"Don't let Apple cost you love". Samsung joins the war with the iPhone manufacturer
Last year, Google declared war on Apple. Samsung decided to support its partner.
6:15 AM EDT, October 11, 2023
Samsung published a short ad in social media, stylized like a conversation between love-struck teenagers. Apple was depicted in it as a parent who makes communication difficult for the couple.
"Don't let Apple cost you love" - we read in the description of the movie. The whole thing is garnished with the Google-popularized hashtag #GetTheMessage.
Samsung and Google want to convince Apple to implement the RCS standard in iPhones
The whole scandal began in January 2022, when The Wall Street Journal published a sensational report accusing Apple of building the power of the iPhone on an "army of teenagers sending text messages".
For years, Apple has been developing its proprietary iMessage internet communication standard, which, however, only exists on its devices. When an iPhone user receives a message from an Android user, it is marked by a different color, and the sender loses access to some features, including the ability to conduct group chats.
According to the WSJ article - eagerly shared by high-ranking employees and official Google profiles - Apple is using this mechanism to pressure American teenagers into buying iPhones. Otherwise, they risk being digitally excluded or mocked by their peers.
This problem seems to concern not just teenagers. In 2022, American media reported on Jarrett Allen, a respected NBA basketball player, who admitted in one of the interviews that he privately uses an Android, but had to buy an iPhone because the rest of his team has a group chat on iMessage.
Google accuses Apple of "profiting from harassment" and directs an entire campaign at the giant #GetTheMessage. The goal is to motivate Tim Cook to implement the open RCS standard in the iOS system, which would allow iPhone and Android smartphone users to communicate on an equal footing.
For now, it doesn't seem like Apple is willing to replace its own iMessage with the open RCS, but - who knows - maybe Google's and Samsung's actions will make regulatory bodies take an interest in the issue. A few years ago, USB-C in the iPhone would have been unthinkable, and today it is a fact.
