Short Messaging Service, or SMS, celebrated its 30th birthday today. To honour this milestone, Google announced that, starting in the coming weeks, its Messages app will support end-to-end encryption for group chats, a feature that has been available for one-on-one communications for a number of years.
However, end-to-end encryption for group conversations is only available to Messages users signed up for the beta programme, so you’ll need to take part in the beta programme if you want to try it out. Google also revealed that the Messages app will soon allow users to reply to RCS (Rich Communication Services) messages with any emoji, much like WhatsApp, in addition to end-to-end encryption for group chats.
Google also took the 30th birthday of SMS as an opportunity to take a dig at Apple for its refusal to adopt RCS, saying, “all of the major mobile carriers and manufacturers have adopted RCS as the standard — except for Apple. Apple refuses to adopt RCS and continues to rely on SMS when people with iPhones message people with Android phones, which means their texting is stuck in the 1990s.”
A few months ago, the Mountain View-based internet search behemoth launched the #GetTheMessage campaign, urging Apple to adopt RCS. However, the Cupertino-based tech behemoth has been quite adamant and stubborn in its stance, with Apple CEO Tim Cook stating that he would prefer to convert Android users to iPhones. It will be interesting to observe how the “green bubble vs. blue bubble” debate plays out and how long it will take Apple to change its mind and implement RCS.
