topic Re: RCS is finally here! in Get Support

RCS is finally here!

NDesai — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:45:10 GMT

It's about time RCS takes place on Android phones. As per this source, Telus has rolled it out for Google Pixel 2, 2 XL, 3, and 3 XL. Hopefully, it will roll out to more devices soon.

I have confirmed it is also available on Public Mobile and most likely Koodo as well. I haven't verified if it actually works because i don't know anyone with RCS enabled on their phone. But most certainly, the service is currently active on my Pixel 3 🙂

Public Mobile have posted more details on what they refer to it as "Next Generation Messaging"

Next Generation Messaging
Google has added Rich Communication Services (RCS) to Android Messages. RCS is the next generation of messaging technology and improves your messaging by offering a native, richer and universal experience across networks and android devices.Next Generation (Next-Gen) messaging works on select Android devices. It gives you some sweet new features in select conversations including:

Group chats
Read and delivered receipts
High-resolution photo and video sharing
Audio messaging
Being able to send location

What You Need
To be able to take advantage of Next-Gen messaging, you will need the following:

A compatible phone (currently next generation messaging is available on Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL)
A Public Mobile plan with data, or an active Wi-Fi connection
Android 5.1 Lollipop or higher
Android Messages 4.3 or higher

How To Turn It On:
It’s super simple to switch on Next-Gen messaging, just follow the steps below:

Open Android Messages
Select Settings
Select Chat Features
Toggle Enable Chat Features On

Heads up: When Next-Gen Messaging is provisioned for the first time on a compatible device, you will be prompted to enable the chat features.

FAQ’s
1 - Will my device automatically use Next-Gen messaging?
When chat features are turned on, it will automatically be used if you are messaging another device with chat features enabled.
2 - Will next generation messaging use my Wi-Fi or Data?
Next-Gen Messaging sends messages over Wi-Fi or cellular data when Wi-Fi is unavailable, rather than through traditional SMS. This means, if you do not have a data plan and are not connected to Wi-Fi, your messages will be sent as SMS, or you may incur pay-per-use data charges when using Next-Gen Messaging.
3 - Can I just use next generation when i am connected to Wi-Fi?
If you only want to use Next-Gen Messaging in a Wi-Fi connected area, please ensure you turn chat features off when leaving a Wi-Fi connected area to avoid unexpected data charges.Learn more about Next-Gen messaging and chat features with Google.

Re: RCS is finally here!

GR — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:52:11 GMT

That's great! Hopefully they'll enable it on samsung phones too in the near future

Re: RCS is finally here!

maheshboloor — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:28:09 GMT

@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?

From my experience, 99% of my contacts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.

Re: RCS is finally here!

will13am — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:21:55 GMT

I wish I could get excited when there are 21st century platforms that are not carrier influenced that does all the things that RCS brings. Try Whatsapp, telegram, signal to name a few.

Re: RCS is finally here!

will13am — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:23:50 GMT

@maheshboloor wrote:
@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?
From my experience, 99% of my contracts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.

Totally agree, it is a day late and a dollar short. Carriers are to blame for foot dragging. Even now, this works on only a very short list of phones.

Re: RCS is finally here!

chukdefatey — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:33:10 GMT

@maheshboloor wrote:
@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?
From my experience, 99% of my contacts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.

I have heard that Texting is still used quite a bit in the US.

Re: RCS is finally here!

maheshboloor — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:34:23 GMT

@will13am True. Google had a huge opportunity here to just have a 'imesasge' and 'facetime' kinda default app on Android. They dropped the ball there. I am no Apple fan but you got to give props to imesssage and facetime. Those two apps are incredible.

Google tried, i dont know, how many apps - hangouts , google duo etc. Even though they had great potential, they just couldnt get people to use it.

Whatsapp came in and literally took over the messaging/video chat app share specailly on android.

Re: RCS is finally here!

jor123 — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:49:30 GMT

@maheshboloor wrote:
@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?
From my experience, 99% of my contacts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.

I use SMS all the time, as do most people I know in North America.

Re: RCS is finally here!

GinYVR — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 15:01:57 GMT

For those who want to find out more... here is a pretty good primer on RCS and Google https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/17/18681573/google-rcs-chat-android-texting-carriers-imessage-encryption

There are probably a few things to work on like encryption but it is a good step.

Re: RCS is finally here!

fatherburger — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 15:09:20 GMT

Where RCS is really useful, is with buisness. With RCS, you can even order some products, without leaving the messages app. Other companies will be able to show more info. For example, expedia will show confirmation details, a picture of your hotel, and some other links to see more..

@maheshboloor wrote:
@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?
From my experience, 99% of my contacts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.

Re: RCS is finally here!

maheshboloor — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 15:11:34 GMT

@jor123 wrote:
@maheshboloor wrote:
@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?
From my experience, 99% of my contacts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.
I use SMS all the time, as do most people I know in North America.

@jor123 Guess i am mistaken then. Apologies.

Re: RCS is finally here!

maheshboloor — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 15:12:42 GMT

@fatherburger wrote:
Where RCS is really useful, is with buisness. With RCS, you can even order some products, without leaving the messages app. Other companies will be able to show more info. For example, expedia will show confirmation details, a picture of your hotel, and some other links to see more..
@maheshboloor wrote:
@NDesai RCS is great but realistically speaking how many of you still use regular texting to communicate with your freinds and family on Android?
From my experience, 99% of my contacts use other messaging apps. I only use regular text for verification passwords from banks and other services which do not take advantage of RCS at all. I personally feel like RCS was introduced way too late on Android to be widely used. Iphone users always had imessage which had most (if not all) features from years.

@fatherburger The business use case you mentioned is interesting. I would like to see how that would work.

