Apple failed to say one huge factor in the course of the WWDC 2023 keynote on Monday and contemplating the implications it’s considerably shocking that it wasn’t introduced up in the course of the occasion. While iOS 17 provides some cool new options to the iPhone, it additionally will permit iPhone customers in a bunch iMessage chat to proceed receiving some iMessage-like options even when the chat is “invaded” by an Android consumer. At least that is the expertise found by XDA Developers after putting in the primary iOS 17 beta.
In the primary iOS 17 beta, Apple permits iOS customers to maintain some iMessage options even with an Android consumer current
As you might know by now, the entire pretty options that iMessage provides iOS customers similar to end-to-end encryption, learn receipts, typing indicators, higher-quality pictures and video, and blue textual content bubbles all go away and the messaging platform reverts again to historical SMS/MMS options as soon as an Android consumer turns into a part of a bunch chat. But to be honest, all of those options are a part of the RCS Chat expertise for Android customers and so they disappear too as soon as an iOS consumer invades a beforehand all RCS group chat.
Since final 12 months, Google has been pressuring Apple to assist RCS
But in line with XDA, on the primary iOS 17 beta it appears that if one Android consumer joins a beforehand all-iOS messaging session, the iPhone customers will nonetheless get to edit texts, reply in threads, and obtain the prime quality pictures and video that they’d usually get in iMessage. The distinction is that solely the Android interloper is not going to expertise any of those. For instance, for example that there are three iOS customers in a bunch chat and one Android consumer. The latter will be unable to see an edited textual content or a high-quality video that the opposite three can.
In different phrases, an Android consumer collaborating in a bunch chat consisting of iOS customers should endure with the everyday low-quality video that SMS/MMS delivers whereas iOS customers will see iMessage-quality video. For instance, XDA despatched pictures to a bunch chat made up of a number of iOS customers and one Android consumer. The former obtained pictures despatched from an iPhone at a 4032×3024 decision in a 2.02MB file. The picture was obtained by the Android telephone with a 2048×1536 decision in a file weighing in at 725KB.
And as XDA notes, the distinction in video is even bigger. A 21-second 4K 60fps video despatched to the group (157MB) was obtained by the iPhone customers within the chat as a 720p 30fps video that was 17.9MB in dimension. That’s the identical high quality that can be obtained over iMessage. The Android consumer obtained a clip with a 176×144 decision and a 10fps body fee. The file dimension was severely compressed to 293KB.
Is this step one towards detente and lasting peace within the smartphone world?
We cannot say whether or not this is step one by Apple towards detente and an enduring peace amongst iOS and Android customers. After all, it seems that not all iMessage options will likely be obtainable to iOS customers if an Android consumer “breaks” iMessage together with his/her participation in a bunch chat. And these lacking options nonetheless might be sufficient to create hostility between iOS and Android system house owners.
Still, if this feature makes it to the ultimate model of iOS 17, it might reduce a number of the anger lobbed at an Android consumer who’s the minority in a bunch chat. But what must occur is for each Apple and Google to create one unified cross-platform messaging service that will permit iMessage and RCS customers to return collectively and chat with none degradation in picture high quality or lack of any options.
This is one thing that Google has been pushing Apple to permit as just lately as final month at Google I/O. Continuing to present iOS customers some iMessage options whereas on a bunch chat with an Android consumer is vital and we should not overlook what this implies. But the purpose is that Apple should not cease right here. The final objective must be a unified feature-rich messaging platform that each iOS and Android customers can take pleasure in.
