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Google Messages now encrypts RCS conversations by default
(www.theverge.com)
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this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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Every now and then, I consider using a Google product, and then I remember this.
RCS is not a Google product but the official SMS successor.
Yes, but I'm pretty sure that Google users their own proprietary model and their own servers. So they took RCS and built on it. Not to mention that Google Messages is a Google product...till they kill it or rebrand it, like they did with Google Allo. From Google's FAQ page on RCS (everything mentions "Google's backend"):
How RCS chats work? When you use RCS chats by Google, messages are sent and received through Google’s RCS backend over the internet. Messages can either be delivered to or received from users on other RCS service providers. If RCS chats are provided by Google, but your recipient’s RCS service is with another provider, your messages are routed through Google’s RCS backend and then routed to your recipient's RCS backend.
That's true, and I'm not a big fan of that either, I'd like to not have to rely on Google as well, but they do interoperate with other providers (for example with my provider) because it's a standard. I don't see how they discontinue RCS unless the whole standard fails to succeed, which seems unlikely.
And since they encrypt the messages, I see less of an issue with them providing the service, it's just store-and-forward of data they cannot read. Of course it would be best if every provider implemented RCS on their own and the Google backend would not be needed, but most of them dragged their feet until Google stepped in and enabled it for the rest of the world.
I don't think it's fair to lump RCS support in GMessages in with the rest of their products, even though I'm also skeptical of any product launches by them these days because they have a bad track record.