Potential Big Changes Coming to Android Messages
In a world defined by inter-connectivity between devices and the push to take advantage of the presence of Wifi in almost every nook and cranny of major cities or facilities, Android's 'Messages' app has remained unfortunately behind the curve. For those who wanted to do any kind of messaging without relying on cellular coverage we would have to either download an app specific to using Wifi for texting, or we would have to find a carrier that would make this capability part of the standard package (eg. Republic Wireless builds in wifi calling and texting for the phones in their lineup). This may be about to change.
It should first be noted that the changes mentioned here are entirely speculative. Android Police, a website that keeps a heavy tab on all things Android, has a segment called teardown where they look at code that is present or going to be present on new devices. Because it may not be live yet, it also may not pass testing!
The first interesting change for Android users comes in the form of being able to pair phones with their computer and be able to send and receive text messages to your computer through a web interface. You'll have to register the computer with your device (done in applications like Allo by navigating to a website and scanning a QR code) and then you will be able to send and receive via that web service. You will also be able to see a list of computer you are signed into the service with, and disconnect from any of them via the service.
The most exciting feature though is the potential for texting over Wifi. This is something that Android users have been waiting an exceptionally long time for, and the Android Police found code that indicates this could be pushed. An article found on the verge talks about how this would be implemented using a feature called RCS, or Rich Communication Services. What they have said is that it takes normal SMS and boosts its abilities to include things like high-resolution images, reading receipts, etc. This feature does, however, requires some kind of cloud-based infrastructure to work well, which led them to four possibilities. The first of course being, as the disclaimer stated above, that the code meant nothing and it will not come to fruition. The second being that this feature will only be available for Google's carrier, Project Fi, and this code merely turns on the functionality for Fi users. The third is Google giving carriers and option to use this RCS if they want to, but it won't be a standard for the phone and carriers will have the option of not implementing it. The last being that Google has laid the groundwork for an app that would "do for Android what iMessage does for iPhone: seamlessly supplant SMS."
In the fourth quarter of 2016, Android had roughly 80% of the global market share for operating systems on phones. If an app was released that would seamlessly connect all of these users, it is highly likely that this share would increase. Could this defeat the iPhone? (Not likely, but who knows!)
It should first be noted that the changes mentioned here are entirely speculative. Android Police, a website that keeps a heavy tab on all things Android, has a segment called teardown where they look at code that is present or going to be present on new devices. Because it may not be live yet, it also may not pass testing!
The first interesting change for Android users comes in the form of being able to pair phones with their computer and be able to send and receive text messages to your computer through a web interface. You'll have to register the computer with your device (done in applications like Allo by navigating to a website and scanning a QR code) and then you will be able to send and receive via that web service. You will also be able to see a list of computer you are signed into the service with, and disconnect from any of them via the service.
The most exciting feature though is the potential for texting over Wifi. This is something that Android users have been waiting an exceptionally long time for, and the Android Police found code that indicates this could be pushed. An article found on the verge talks about how this would be implemented using a feature called RCS, or Rich Communication Services. What they have said is that it takes normal SMS and boosts its abilities to include things like high-resolution images, reading receipts, etc. This feature does, however, requires some kind of cloud-based infrastructure to work well, which led them to four possibilities. The first of course being, as the disclaimer stated above, that the code meant nothing and it will not come to fruition. The second being that this feature will only be available for Google's carrier, Project Fi, and this code merely turns on the functionality for Fi users. The third is Google giving carriers and option to use this RCS if they want to, but it won't be a standard for the phone and carriers will have the option of not implementing it. The last being that Google has laid the groundwork for an app that would "do for Android what iMessage does for iPhone: seamlessly supplant SMS."
In the fourth quarter of 2016, Android had roughly 80% of the global market share for operating systems on phones. If an app was released that would seamlessly connect all of these users, it is highly likely that this share would increase. Could this defeat the iPhone? (Not likely, but who knows!)
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