones and iPhone models.

Google said that the current technology used by Apple doesn’t allow users to communicate with Wi-Fi. This can cause issues when a user doesn’t have good cell reception, according to Google. Apple also doesn’t show if the person you are texting with is typing, doesn’t display read receipts, displays broken group chats when texting with Android users, the company adds. Currently, the messages are also not encrypted, and the images and videos shared via messages are also highly compressed. It is to be noted that these issues pertain to cross-platform communication, not Apple’s iMessage, where all the above-mentioned features are available.

In the meanwhile, Google has highlighted third-party instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Signal. These messaging platforms work on both Android and iOS, allowing iPhone and Android smartphone owners to text each other without using SMS. Google has also shared some screenshots of users who are complaining about Apple’s lack of initiative to adopt RCS. Texting is still widely used in countries like the US, where users on Android can have a degraded experience when texting iPhone owners, who have access to iMessage.

Google has also discussed the colour of message bubbles on Apple’s Messages app. Google claims that iPhone models make reading texts with Android smartphones difficult as Apple uses white text on a bright green background. Apple is yet to respond to Google’s online campaign asking it to adopt RCS, or revealed any plans to integrate the RCS protocol into its Messages app iOS and iPadOS.

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Punjab Suspends Mobile Internet Services in Patiala

The Punjab government on Saturday suspended mobile internet and SMS services, except voice calls, in Patiala district a day after clashes between two groups over an anti-Khalistan march left four people injured.

The order to suspend the services was issued by the home affairs and justice department and heavy police security was deployed at the site of the clashes outside the Kali Mata temple in Patiala.

“In exercise of power conferred upon me by virtue of temporary suspension of telecom services (public emergency or public safety) rules, 2017, I Anurag Verma, principal secretary, home affairs and justice, do hereby order suspension of the mobile internet services (2G/3G/45/CDMA), all SMS services and all dongle services etc provided on mobile networks except voice calls in the territorial jurisdiction of the district of Patiala from 9:30am to 6pm on April 30,” the order read.

Four people were injured as the two groups clashed and hurled stones at each other on Friday and police fired in the air to bring the situation under control.

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