14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been trying for too long to build a universal messaging solution for Android, and it looks like the company is ready to do it one more time with an app that’s based on a different concept, but whose purpose is pretty much the same: bring an iMessage-like alternative to devices powered by the search giant’s mobile OS.
Google’s new attempt at competing against Apple is called “Chat,” according to a report from The Verge, and its objective isn’t only to provide Android users with a messaging platform similar to iMessage, but also to replace the old-school SMS completely.
Enter RCS
And the Mountain View-based firm has thought of everything in advance, it seems, as the way it plans to do this involves Rich Communication Services (RCS) and carriers across the world.
Rather than building a completely new app that would be pre-installed on Android, Google wants to bring Chat into Android Messages, the default client available on Android.
RCS is a technology that Google, together with other companies including Microsoft, but without Apple, invested in the last couple of years, and now it looks like it’s also getting support from carriers.
With RCS, Google can enable typical messaging without using SMS, but with chats using data plans and featuring more advanced functionality like read receipts, typing indicators, group texts, and photo and video support. Other improvements are already on the table, like GIFs and stickers, it seems.
What’s very important to know, however, is that Google’s new approach towards a messaging solution means the company won’t be in control of who gets these features. Instead, carriers themselves need to enable it for their customers, and as it turns out, several are willing to do it as soon as this year.
No encryption
Chat will work in a way similar to iMessage. It’ll use data plans to deliver messages that weigh in just a few bytes, and whenever the new protocol isn’t available on the receiver’s phone, it automatically switches back to SMS to make sure the message is delivered.
The biggest drawback right now appears to be the security of Chat. It looks like Google’s new messaging tech won’t sport end-to-end encryption, a feature that’s kind of a big deal these days given the privacy concerns and which is already available in the majority of messaging apps like WhatsApp and even Apple’s iMessage. Without encryption, messages could be intercepted by pretty much everyone, be they government bodies or hackers.
Google’s Chat could see daylight on the first devices as soon as this year, though a specific ETA isn’t available just yet. If everything goes right, and carriers indeed support the adoption of Chat, Android users could finally get a universal messaging app in the fall. There’s a big chance Apple won’t support it.