this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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Google is pushing RCS pretty hard in a lot of markets. It supplants SMS functionality, and in Google's own "Messages" app, it operates in a way that the end user doesn't have to actively select one oro the other.
RCS also has all (or most of) the features you see in other apps like WhatsApp, etc. It has the potential for end-to-end encryption in the spec, and Google says it's on by default when both parties in a conversation support it, but I don't know if that's actually true or marketing bullshit.
Here's to hoping Google will stick with this one long enough for the standard to take hold. RCS is what messaging should be.
RCS depends on having mobile data, right? What happens if I send a RCS message to someone without data? For me SMS has been a backup solution if I need to be sure the recipient receives the message immediately.
Yeah. RCS requires a data connection -- wifi, mobile data, whatever. Specifically, an internet connection. It is, basically, an internet service.
I can't speak to a lot of different implementations, but Google's "Messenger" app falls back to SMS transparently. Since RCS is a data service, it has the ability to see if the recipient can receive RCS messages and act appropriately.
It's also worth noting that data coverage in the modernized world is pretty wide-spread. There aren't really any more analog cell services, and even the 3G networks are being shut down in favor or 4G / LTE / VoLTE and 5G networks, which are data connections.