The latest Google Messages beta fixes Apple’s annoying iMessage reaction texts on Android

For so long, Apple has had a sizeable lead over Google when it comes to texting, with iMessage featuring a number of exclusive features such as per-message emoji reactions and end-to-end encryption. In response, Google released RCS, bringing the messaging experience on Android much closer to that of Apple. However, one big problem that remained unresolved was cross-platform texting. For every reaction on iMessage, the same message is returned again to the other Android user, prefixed by their reaction, clogging up the chat thread with meaninglessly long messages, just because it’s not an iPhone-to-iPhone conversation. Well, it looks like those days will be over pretty soon. In fact, you could end this peril as soon as now.

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Redditor details how to enable RCS messaging on any carrier and device with Google Messages

RCS (Rich Communication Services) deployment over the last 3 years seems to have been progressing at a snails pace. Just recently, the big four US carriers announced the formation of the “Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative” (CCMI) with the goal of bringing RCS to Android by 2020. Most frustratingly, there are plans for a new app and the carriers don’t seem to be collaborating with Google at all.

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“Chat” RCS protocol by Google could make Android Messages an iMessage competitor

Yesterday, Dieter Bohn of The Verge got an exclusive update on Google’s next big fix for Android’s messaging mess. That big fix being “Chat.” Google plans on launching “Chat,” the RCS-based iMessage alternative, in the near future; announcing it potentially on stage on May 8th at Google I/O.
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