Apple's iMessage Should Improve Texting to Android and Other Phones

Apple's iMessage Should Improve Texting to Android and Other Phones

Apple's iMessage is getting a major overhaul later this year with iOS 16, but most of these new features, like unsending a message or editing a text, will only work if the person you are texting also has an iPhone. 

Since Apple has full control over its messaging platform, iPhone owners get a consistent experience that works well regardless of the carrier or specific iPhone model. But it's also inadvertently created a long history of separating people into "blue" and "green" bubbles based on whether they're using an iPhone or Android phone. Apple also relies on the dated MMS standard for non-iMessage group chats, which results in a lack of support for modern features like read receipts and higher-quality images.

While social pressures among those that do and do not show up as a blue bubble have been frequently documented, such as in the Wall Street Journal among teens and young people, the much bigger issue revolves around universal communication. There is no single, modern texting standard that works across all phones. Rich Communication Services, or RCS, is the closest alternative that potentially wouldn't require installing yet another chat app. 

While RCS itself is an open standard, the most common way people are using it is within Google's Messages app on Android phones. Google reported at this year's I/O developer conference in May that Google Messages has a half billion monthly active users. The company's investment in both the RCS standard and its Messages app comes after a long history of launchingproprietarytexting apps that did not gain the notoriety of iMessage or Meta's WhatsApp. Google is continuing this proprietary texting strategy alongside its RCS investment, most recently by shutting down its Hangouts app and migrating users into the Google Chat app instead.

RCS supports many iMessage-like features such as typing indicators and read receipts. But its rollout has been fragmented as US phone carriers each separately announced plans to make RCS the default option on most Android phones. While RCS isn't currently interoperable with iOS, Google has built cross-platform message reactions into its texting app to improve how texts from an iPhone appear within Android. Other features that are already in iMessage, such as group chat encryption, are still in development for RCS and Google's Messages app. 

The RCS standard is a step forward in making messaging more uniform across the wide variety of Android devices that exist. But without iOS adoption, its impact on the quality of messaging between Android and iPhones remains limited. 

As one of the biggest players in the mobile phone industry, Apple could make a bigger effort to establish a more consistent texting experience across devices. But the question is whether doing so is in the company's interest. Apple often touts its control over iOS as a selling point for consumers, and shifting away from iMessage could jeopardize that. 

Apple did not respond to CNET's request for comment. When this commentary was originally published, Google pointed CNET to a series of tweets from Hiroshi Lockheimer, its senior vice president for Android. Lockheimer criticizes Apple for using "pressure and bullying" to lock in users in the tweets. 

However, there are a few changes Apple could make to address this issue, similar to the way it brought a limited FaceTime experience to Android and Windows users in iOS 15.

Supporting RCS in Apple's Messages app, even a little bit

Apple should consider bringing RCS support to iOS 16. Apple has a history of adopting open formats after they have spent a few years developing, and RCS already includes many iMessage-like features such as typing indicators, enhanced group chats and encryption.

For instance, Apple did not race into the wireless charging space and instead waited for the Qi standard to reach widespread adoption before integrating it into the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017. It even intended to build its own Qi-based AirPower wireless charger, but instead held back until 2020 to sell its own MagSafe wireless chargers.

Apple doesn't even have to give RCS a full endorsement to make a difference. It could keep non-iPhone messages green and lean on iPhone-exclusive features like Memoji, which uses the iPhone's Face ID to create facial animations, to keep Apple loyalists hooked. But supporting a few key features would go a long way in allowing for a smoother communication experience while keeping a degree of Apple exclusivity.

Apple could also support encryption between messages regardless of the platform, especially since the company positions itself as a consumer privacy advocate. One would reason that this alone should be enough for Apple to embrace RCS. 

Improve how Apple's Messages app sends and receives SMS

Apple's iMessage includes lots of fun animations that are invisible to anyone who isn't using an iPhone in your group chat.

Jason Cipriani/CNET

If supporting RCS is simply not going to happen in iOS, Apple could instead make the most of the limited bandwidth available within SMS and MMS. 

Apple is doing this for at least one feature in the iOS 16 public beta. Within group chats that are being handled over MMS, Apple's Messages app will translate reactions so everyone receives an emoji instead of a text about how someone "Liked" or "Loved" a message. Google's Messages app has similar functionality. 

