Google still believes it can challenge WhatsApp and announces the global adoption of the RCS protocol and the arrival of end-to-end encryption on the Messages app
Google is back in charge in one of its historical battles, in which until now it hasn’t actually achieved great results: proposing its chat app as a credible alternative to WhatsApp. After several failed experiments, Google’s latest anti WhatsApp app is Messages, which is based on the RCS protocol: Rich Communication Services.
RCS is a phone protocol created to replace SMS, which can actually offer the user a user experience quite similar to chats like WhatsApp or Messenger, but has never been supported by network operators. Google has chosen to go it alone and adopt RCS globally and, more importantly, to do so with the guarantee for security offered by end-to-end encryption. At the moment the whole thing is in the testing phase, but if Google manages to create an encrypted RCS system that works worldwide without any problems then Big G could finally have a real chance to compete with WhatsApp with the Google Messages app.
What is Google Messages and how it works
Google Messages was born as an app for managing normal SMS, but with the adoption of the RCS protocol it has now become an instant messaging service in its own right. With Google Messages you can send text or multimedia messages, voice notes, emoji, attachments and receive delivery and read confirmation.
Google Messages allows you to make video calls, has a spam protection system and also a browser version, a direct competitor to WhatsApp Web, with which you can send and receive messages from PCs and laptops. The only real difference between Google Messages and WhatsApp (and other similar services, such as Telegram) has so far been the lack of a robust encryption system.
Encryption comes to Messages
On encryption Google Messages is clearly behind its competitors: it’s not there and it won’t come for everyone for at least a while. Google has in fact announced the arrival of E2EE encryption only for beta testers, who will only be able to use it in conversations with other enabled users.
This is, therefore, a small group compared to the already small total of Messages users. Google says that the number of users who will be able to use encryption in their chats will gradually increase throughout the next year. A period during which WhatsApp, which has had encryption for years, will probably already have become a shopping tool.