Google Restricts RCS Messaging On Some Android Devices
If you buy a high-end Samsung or iPhone device, there’s little to choose between them. It’s the Android OS that has always been the catch. But now Google is slowly changing that as well—and it’s causing serious anger amongst users…
Android is changing—this year we have seen an exciting focus on AI upgrades to existing apps, as well as security crackdowns on dangerous apps and the third-party app store ecosystem. And later this year, we will finally see an update to texting between Android and iPhone, with Apple’s reluctant RCS concession.
One of the themes here is control. Apple exercises it to a high degree over its ecosystem and Google, through Android, traditionally has not. But that’s changing. Google is heavily focused on the walled garden elements of its “Play” ecosystem, including the additional protections available to its huge user base.
Now we have just seen the latest examples of Google’s “Play” style of Android becoming ever more like iPhone. According to reports, users with rooted devices—taken outside the semi-walled garden—can no longer use RCS.