Re: RCS is finally here!

will13am — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 15:57:19 GMT

@maheshboloor wrote:
@will13am True. Google had a huge opportunity here to just have a 'imesasge' and 'facetime' kinda default app on Android. They dropped the ball there. I am no Apple fan but you got to give props to imesssage and facetime. Those two apps are incredible.
Google tried, i dont know, how many apps - hangouts , google duo etc. Even though they had great potential, they just couldnt get people to use it.
Whatsapp came in and literally took over the messaging/video chat app share specailly on android.

What is so special about iMessages other than apple users know about it and they actually use it. The biggest barrier to app use is knowledge of its existence and capabilities. A month ago, I visited a friend who did not know that Whatsapp can do voice and video chat. I know it is hard to imagine but these things happen. We tried a call and he was amazed by the quality and the cost (free). If all users were fully knowledgable, we could literally do away with SMS and calling. These could be 100% replaced by existing apps.

Re: RCS is finally here!

srlawren — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 19:53:49 GMT

@will13am wrote:
I wish I could get excited when there are 21st century platforms that are not carrier influenced that does all the things that RCS brings. Try Whatsapp, telegram, signal to name a few.

@will13am while I also use texting as a last resort, the problem with the other messaging services is that none of them is actually ubiquitous. To keep in touch with everyone, I currently use a cocktail of, in approximate order of most used to least:

Personal messaging:

WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, texting. Was using BBM for one very important contact (my better half) but we were forced onto WhatsApp when BBM shut down a few months ago.

For work:

Slack, Skype for Business, MS Teams

I might be missing a few.

Re: RCS is finally here!

will13am — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 20:03:59 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@will13am wrote:
I wish I could get excited when there are 21st century platforms that are not carrier influenced that does all the things that RCS brings. Try Whatsapp, telegram, signal to name a few.
@will13am while I also use texting as a last resort, the problem with the other messaging services is that none of them is actually ubiquitous. To keep in touch with everyone, I currently use a cocktail of, in approximate order of most used to least:

Personal messaging:
WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, texting. Was using BBM for one very important contact (my better half) but we were forced onto WhatsApp when BBM shut down a few months ago.

For work:
Slack, Skype for Business, MS Teams

I might be missing a few.

It is a huge problem that different platforms are not able cross communicate at all. SMS is no different. Personally I equate SMS to using an ISP sponsored email. Maybe it is a little less restrictive in that there is number portability.

Re: RCS is finally here!

srlawren — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 23:07:00 GMT

@will13am wrote:
It is a huge problem that different platforms are not able cross communicate at all. SMS is no different. Personally I equate SMS to using an ISP sponsored email. Maybe it is a little less restrictive in that there is number portability.

@will13am I know that you know, but I publicly restate this as my prefix for the remainder of this reply: I am by no means an Apple fan!! That said, I really wish apple would open iMessage to Android (and optionally FaceTime, but iMessage is the priority). I don't really care who wins the race to be the ubiquitious IM provider, and given the reluctance I experience from the majority of my iPhone-using friends to use anything but Messages (the iMessage app), I think they have the best chance at it. If they ever opened it up, I don't think it would take long for just about every Android user to "give in" to pressure from their iFriends to paint their green bubbles blue.

Re: RCS is finally here!

will13am — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 03:37:55 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@will13am wrote:
It is a huge problem that different platforms are not able cross communicate at all. SMS is no different. Personally I equate SMS to using an ISP sponsored email. Maybe it is a little less restrictive in that there is number portability.
@will13am I know that you know, but I publicly restate this as my prefix for the remainder of this reply: I am by no means an Apple fan!! That said, I really wish apple would open iMessage to Android (and optionally FaceTime, but iMessage is the priority). I don't really care who wins the race to be the ubiquitious IM provider, and given the reluctance I experience from the majority of my iPhone-using friends to use anything but Messages (the iMessage app), I think they have the best chance at it. If they ever opened it up, I don't think it would take long for just about every Android user to "give in" to pressure from their iFriends to paint their green bubbles blue.

You are probably right about the potential for iMessage to flourish. However, you are asking for something that ain't happening ever. No point wishing for nothing. That said, I doubt that iMessage would be that ubiquitous outside of the North American market.

Re: RCS is finally here!

sheytoon — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 14:23:32 GMT

While it's always nice to see new technology being deployed and supported on PM, I'd rather have VoLTE over RCS.

Not only was RCS adopted too late by the operators, it's also not as useful to the customer as VoLTE.

Telus is dragging their heels on VoLTE, especially since some towers are only providing LTE service.

Re: RCS is finally here!

kav2001c — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 12:47:27 GMT

Are you surprised?

Whatsapp is owned by Facebook

Considering their abhorant privacy and advertising policies I just shake my head at apps like Whatsapp

At least with iMessage and BBM in the old days I could understand the adoption

It always feels like Android is chasing the pack

Re: RCS is finally here!

Korth — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 15:42:58 GMT

It seems like a lot of hype to me. A buch of capabilities which have already been available through third party apps for a long time. Some options (like detailed msg receipts) were available defaults in earlier Android builds but mysteriously vanished over time.

It's good that someone is finally standardizing a "modern" communications package into Android, take advantage of modern bandwidths and raise the bar for everyone. Old GSM text snippets are dated. It's bad that the someone is google - I expect many people will still end up preferring third party apps to escape pervasive invasions by googles's unwanted toys. Or to escape the growing pollution of ads and social media and bloatware which OEMs insist on installing in our Androids.

No doubt this'll make the iOS-Android msg interface prettier. But I don't think many grownups are going to dramatically improve the way they communicate just because they have access to a new pack of animated emoticons.