Big surprise confirmed for millions of iPhone users
You can’t make this up. Even though Google’s long and persistent campaign seemed to be working, Apple’s surprising new update decision is very bad news for Google and Android users, finally bringing the iPhone closer to Android. It’s going to happen.
We’re talking about RCS, a pre-Apple Intelligence highlight of iOS 18 that finally promised more seamless and secure inventory messaging between iPhone and Android. Google has campaigned long and hard (or so it seemed) to embarrass Apple by going beyond its 1980s default SMS cross-platform, while the likes of WhatsApp have taken advantage of that deficit to make super big deals. We built a cross-platform alternative at scale.
However, with the advent of RCS, it remained almost flat. Security and privacy are still big issues between iMessage and Google Messages. There is no full encryption, instead you would have to integrate the two directly or wait until the actual RCS protocol itself changes if you want to introduce a similar architecture for third-party chats as currently being developed by Meta/WhatsApp There is. It won’t happen soon.
So as soon as Google hit its mark, criticism of the lack of end-to-end encryption in this RCS bridge began to surface, even as Apple continued to mock it for not doing enough. Ta. And to make matters worse, stories emerged that RCS wasn’t all that easy to use or widely adopted by carriers after all.
But a much bigger problem is hitting Google and its long-held intention to build Google Messages into a viable alternative to WhatsApp and other over-the-top offerings on its platform. The only reason RCS replaces other apps is that iMessage is always the iPhone’s unchangeable default messaging app, is built into the OS, and can be called from multiple apps.
Amazing changes in iPhone
But it doesn’t last very long. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires Apple to give users a choice of default apps for core functionality, and while we knew default restrictions were changing in Europe, this change is even more drastic. It seems that it has become something.
Apple now confirms that “Starting with iOS and iPadOS 18.2, users can choose an app other than the Messages app to send instant messages.” When a user taps an im: link from another app, the system defaults to Start and process your messaging app. ”
It also provides instructions for messaging platforms on how to “prepare your app as the default messaging app,” something we expect many people to do in a hurry.
I expected this to be only for European users, but that’s not the case. “All users around the world will now be able to manage their default apps through the Default apps section at the top of the apps area,” Apple confirmed in a new advisory. New calling and messaging defaults are also now available to all users worldwide. ”
This means that for the first time, iPhone users can choose a fully encrypted, cross-platform messenger as the default on their devices. And outside of the US, iMessage still reigns supreme given the iPhone’s market position and the nonsense of the blue bubble status symbol, but nearly every other major market now uses WhatsApp by default.
Once opened, this stable door will never lock again. This could end the equity messenger opportunity for Apple and Google to build a viable alternative between the two companies. It can also have a significant impact on RCS success beyond marketing messages and OTPs. And here too, WhatsApp is gradually rolling out alternatives to give businesses access and reach to its platform.
This is quite surprising, and we don’t yet know what impact it will have. As exciting as RCS may have been, iOS 18.2 could herald the biggest changes to the iPhone in years, with hundreds of innovative default secure messaging upgrades that RCS could offer. It seems like it will be offered to everyone, but it will fall short.
