Windows 10: RCS messaging is now available globally for Google Messages

Brink · Nov 19, 2020

Whether youâre making plans or just catching up, many of us rely on messaging to stay in touch. Messages by Google lets you start a video call from your conversation, message from the web, and use helpful features like Smart Reply, while also protecting you from spam. Today weâre sharing the latest updates weâve made to Messages to help you connect safely around the world.

RCS messaging is now available globally

As smartphones get more advanced, our communication apps should also progress to meet our changing needs. For the past few years, weâve worked with the mobile industry and device makers on several carrier networks in certain countries to provide chat features in Messages based on the open Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard. Chat features upgrade SMS text messaging so you can send and receive better quality photos and videos, chat over Wi-Fi or data, know when your message is read, share reactions, and enjoy more dynamic and engaging group chats.

Today, weâve completed our global rollout of chat features to make this modern messaging experience universal and interconnected for everyone on Android. Now anyone using Messages around the world1 has access to modern chat features either from their carrier or directly from Google.

More security in your chat conversations

We recognize that your conversations are private and itâs our responsibility to keep your personal information safe. Weâre continually improving security protections to safeguard your privacy and will be rolling out end-to-end encryption, starting with one-on-one RCS conversations between people using Messages. End-to-end encryption ensures that no one, including Google and third parties, can read the content of your messages as they travel between your phone and the phone of the person youâre messaging. This will roll out to beta testers beginning this month and continue into next year. Your eligible conversations will automatically upgrade to be end-to-end encrypted. End-to-end encryption is only available when both you and the person youâre messaging have Messages installed and chat features on. To learn more about this feature, please visit our help center.

Weâre excited to share these updates and continue to improve the Messages experience around the world. To access the newest features, update your Messages app to the latest version or download the app and turn chat features on.
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Source: https://blog.google/products/message...orld-messages/

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Brink · Nov 19, 2020

Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

We’ve been hearing about RCS, the replacement for SMS texting, for over a year now, but actually using the next-generation service has been nearly impossible due to complicated carrier and phone maker politics. But now Google is taking over: later this month, Android users in the UK and France will be able to opt in to RCS Chat services provided directly by Google instead of waiting for their carrier to support it.

That seems like yet another minor status check-in on the service meant to replace SMS, but in fact it’s a huge shift in strategy: as Google rolls this offering out to more countries, it should eventually mean that RCS will become universally available for all Android users.

For the first time in years, Google will directly offer a better default texting experience to Android users instead of waiting for cellphone carriers to do it. It’s not quite the Google equivalent of an iMessage service for Android users, but it’s close. Not knowing when or if RCS Chat would be available for your phone was RCS’s second biggest problem, and Google is fixing it.

RCS’s biggest problem is that messages are still not end-to-end encrypted. iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal are secured in that way, and even Facebook has said it will make all its apps encrypted by default. Google’s chat solution is increasingly looking out of touch — even immoral.

But there is hope on that front as well. The product management director overseeing Android Messages, Sanaz Ahari, assures me that Google recognizes the need for private chat within RCS and is working on it. Here’s her full statement:
"We fundamentally believe that communication, especially messaging, is highly personal and users have a right to privacy for their communications. And we’re fully committed to finding a solution for our users."
What it means to you should be simple: if you have an Android phone, the timeline for when the RCS switch will be available has become shorter. Google says that it will release the services to more countries “throughout the year,” but wouldn’t commit to saying that it would be available in all regions by the end of the year. However, as Ahari puts it, the goal is “a great, simple user experience that just works for every Android user.”

As with all things related to Google’s messaging strategy in general, and Rich Communication Services (RCS) specifically, none of this is happening with the speed or clarity I’d like. But it’s happening, finally, and there are a lot of details to go through if you want to fully understand how it will work and what it means...
Click to expand...

Read more: Google is finally taking charge of the RCS rollout - The Verge

Brink · Nov 19, 2020

Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

We’ve been hearing about RCS, the replacement for SMS texting, for over a year now, but actually using the next-generation service has been nearly impossible due to complicated carrier and phone maker politics. But now Google is taking over: later this month, Android users in the UK and France will be able to opt in to RCS Chat services provided directly by Google instead of waiting for their carrier to support it.

That seems like yet another minor status check-in on the service meant to replace SMS, but in fact it’s a huge shift in strategy: as Google rolls this offering out to more countries, it should eventually mean that RCS will become universally available for all Android users.

For the first time in years, Google will directly offer a better default texting experience to Android users instead of waiting for cellphone carriers to do it. It’s not quite the Google equivalent of an iMessage service for Android users, but it’s close. Not knowing when or if RCS Chat would be available for your phone was RCS’s second biggest problem, and Google is fixing it.

RCS’s biggest problem is that messages are still not end-to-end encrypted. iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal are secured in that way, and even Facebook has said it will make all its apps encrypted by default. Google’s chat solution is increasingly looking out of touch — even immoral.

