Google has nabbed a notable partner in Huawei as it strides forward in its quest to push Rich Communication Services (RCS) to the masses. The Chinese smartphone giant announced today that it will be making Google’s Android Messages app its default messaging app across all its devices.
By way of a quick recap, RCS is an ongoing GSMA-led program designed to create an SMS-style cross-operator communications service that brings additional features to the mix, such as group messaging, texting over Wi-Fi, IP voice calls, read-receipts, and file-sharing — similar to messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. So in effect, RCS is like a next-gen SMS that mimics all the best features of modern IP messaging services.
Above: RCS example
Google’s push to embrace RCS on Android kicked off with the company’s 2015 acquisition of Jibe Mobile, a startup that helps mobile networks embrace various messaging features in their services while supporting cross-network interoperability. And this helps to highlight one of the major stumbling blocks of RCS: for it to succeed, it requires buy-in not just from handset makers, but network operators too.
Partnerships
In early 2016, Google announced a tie-up with a number of global operators to advance RCS on Android, including América Móvil, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Deutsche Telekom, Globe Telecom, Orange, Sprint, Telenor Group, Telstra, and Vodafone. A year later, Google advanced its cause further when it rebranded its SMS Messenger app as Android Messages, and reached an agreement to make it the default messaging app on devices from LG, Motorola, Sony, HTC, ZTE, Micromax, HMD Global (Nokia), Archos, among others.
U.S. networks may be under pressure to cut commercial ties with Huawei, but the company remains one of the world’s biggest smartphone makers, briefly overtaking Apple in second place last year in terms of sales. So today’s news represents a major win for Google, Android, and the broader RCS protocol.
Of course, Huawei introducing Android Messages as its default messaging app is only one part of the puzzle — it needs as many carriers on board as possible around the world. As such, Google is also working with Huawei to offer existing and prospective partner networks access to the Jibe RCS cloud and hub to accelerate deployment of RCS. “This will enable a faster process for RCS services so more subscribers can get access to RCS messaging,” noted Google’s RCS head, Amir Sarhangi.
It’s clear that RCS has come a long way in the past two years, but there are still many pieces of the pie missing. Without buy-in from major phone brands such as Apple, and many mobile networks still to embrace the protocol, RCS still has a long way to go before it works as seamlessly as WhatsApp and other IP messaging apps.
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