There aren’t any because there’s no point. And no, I hope this won’t be the standard.
There are two things called “RCS”: there’s a theoretical specification; and exactly one implementation that has managed to get any real traction, and that’s purely because it’s pushed by Google.
The RCS spec was attempted by various companies and all implementations died when they figured out they’d have to make them compatible and open their servers to each other. Even if they wanted to it would be a mess.
SMS succeeded because it doesn’t need servers, it’s just pieces of text being sent around.
Google is the only one still pushing their RCS because they figure if they tie their version of it into Android they will own the messaging on Android forever. They don’t want interoperability either.
If Google gets their way and their RCS becomes the EU standard it will lock the EU into a proprietary platform from one of the most vile data predators in the world.
There’s no point in making a FOSS implementation of RCS because the spec is highly dependent on who runs the servers. The only way it would make sense is if the EU would dictate a spec and force everybody to follow it and open their servers. In that take on things FOSS would be ideal.
SMS only transits the telco infrastructure, it doesn’t need servers in the client-servers sense, RCS does. Not only that but RCS needs them because it includes hosting for things like images and videos that are sent in messages.
I don’t think Google will allow anybody to partake in “their” RCS, the least of all custom ROMS. They will make it another thing like SafetyNet, designed to maintain their own control.
Are there any FOSS RCS apps? Should this be the ‘open’ standard the EU are enforcing?
There aren’t any because there’s no point. And no, I hope this won’t be the standard.
There are two things called “RCS”: there’s a theoretical specification; and exactly one implementation that has managed to get any real traction, and that’s purely because it’s pushed by Google.
The RCS spec was attempted by various companies and all implementations died when they figured out they’d have to make them compatible and open their servers to each other. Even if they wanted to it would be a mess.
SMS succeeded because it doesn’t need servers, it’s just pieces of text being sent around.
Google is the only one still pushing their RCS because they figure if they tie their version of it into Android they will own the messaging on Android forever. They don’t want interoperability either.
If Google gets their way and their RCS becomes the EU standard it will lock the EU into a proprietary platform from one of the most vile data predators in the world.
There’s no point in making a FOSS implementation of RCS because the spec is highly dependent on who runs the servers. The only way it would make sense is if the EU would dictate a spec and force everybody to follow it and open their servers. In that take on things FOSS would be ideal.
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SMS only transits the telco infrastructure, it doesn’t need servers in the client-servers sense, RCS does. Not only that but RCS needs them because it includes hosting for things like images and videos that are sent in messages.
I don’t think Google will allow anybody to partake in “their” RCS, the least of all custom ROMS. They will make it another thing like SafetyNet, designed to maintain their own control.
[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
would much prefer matrix as the standard
If they did, it wouldn’t work on Android. There’s no user-level API. So only apps that come bundled with the phone can use the API.