Perhaps when photos and videos are sent over MMS, which was never designed for the multi-lens cameras on modern phones, Apple's Messages app could proactively suggest sending an iCloud link instead of a grungy compressed picture. This could work similarly to a feature currently available in Google Photos that allows users to select multiple photos and generate a web link to share with your friends or family members. 

And, similar to how Apple recently brought a version of FaceTime to the web for Android and Windows users, maybe it could create a version of iMessage that is viewable on the web. This could benefit its existing iPhone customers who would like to access iMessage from a Windows PC or Chromebook, while also allowing Android phone owners to view messages and other shared content the same way an iPhone user would. This idea would still be annoying for Android users, but it's better than receiving texts out of order during fast-flowing group chats. 

Build iMessage for Android

One of the most surprising revelations from last year's Apple v. Epic trial was that Apple had discussed building an iMessage client for Android back in 2013. But Apple executives passed on the idea over concerns about the competition. The possibility of Google buying WhatsApp worried Apple, and the company also feared that bringing iMessage to Android could make it easier for iPhone owners to switch to Google's phone platform, as the WSJ story pointed out. 

But much has changed in the years since, including Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp instead of Google. Although Apple has opened up some of its products like FaceTime, it also relies on its services to lock in iPhone customers.

On the other hand, bringing iMessage to Android could instead draw more customers to Apple's iPhone ecosystem. It's a strategy that worked way back in the 2000s, when launching iTunes on Windows considerably increased the customer base for Apple's music store. Sure, it might convince some iPhone customers to jump ship and switch to Android. But it could also help Apple reach a wider audience by exposing Android users to its products and services.

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Facebook Parent Meta Reports First-Ever Revenue Drop

Facebook Parent Meta Reports First-Ever Revenue Drop

Facebook's parent company Meta on Wednesday reported a revenue drop for the first time in its history as ad sales shrank amid growing economic concerns. The social media giant also missed earnings expectations for the second quarter. 

In the April-June quarter, Meta reported revenue of $28.8 billion, a 1% decline from the same period last year. The company's performance narrowly missed the $28.9 billion that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected. Meta earned $2.46 per share, missing expectations of $2.56 per share.

Meta's first-ever revenue drop highlights the challenges the social media giant's ad business faces as it braces for an economic slowdown. Advertisers are pulling back amid growing concerns that the world economy could enter a recession. A strong dollar weighs on the value of overseas revenue. And marketers question the effectiveness of ads because Apple now allows users of its products to opt out of tracking. 

Meta has trimmed costs and frozen some hiring to offset the revenue challenges. The company's expectations for the third quarter were also lower than analysts expected. Meta said it anticipates that revenue will be in the range of $26 billion to $28.5 billion, which is below expectations of $30.5 billion.

"We seem to have entered an economic downturn that will have a broad impact on the digital advertising business," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a call with analysts. "It's always hard to predict how deep or how long these cycles will be, but I'd say that the situation seems worse than it did a quarter ago."

The advertising slowdown comes as Meta continues to spend on its vision for the metaverse, virtual spaces where people can work, play and socialize. But investing in products such as virtual reality headsets and video chat devices isn't cheap. The tech giant's metaverse business lost $2.8 billion in the second quarter. On Tuesday, the company said it will raise the price of its Quest 2 headsets by $100 in August.

At the same time, the company is also battling more competition from apps such as short-form video platform TikTok and photo-sharing app BeReal. Meta still makes most of its money by selling ads on Facebook and its photo- and video-sharing app Instagram. 

But as Facebook and Instagram make changes to compete with TikTok, that's upsetting some of its users. Instagram has been testing a full-screen feed that looks more like TikTok. On Monday, celebrities Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner shared a meme urging the company to stop trying to imitate the popular video app and focus on photo sharing. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said in a tweet Tuesday that the platform will continue to support photo sharing but that he believes the app will be filled with more videos over time. 

Insider Intelligence principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson said she thinks some of the "angst" among Instagram users about a possible redesign of the feed will "blow over," noting there have been other times when the company has survived user backlash.

"But the hubbub makes crystal clear that Instagram needs to get this (user interface) change right, or risk losing some of its biggest fans," she said.

Zuckerberg said the company is still focused on helping people connect with friends and family. Social media users, he said, are discovering interesting content in their feeds and then messaging that content to friends. 

"This creates this flywheel of discovery and then social connection and inspiring people to create more content themselves," he said. The company said it's seen a more than 30% increase in the time people spend engaging with its short-form video feature Reels across Facebook and Instagram.

