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Is RCS an open standard? (lemm.ee)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

35 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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?

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's fair but that also means their "RCS" is really just a name they slapped on their latest proprietary messaging platform.

We know they've been trying to get ahead in the messenger game for many years, now maybe they figured if they use the RCS angle it might get some traction.

Or maybe I'm completely off, who knows. Google's approach to messaging has always baffled me. They could have had a ton of traction and market share by now if they'd have just stuck with one. Why they keep tearing them down and building another one, and why they think this latest one will do any better, I have no idea.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You can interoperate with googles RCS.
If you are willing and able to enter a partnership like Samsung, you can do it fully (including encryption support etc).

Google are determined to not make it easy, and I agree with you, it appears to be yet another messaging land grab.

Trying to put myself in their headspace for a moment, one justification for making it hard is to stop thousands of apps coming out declaring "full RCS support!" through the APIs, then screwing the pooch (through poor security or deliberate back doors or or or).
Right now Google are desperately attempting to make RCS happen, after almost a decade of trying and failing to make various carriers play ball.
They do not want any bad press about how feature poor/insecure/slow/buggy it is right now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If you are willing and able to enter a partnership like Samsung, you can do it fully (including encryption support etc).

Samsung can interoperate. We cannot. We cannot enter into partnerships with Google. We are people, Samsung is a massive corporation. You understand the difference, right? Google will not let us access their servers. They're not making it difficult, they're not making it possible at all.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I agree, that's why I said "and able"