Is RCS an open standard? I’ve seen some people say it is and others it isn’t and now I’m very confused. Can you please give me a definitive answer?

  • dev_null@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    The confusion stems from the fact there no APIs in Android that let apps use RCS. Only Google can use it on Android and no other apps can use it. Anyone can make an SMS app. Only Google can make an RCS app.

    It is an open standard, meaning you are free to create your own operating system for phones that implements RCS. But Google doesn’t let you use it on Android, so in practice it’s closed.

    Plus, Google’s implementation of RCS adds extra features (like encryption) that aren’t part of the standard. So even if you create your own operating system that implements RCS, it will still be incompatible. So that’s another reason it’s not really open.

    • Mountaineer@aussie.zone
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      10 months ago

      Only Google can make an RCS app

      Yes and no.
      You don’t need to make your own OS, but you do need to implement support for the RCS protocol within your app, rather than piggyback on Googles APIs.

      I don’t like it, but there’s no legal requirement for google to provide those APIs, like they did with SMS etc.

      • asdfasdfhuomenta@sopuli.xyz
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        10 months ago

        https://github.com/Hirohumi/rust-rcs-client

        Someone has written an open source RCS client prototype, but it has been only tested in China, where carriers do provide their own RCS servers as they are supposed. The author has not tested it with Google’s servers, which are probably blocked in China.

        If you want to use SIM card based authentication, you need to have the app installed as a system app. That however is not an option for Google’s servers anyway, since they need to be able to work without carrier co-operation. Google uses SMS based authentication instead.

        There does not necessarily need to be anything in Google’s servers that would reject non-Google RCS implementations: the SMS based authentication is defined in the spec, too.

        Personally, I would not want the Google’s proprietary implementation to serve an API, but there to be a fully open source client instead.

      • danhakimi@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        you don’t just need to support the protocol, you need a server to communicate with your client, and Google is not here to federate its RCS service with Bob’s summer Github project.

    • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      So what, if RCS becomes the standard I’m going to lose the ability to choose what messaging app I use? I very much don’t like that.

    • _thisdot
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      10 months ago

      This seems to imply that you need a fork of Android, if you’re to build a messaging app that uses RCS.

      But my understanding is what you really need is essentially an RCS server.

    • brax@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      That seems incredibly dumb and backwards. I guess doing it this way helps them expedite its death like all their other products lol

    • danhakimi@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      There is an RCS test app, we could theoretically modify that, but I guess nobody has for some reason. I don’t particularly want people to use it, Matrix makes so much more sense.

  • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org
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    10 months ago

    It is an open standard. The end-to-end encryption is not an open standard, nor are the stickers, those are both proprietary to Google Messages but the rest is open.

  • nudny ekscentryk@szmer.info
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    10 months ago

    Yes it is, it’s been developed by the GSM Association, but Google does have de facto monopoly in the market right now by their Jio Jibe virtual carrier. RCS can be freely implemented by carriers and device manufacturers independently of that, but so far only Samsung, T-Mobile USA and Verizon did so — everyone else uses Google’s Messages. Importantly, different RCS implementations can talk to each other, just like email servers, or Lemmy instances.

    Apple has been encouraged to enable RCS compatibility in iMessage in a loud campaign by Google, but they are obviously not very eager to do that, as their own research shows the closedness of Apple ecosystem and messaging system is a main driving factor of sales. This has been revealed in the Apple vs Epic Games case hearings

  • danhakimi@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    It’s kind of open. It’s pretty much open for carriers to implement on the server side, and for OEMs to develop on the client side. There is an open source client in AOSP’s RCS Test App, but for one reason or another, as far as I know nobody’s attempted to implement it in an actual usable client app. I don’t believe there’s a server reference implementation. And, in the US, all the carriers’ RCS services are run exclusively by Google, so there’s no real point in attempting to set up your own server. Apple might be able to navigate the politics with carriers and with Google to make something work, if it wants to, but it’s really not a standard for us to play with.

    Use Matrix Instead.

  • Suzune@ani.social
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    10 months ago

    It may be open as concerns specs, but in most countries you’ll pay much for using provider services instead of internet.

    On the other hand it’s closed, because no one except big mobile comms can offer this service. It’s better to avoid it. The only way to have free communication standards is to use the good old internet instead of the infrastructure of the provider.