But there is hope on that front as well. The product management director overseeing Android Messages, Sanaz Ahari, assures me that Google recognizes the need for private chat within RCS and is working on it. Here’s her full statement:
"We fundamentally believe that communication, especially messaging, is highly personal and users have a right to privacy for their communications. And we’re fully committed to finding a solution for our users."
What it means to you should be simple: if you have an Android phone, the timeline for when the RCS switch will be available has become shorter. Google says that it will release the services to more countries “throughout the year,” but wouldn’t commit to saying that it would be available in all regions by the end of the year. However, as Ahari puts it, the goal is “a great, simple user experience that just works for every Android user.”

As with all things related to Google’s messaging strategy in general, and Rich Communication Services (RCS) specifically, none of this is happening with the speed or clarity I’d like. But it’s happening, finally, and there are a lot of details to go through if you want to fully understand how it will work and what it means...
Click to expand...

Read more: Google is finally taking charge of the RCS rollout - The Verge

Brink · Nov 19, 2020

Google updates Test My Site and RCS Business Messaging

It’s been twelve years since the dawn of the mobile era—a span where we’ve witnessed what can seem like a lifetime’s worth of digital innovation and new platforms. Apps. Voice-activated assistants. AR. VR. It’s an age of digital plenty, and one that can make it easy to forget a plain truth: the mobile web is still the most widely used platform.

Because mobile is where most people turn when they want to know, go, do or buy, it’s important to deliver the kind of mobile experience that people expect today: one that’s fast, engaging and doesn’t get in the way of what they want to accomplish. And because Google is deeply invested in the success of marketers and brands, we never stop looking for ways to develop and support new tools and innovations that can move the industry forward.

With this in mind, today we're introducing two new updates: a top-to-bottom rebuild of Test My Site, and more availability and growth of Rich Communications Services (RCS) Business Messaging.

Test My Site

One of the mobile era’s clearest lessons has been that the foundation for any great mobile experience is a fast mobile experience. How important is a fast mobile experience? According to SOASTA’s The State of Online Retail Performance, a one-second delay in mobile load times can impact conversion rate by up to 20%. That’s why in 2016 we created Test My Site, a tool for businesses to check the speed of individual mobile pages and get a few recommended fixes.

But moving at the speed of mobile means making the adjustments needed to continuously improve.

So with the new Test My Site, businesses can now see:

The speed of both their entire site and of individual pages

Whether their site/page speed is faster or slower compared to the prior month

Whether their site speed/page speed ranks Fast, Average, or Slow

How their site speed compares to others in the industry

The potential impact of site speed on revenue

A detailed list of recommended fixes to increase speed on up to 5 pages on their site

A complete report to share with their team

With the new Test My Site, businesses have a single destination to measure, benchmark and take action on mobile site speed—the first step toward a great mobile experience.

RCS Business Messaging

Messaging is another area where businesses can improve the mobile experience. SMS, the format millions of businesses rely on today to reach mobile consumers, is limited to 160 characters and very few images and interactions.

RCS upgrades SMS with branding, business verification, rich media, suggested replies and actions, and analytics. One of the traditional tradeoffs for rich messaging experiences has been slower loading, but with RCS, businesses can deliver fast, branded, interactive experiences right to a mobile phone’s default messaging app. Google is partnering with the mobile industry to modernize mobile messaging and deliver better consumer experiences with RCS. To learn more about RCS Business Messaging, visit our website.

Brands are already using RCS in a variety of ways, from promoting deals of the day to letting customers refill prescriptions or check their account balances, all within the native messaging experience on Android. For example, with Overstock, customers can get purchase, shipping and delivery confirmation as well as the option to rate a purchase after delivery or connect directly with customer service. With Citi, select U.S. credit card and retail bank customers can quickly check their balance, see a short history of recent transactions and more. With Walgreens, patients receive prescription refill reminders and notifications for when orders are ready for pick up. And with Broxel, people can pay their utility bills, check their account balances, send funds or connect directly with customer service. DPD customers will soon be able to use RCS to get package delivery notifications with the option to update their drop off locations. And Vaillant customers will be able to change appointments, provide feedback, and connect with a live agent. All of these brands will enhance the customer's experience on mobile using RCS.

In addition, many more brands in Europe will bring RCS experiences to their customers in the coming months.

A lot has changed over the last 12 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is mobile’s unmatched capacity to drive business growth. With Test My Site and RCS Business Messaging, businesses have two powerful tools to deliver the kinds of experiences necessary to drive that growth—at the speed of mobile.
Click to expand...

Source: Two tools to build a better mobile experience

Windows 10: RCS messaging is now available globally for Google Messages

RCS messaging is now available globally for Google Messages

RCS messaging is now available globally for Google Messages

RCS messaging is now available globally for Google Messages

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Google updates Test My Site and RCS Business Messaging