Tim Cook would rather sell you an iPhone than bring RCS to iMessage
TheRCS iMessage debatehas reached a boiling point in the last 12 months, culminating with Google calling onApple to “fix texting"by adopting the technology. Apple didn’t respond officially to Google’s campaign last month, but now Tim Cook has made a statement on the technology that clarifies Apple’s intentions.
During Vox Media’s Code Conference 2022, Tim Cook was interviewed on stage soon after the iPhone 14 launch on various topics. Cook was asked about RCS in iMessage and said, “I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point. I would love to convert you to an iPhone.”
As noted by The Verge’s Nilay Patel, who was in the audience, a questioner said in response: “I can’t send my mom certain videos,” with Cook responding with “Buy your mom an iPhone.” This is perhaps the clearest we’ve seen Apple on the RCS debate in recent months, and it’s undoubtedly the clearest Apple has been since Google’s recent campaign.
We can’t be entirely surprised by Cook’s answer, though. Google’s campaign to publicly shame Apple forthis was unlikely to work, and it’ll be interesting to see what Google does next. The debate has been defined by “bubble envy,” where Android users appear as green bubbles rather than blue in iMessage. There’s more to the debate than the colors of bubbles, though, including privacy concerns and the limitations that the two different technologies put on messaging.
Previously, Apple software executive Craig Federighi saidduring the Epic trialthat bringing iMessage to Android would be a problem for the company. He said, “iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.” That appears to be Apple’s stance still, and it’s unlikely we’ll see much change in the near future.
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