Google bids farewell to SMS as it says Apple is still “stuck in the 90s”

Ever since the popularity of mobiles, SMS or text messaging — or iMessaging if you live in a blue bubble — has been wildly popular. Instant messaging apps came in and relegated the good ol’ SMS to the world of OTPs and other utility messages. Google has now officially said farewell to to SMS as we knew it. In a blog post, Neena Budhiraja, group product manager, Messages by Google, said that “after 30 years of SMS texting, it’s truly time”. Time for? RCS or Rich Communication Services — a new messaging Google has adopted and says almost everyone has. Except one: Apple.
In fact, in the blog post, Budhiraja makes no bones about calling out Apple on not adopting RCS. “Most of the mobile world is using RCS, but there is one company that’s dragging its heels,” she wrote. No special prizes for guessing which is that one company as Google has been calling out Apple in public for the last 12 months or more on this.

Apple ‘stuck in the 1990s’, says Google

Budhiraja in the blog post says that Apple’s texting is still stuck in the 1990s. “Today, all of the major mobile carriers and manufacturers have adopted RCS as the standard — except for Apple.” She said that Apple refuses to adopt RCS and continues to rely on SMS when people with iPhones message people with Android phones, “which means their texting is stuck in the 1990s.”
This isn’t the first time Google has gone all out to call out Apple over being ‘stuck’ in the world of SMS. The issue here is that Apple with iMessage gives all that RCS is offering and then some more. But it keeps it close to home — in the sense it only works between iPhone and iPhone and not iPhone and Android. Which is why the ‘green bubble’ and blue bubble. Budhiraja in her blog also said, “Hopefully Apple can #GetTheMessage so we don’t have to keep waiting to remove the whole “green-versus-blue bubble” thing.” Google had also created a website that categorically stated, “It’s time for Apple to fix texting.”
Apple won’t be adopting RCS any time soon as CEO Tim Cook made it quite clear when he was asked about it. “I don’t see our users asking us to put a lot of energy into that at this point. I would love to convert you to an iPhone,” he said in an interview in September 2022.