Google and a group of European telecommunications companies say Apple’s iMessage should be managed as a service and interoperable with other messaging platforms.
According to ZDNet, Google recently pressured Apple to open iMessage with a letter to European regulatory agencies. Joined by CEOs from major European telecommunications companies, a senior vice president at Google signed the letter saying Apple’s iMessage content should be regulated as a platform service under the Marketplace Act—Digital Market (DMA) of the European Union (EU).
The DMA tracks companies that provide widely used services that are important to the digital economy. One of the purposes of the DMA is to promote fair competition and prevent tech giants from abusing their market power. These services include social networks, search engines, operating systems, cloud computing, advertising and messaging services.
The letter, signed by technology leaders from Google, Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica, and Deutsche Telekom, demonstrates that Apple’s iMessage meets the DMA’s criteria for core platform services, reaching at least 10,000 people. uses monthly operations in the EU and is operated by a company with an annual turnover of over 7.5 billion euros.
Being considered a platform service by the DMA would subject Apple to specific obligations to ensure fair and competitive markets, or face fines in the EU. These obligations could include opening up to Android users certain features currently available to iOS users, making iMessage interoperable with other messaging services, and adopting Rich Communication Services (RCS).
Android users have long wanted Apple to support RCS, a cross-platform communication protocol poised to replace SMS. RCS provides features commonly found in messaging applications, such as typing notifications, viewing receipts, sharing high-resolution photos and videos, and group messaging. Supported by carriers and manufacturers, RCS is integrated into the smartphone’s native messaging app.
Meanwhile, Apple’s iMessage only supports read information, text typing, group messaging, and high-resolution photo/video sharing but only within the iOS ecosystem, not supporting RCS. Text messaging between Android and iOS is done via SMS and is not the same as iMessage. iMessage text bubbles are blue in iOS and green when going from iOS to Android. Additionally, images and videos shared from iOS to Android and vice versa are sent at low quality because Apple does not support RCS.