The value for the end user, the way Apple and Google do it, is that it works on every phone. It was always intended to be the next generation of MMS messaging. RCS, as designed, never had companies like Google run their own servers, but Google had to because many carriers never bothered to set up RCS in the first place.
Who benefits today? Everyone sharing chat groups with iMessage people. I avoid iMessage but millions of people are stuck with text messaging or ostracised for breaking group messaging (because SMS and MMS are terrible).
Furthermore, RCS isn’t just text messaging. The standard also contains digital payments and video calls. It’s an open (to carriers) alternative to iMessage that has features ready to go that Signal doesn’t even implement yet.
Communication is literally what phone numbers are for.
The value for the end user, the way Apple and Google do it, is that it works on every phone. It was always intended to be the next generation of MMS messaging. RCS, as designed, never had companies like Google run their own servers, but Google had to because many carriers never bothered to set up RCS in the first place.
Who benefits today? Everyone sharing chat groups with iMessage people. I avoid iMessage but millions of people are stuck with text messaging or ostracised for breaking group messaging (because SMS and MMS are terrible).
Furthermore, RCS isn’t just text messaging. The standard also contains digital payments and video calls. It’s an open (to carriers) alternative to iMessage that has features ready to go that Signal doesn’t even implement yet.
Communication is literally what phone numbers are for.