Trainee reporter/Yang Yang

Google is at it again, this time over text messaging.

On August 9, The local time, Google released a special topic called "Get The Message" on The Android official website to Apple, hoping that Apple can improve The cross-device SMS communication between Apple users and Android users, calling on Apple to give up The old SMS and MMS communication methods. Use "modern industry standard" RCS (Rich Media Communication Services).

Google said text bubbles will be green when Android users and Apple users send text messages across devices, instead of the normal blue bubbles, and that video quality will be heavily compressed, return receipt reading will not be displayed, and messages will not be encrypted.

Google said that because iMessage, Apple's messaging system, is not available on Android, Android and iPhone users can only send messages using old-fashioned SMS and MMS communications technology, rather than using WiFi or cellular data networks.

SMS refers to the text messaging service. An SMS message can only contain a maximum of 160 bytes (about 80 Chinese characters). MMS refers to multimedia short message service, also known as MMS. Although MMS supports the transfer of photos, videos, and audio messages, it can only transmit small files, so files sent over MMS are usually compressed.

That leaves Apple and Android users unable to stream high-definition videos and pictures to each other, and unable to tell if messages have been read. Google said these factors significantly affected the user experience and prevented Android users from communicating properly with Apple users.

Google has come up with a solution to this problem. It wants Apple to ditch SMS and MMS and use RCS (Rich Communication Suite).

RCS is a communication method proposed by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) in 2008, which integrates voice, video, location services and other communication services. Like text messaging, RCS allows you to instantly build a social network without adding friends.

But compared with traditional text messages (SMS) and MMS, RCS supports sending high-definition pictures, group chats and video calls, as well as displaying a read receipt and typing indicators (such as "the other party is typing").

Google started pushing for RCS back in 2015 and gradually required Android models to be certified to the RCS standard. As of now, most Android models are already compatible with RCS.

However, Apple didn't take that advice. According to a Wall Street Journal report in January, Apple said its closed encryption system protects information from hackers and that RCS, while making it easier for Apple users to communicate with Android users, would weaken Apple's "walled garden."

In addition to the messaging issues mentioned above, Google also pointed out that Apple uses the color of the text bubble to distinguish users between models -- when Apple users send messages to each other using iMessage, the text bubble appears blue, while text bubbles from Android users appear green.

This isn't the first time Google has publicly criticized color differences in text bubbles. In January, Google senior vice President Hiroshi Lockheimer retweeted a Wall Street Journal story suggesting that the alien green bubble was making non-Apple users feel excluded.

'The green text bubble creates social pressure and leads to social exclusion for Android users,' the article said. "Some teens said they were ostracized or isolated because of the green text bubbles after they switched iphones."

Lockheimer called it "peer pressure" and "green bullying" and spoke out against Apple, saying that "using 'peer pressure' and 'green bullying' to sell products is inappropriate and hypocritical for a company whose core values are humanity and fairness."

Lockheimer also took the opportunity to call on Apple to use RCS, saying the technology could solve the blue-green bubble problem and improve the communication experience between iPhone and Android users.

In June, American rapper Drake released a new song, "Texts Go Green," which Google used as an opportunity to highlight the distinctive Green bubble between Apple and Android users and call for Apple to use RCS.