Android Users Finally Get Their iMessage

Google unveils a new universal texting standard for Android users that's a lot like iMessage. It will have read receipts, typing indicators plus full resolution pictures and videos.Read the Verge exclusive.Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontechNEW! You can add the Rich on Tech Daily Update to your Alexa Flash Briefing! Just search for the "Rich on Tech" skill in your Alexa app and add it to your briefing! You'll get a daily dose of tech news each day and a longer show on the weekends!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Android devices finally get their own I message I'm rich
jamiro this is rich on tech. Daily texting on an
iPhone is a complete joy. You can see when messages
are delivered, when they're read, and you can even send
large pictures and videos with ease. Now, I might not
agree with how I message hijacks your phone number to
do all this, but it works for millions of people

(00:25):
and they love it. I'm like Android, where texting is
a total mess case in point, you have no idea
if your messages are ever delivered or seen. Pictures are
sent as tiny attachments, and don't even start with videos.
They look so bad on the other end, you might
as well have taken them on a phone in the nineties. Now,
Google says it has finally figured things out with a

(00:46):
new service called Chat. And before you say no way,
I am not signing up for yet another Google messaging
app or a new service, the good news is you
don't have to. That's because Chat is not a new app.
It's a new set of texting standards that carriers around
the world are now finally agreeing to think of it
as texting two point zero. Chat is the friendly consumer

(01:08):
facing household name but on the back end, it's really
OURCS or rich Communication services. Google has been talking it
up for years, but it seems like they finally got
the support of major carriers here in the US, including
AT and T, Verizon, Sprint, and T Mobile, plus dozens
around the world. Now The Verge has the full, long
and exclusive story, but basically, Google is going to pause

(01:30):
work on its other chat app called Alo to go
all in on support for Chat on Android phones, specifically
with an app called Android Messages. Chat is going to
let you see when people read your texts and when
they're typing back. Plus you can group text with ease
and send full resolution pictures and videos. There is one
big change. All of your messages will now be sent

(01:52):
using data instead of your text messaging allowance, So if
you send a giant video, it's going to use up
your data. Hopefully apps will have resolution options for when
it comes to sending pictures and videos, and if someone
on the other end does not have support yet for Chat,
your message will just default back to the typical SMS.
One thing Chat will not have is end to end encryption.

(02:14):
A lot of people are talking about this online. This
means that someone could theoretically intercept your messages and see
what you're sending or receiving. But today's SMS doesn't offer
that protection either. I Message does. That's why people are
talking about it, but again that's a proprietary system. Chat
will be available to any wireless carrier around the world,
and I have a feeling once this ball gets rolling,
it's going to be a pretty quick pickup because terrible

(02:36):
texting is one of the big disadvantages of Android versus iPhone.
And think about it. These carriers and these networks, they
want to sell phones, and they don't want to just
sell iPhones, they want to sell all phones. So the
question remains, will Chat work with iPhones? So far, Apple
is not saying but there's really no technical reason why
they couldn't add the functionality to their phones. But there
are a lot of reasons why Apple might not want

(02:58):
to get on board I Message, which is a major
lock in feature for iPhone users. Once they get used
to it, it works everywhere on their iPad, on their iPhone,
on their Mac computer, it's really tough for them to
give this service up. So when is this magic gonna happen?
Google says hopefully this year. Keep in mind. Google has
been talking about RCS for a while now, but now
that all these agreements are in place and they did

(03:18):
this big interview with the Verge, it's just a matter
of time before the switches are flipped. Sprint already has
support for the service between two compatible Android phones. T
Mobile promises support in the second quarter of this year,
but Verizon and AT and T haven't really given a
solid timeline at first. The main app to support all
this rich texting functionality will be Android Messages, but apparently

(03:39):
Samsung's messaging app will also have support, and there will
be a desktop version of the apps. You can finally
send and receive text from your computer without a lot
of workarounds. It is unclear if third party apps like
my current favorite, which is called Pulse SMS, will be
able to handle the new rich functionality. But finally, it
is about time an modern texting experience gets in the

(04:01):
hands of all cell phone users, not just iPhone folks.
Thanks so much for listening. If you like the show,
please leave a review. I'm Rich Jamiy. You can find
links to everything I mentioned here. Just go to richon
tech dot tv. I'll talk to you real soon.