GOOGLE is now warning Apple users that SMS texting on an iPhone may be less safe than messaging on an Android.
Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s senior vice president of Platforms and Ecosystems, made the alert in an interview last week – bashing Apple’s messaging system as “degraded.”
Lockheimer told 9to5Google that he feels “bad” for iPhone users as Apple constantly talks about “how privacy is a human right and how important that is to them.”
“I feel like, “look, here’s a technology that’s available now,” he said, referring to Google’s Rich Communication Services (RCS).
“Now I just feel bad for the iPhone users who are going to experience the degraded features, it would be great if they could bring that to them. And better security for them as well,” Lockheimer continued.
He highlighted that Android users have “total security,” particularly as an increased number of businesses, companies, and platforms are relying on 2-factor authentication measures like text messages.
“…Now it’s kind of bizarre because now when they interact with iPhone’s, we’re going to have to deal with a degraded security experience.”
RCS is the default messaging protocol used on all Android smartphones, replacing familiar systems like SMS.
Users with older model phones just need to install the official Google Messages app from the Play Store to use it.
One of the largest benefits of the protocol, according to Lockheimer, is that it is end-to-end encrypted in person to person conversations as well as group chats up to 100 people.
While users can still opt to use higher encrypted apps like Signal for messaging, the RCS appears to create an additional layer of safety for every-day texting.
In fact, Lockheimer noted that several many Android owners use several different messaging apps.
“Our research shows that the typical person uses 3 to 4 messaging apps, whether that’s WhatsApp or Snap. That’s great,” he told 9to5Google.
“We’re not trying to build RCS into the one app to rule them all.”
Currently, the iPhone default messaging protocol is iMessage.
Blue iMessage texts are end-to-end encrypted by default, which means they can’t be spied on.
But the green texts that are sent to or from a device that is not an iPhone – such as a 2-factor authentication message – are treated as SMS.
SMS messages are not considered to be private or secure.
As Apple does not support RCS messaging, Android has launched a #GetTheMessage campaign urging the company to change its protocol.
“It’s not about the color of the bubbles. It’s the blurry videos, broken group chats, missing read receipts and typing indicators, no texting over Wi-Fi, and more,” Android lists on its website.
“These problems exist because Apple refuses to adopt modern texting standards when people with iPhones and Android phones text each other.”
Apple did not immediately respond to The US Sun’s request for comment.
When asked about RCS in late 2022, Apple chief Tim Cook responded: “I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point.”
