Google is moving to give Android users the option to opt into its new Chat service within the Android Messages app, based on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard, reports The Verge quoting Sanaz Ahari, the product management director overseeing Android Messages. The RCS-based service will be introduced later this month in the UK and France, with more countries to follow throughout the year.
It will be made available via an opt-in process directly from Android, instead of waiting for mobile operators to support it. However, Google plans to let operators handle messages, if RCS support is already in place.
Among its features, the system should recognize fairly quickly if a recipient is unable to receive Chat messages and revert back to SMS automatically. From a data retention perspective, it has been designed to delete messages from Google’s servers once they are delivered to recipients.
Ahari assured The Verge of the company’s commitment to provide end-to-end encryption for the service, when commenting on the fact that this feature is not yet ready. While the GSMA-backed RCS standard can accommodate end-to-end encryption, this would require an agreement on how to add it to the Universal Profile spec that allows RCS services to inter-operate.
