Google is reigniting its fight with Apple over its lack of rich communication services (RCS) support. In a letter to the European Commission, Google and a handful of Europe’s top telecommunication providers have asked regulators to require RCS in Apple’s iMessage. Doing so would effectively make the Apple-exclusive texting app compatible with non-Apple devices.
The letter comes just over a year after Android (one of Google’s many properties) launched a bold campaign asking Apple to “fix texting” by adopting RCS. The campaign poked at Apple’s penchant for making iPhone-to-iPhone conversations blue, while conversations between iPhones and non-Apple devices appear in green. The blue-versus-green bubble battle, though seemingly inconsequential, has helped Apple foster a sense of exclusivity and push Android users toward the iPhone for several years. To no one’s surprise, Apple ignored Android’s campaign entirely.
Now, after having asked Apple nicely, Google is asking the grown-ups to step in. According to The Financial Times, the letter—signed by Google’s senior vice president and the CEOs of Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, and more—asks the European Union’s executive body to classify iMessage as a “core” service under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The point of the DMA is to reduce the influence of tech “gatekeepers” in digital markets, and the letter’s signatories believe Apple has sufficiently made itself a member of that category. Apple has a strong economic impact, is active throughout the EU, and appears responsible for users’ connection (or lack thereof) to other members of the smartphone and telecommunications markets.
It’s this last bit that Apple denies. In response to the letter, Apple reportedly told the European Commission, “iMessage does not constitute an important gateway in the union for business users to reach end users due to its small scale relative to other messaging services.” Google and the letter’s other signatories came prepared for a rebuttal like this one, arguing that iMessage’s position as a pre-installed, Apple-only app reinforces its position as a market gatekeeper. Making iMessage a “core” service would meanwhile require Apple to offer “enriched messaging” (meaning the end-to-end encryption currently reserved for iPhone-to-iPhone conversations) to all text communications.
Aside from pointing to previous statements about how much its users love iMessage, Apple hasn’t responded publicly to the letter. The European Commission has until February to investigate the letter’s argument and decide on a final classification.
