Originally Posted by
ZenFlyer
So, can anyone explain what this means for someone who uses Messages by Google on their Android phone? The AC announcement indicates that Messages is a covered app for purposes of free texting. As reported above, I was not able to use it on my recent AC flight. I assumed that was attributable to some sort of problem with the free text messaging service on that flight. Is it instead a potential compatibility problem with Google Messages more generally? Or some type of Google Messages setting that I can alter?
I'm not an expert on the Google ecosystem, and Google product management are apparently high 24/7/365 because they have like 8 different messaging apps. However my understanding is that "Messages by Google" is a frontend to a combination of proprietary Google IP-based messaging, RCS and SMS. So in that case it is likely going to work with say another Android user where you're going to get IP-based messaging to work but probably not say texting to an iPhone user which will try and fall back on SMS and fail because you're not on a cellular network and that is what is required for SMS. Again I'm not an expert on Google's messaging app mess, but that would be my best understanding of how things are going to work with Google on an AC flight.
Originally Posted by
yvr76
Google has tried to shame Apple into
supporting RCS but the official response is from Apple is that you should just buy an iPhone
RCS / IMS blows. Carriers largely suck at doing standards at a speed that moves any faster than molasses. This is fine when you're say designing control plane signaling, but completely useless when you are trying to build consumer facing applications. The time for building good standards for this stuff was 20 years ago but GSMA failed and the ship has long since sailed - if I was in charge of iMessage at Apple I wouldn't use RCS / IMS either.
Originally Posted by
blue2002
I totally forgot that this is a telco forum and most posters are also card-carrying GSMA members
FT GSMA members unite ;-)