Google prods Apple to support RCS using Drake’s “Texts go Green” song lyrics

In another chapter of the “Why won’t Apple support RCS?” drama, this weekend, Google found yet another opportunity to urge Apple into adopting the RCS standard on their highly popular iMessage instant messaging service and took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

The cheeky post involved the lyrics of the new song titled “Texts Go Green” from recording artist Drake, which the official @Android Twitter account felt needed an unofficial lyric explainer. It then proceeded to clarify that the lyrics refer to “the phenomenon when an iPhone user gets blocked or tries to text someone who doesn’t have an iPhone,” an issue that Android users know all too well. Check out the full tweet below:

While I could go on in this post about the Champagne Papi and his music, what is much more interesting is seeing the lengths that Google is willing to go to in order to let Apple, and users, know how this is now Apple’s problem. And you know what? I am loving it! The ball is fully on Apple’s court right now, and Google is making sure that both Android and iPhone users are aware that this is the case and hopefully begin to apply some pressure.

This isn’t the first time that Google has reached across the proverbial aisle and “invited” Apple to do the right thing. They have even gone as far as working out a hacky but efficient way to translate iMessage’s reactions for Android users to consume them in a manner similar to how iPhone users do. Still, Google’s many efforts cannot fix the fact that Android users cannot add their own reactions to texts received by their iPhone friends, nor will it stop group message threads from breaking.

The solution is relatively simple. Apple adding RCS support in iMessage would make messaging between Android and iPhone users more seamless and secure. As it stands right now, the green chat bubbles represent that the message is getting through via SMS/MMS, an outdated standard that lacks rich media and encryption support — features that RCS support, among others.

Granted, this is only a problem in the U.S. and a tactic that Apple has used for years to keep their users “locked in.” However, RCS has been around in the United States since 2015 and, according to Google’s stats from I/O 2022, is used by over 500 million users worldwide. Hopefully, with enough prodding and encouragement from the public, Apple will stop this madness and add RCS to iMessage once and for all.