In the second quarter, 2.88 billion people used one of Meta's apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp daily, a 4% increase compared with the same period last year. 

The company is also making more leadership changes. Meta's chief financial officer, David Wehner, will take on a new role as Meta's first chief strategy officer, overseeing the company's strategy and corporate development. Susan Li, the company's vice president of finance, will be promoted to CFO. Sheryl Sandberg, who announced in June she was stepping down as the chief operating officer, had her last earnings call on Wednesday. She will remain on the company's board of directors.

Meta's stock dropped by more than 4% in after-hours trading to $161.86 per share.

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Vivo's in-screen fingerprint scanning phone sells Jan. 24

Vivo's in-screen fingerprint scanning phone sells Jan. 24

The world's first phone with an in-screen fingerprint scanner finally has a name, and a birth date. The Vivo X20 Plus UD goes on sale Jan. 24, starting in China.

We first saw the one-of-a-kind tech at CES, the world's largest technology show. Chinese phone maker Vivo showed us a preproduction device that scans your fingerprint when you place your finger on the screen. There's no home button, just a target on the lock screen that you tap when you want to unlock the device -- and then it's out of your way. Vivo calls it Clear ID.

Although Vivo's phone will be the first to market with this innovation, we expect it to kick off a trend in 2018 and beyond. Currently, almost every phone on the planet has a physical fingerprint scanner that you press to get into your phone: either south of the screen, integrated in the power button, or on the phone's back. 

Apple's iPhone X is one notable exception -- it uses Face ID to unlock the phone, and has no fingerprint scanner whatsoever.

Both the iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy S8 were rumored to get the embedded sensor, and didn't. With the Galaxy S9 launching in February in Barcelona, Spain, Samsung and other device makers will have a chance to show off their use of the technology, which was created by components company Synaptics.

The Vivo X20 Plus UD is a variation on the previously announced X20 Plus, so expect it to have the same 6.43-inch AMOLED display with thin bezels, a Snapdragon octa-core processor, dual rear cameras and 4GB of RAM -- the in-screen fingerprint sensor is really the standout feature.

Vivo will announce the X20 Plus UD Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. local time in China; it's unclear if it will come to other markets outside of Vivo's home country.

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Chinese phone-maker Xiaomi sues US government over investment ban

Chinese phone-maker Xiaomi has filed a lawsuit anti the US government over Donald Trump’s decision to effect it on a blacklist, which blocks Americans from investing into the custom over its suspected ties to the Chinese military. 

The primitive US President, in the final days of his presidency, designated Xiaomi along with at least eight other Chinese firms as Communist Chinese army companies  (CCMC) — meaning they’re believed to have ties to the Chinese army, under the National Defense Authorization Act of 1999. CCMC-designated firms are prohibited from receiving stock or vows investments from US citizens or organisations.

In response, Xiaomi recorded a lawsuit over the weekend against US government officials Janet Yellen, the treasury secretary and Lloyd Austin, the US guarantee secretary, demanding its removal from the blacklist. Xiaomi also denied in an rear statement that it has any association with the People’s Liberation Army.

“The Company reiterates that it provides products and services for civilian and business use,” a Xiaomi spokesperson told CNET in January. “The Company confirms that it is not Famous, controlled or affiliated with the Chinese military, and is not a ‘Communist Chinese Army Company.'”

Xiaomi sells a bevy of Bright products ranging from smart laps to air purifiers and scooters.

Xiaomi is one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers and the new major Chinese technology company to enter a legal battles with the United States. The blacklist restrictions have dealt a blow to the Beijing-based business, which says it’ll cause “immediate” and “irreparable harm” by cutting off Xiaomi’s access to US capital markets and limiting its order for business expansion.

Xiaomi has benefited from the Trump administration’s pressure movement against Chinese rival Huawei. This has resulted in, with other things, a drastic reduction of Huawei’s phone sales outside its Dull China since its devices lost access to crucial American technology counting Google’s apps and services. In the third quarter of last year, for instance, Xiaomi surpassed Apple to become the world’s No. 3 phone-maker in footings of units sold, according to IDC research.

Trump’s tough stance on China, and Chinese companies, has been a hallmark of his presidency. Along with levelling trade sanctions on Huawei, Trump has also attempted to ban social Think platform TikTok, and last month he signed an executive order that prohibits transactions with eight Chinese-made apps, counting WeChat Pay and AliPay.