Google is quietly blocking RCS on rooted devices.

I always disliked RCS, I kept telling people it's a walled garden, mainly controlled by Google
- Jibe is RCS. They are so dominant all other implementations will have to follow. So far only Google, Samsung and soon Apple can actually implement RCS practically.
- Even so you'd think they'd want to get as many people as possible on board with RCS to increase adoption, not fewer.
  
  Then what they're doing tells us all we need to know.
  Google wants to control what data they can glean from RCS users.
- I agree. You're much better off just using Signal. It's not federated/decentralized, but all client apps, the protocol and the server code are completely open source and anyone can fork the project. It also works on every platform, its encryption protocol is the most secure one out there and it's been around for over 10 years. They also recently added some cool new privacy features.
  
  Ok good. But then there's the problem of actually convincing people to use Signal. A messaging app is pointless if nobody else wants to use it.
- it's a walled garden
  it's a golden prison*
- The thing is is that if MNO's truly cared about running their own RCS network (instead of leaving everything to Apple and Google). It might actually be a more open system. Sure, you can't self host an MNO, but it's still a much larger step forward.
- The weird thing is that so many people are buying into the Google and Apple marketing on SMS being insecure.
  If you're on an unroooted smartphone running stock OS, nothing you do is secure
  
  Basically everything is more secure than SMS though. Security is a gradient, and never absolutel.
  
  GraphineOS is more secure than the stock OS

- We really need to move away from the idea that a user having control over his/her device is insecure.
  I can use online banking and paypal with windows logged in as administrator or GNU/Linux logged in as root[0], why shouldn't I be able to use google ~~wallet~~ ~~pay~~ wallet with root?
  [0] yes I know you shouldn't log in as root, but that doesn't change that you can do it.
  
  "why shouldn't I be able to use google wallet pay wallet with root?" Because little innocent Google won't be able to build their advertising profile of you. Can't have that!
  
  No my friend, our overloads have decided that you shouldn't have control over your desktop either.
  
  I'm not even rooted and gpay keeps breaking on crdroid for me, despite passing safetynet. I've given up and just got another credit card that I can use with my garmin watch that works every time without the hassle.
  
  Does rooting your device make you the root user or just gives you access to superuser utilities?
  In linux systems the root user shouldn't be used for daily use, you just make an user account with permission to use sudo, doas or su.
  
  how would an unrooted but old, deprecated version of android be any better than an updated custom rom?
  those things baffle me, they just want to take away control dont they?
  
  Yeah, I'm going to get downvoted into oblivion for this...
  I'm sick and tired of reading this same uneducated argument. Your desktop browser and an app on your phone are entirely different paradigms security/development wise.
  Your desktop browser is expected to be insecure. Nobody stores data there besides cookies. Most processing happens somewhere else on a server.
  Apple and Google have changed this stance entirely because they knew apps could be a lot more powerful if they did. The API's that exist to build apps on your phone are designed around the concept of having a secure, sandboxed environment per app. Apps can run offline and manipulate data quickly because data can be synced down and stored locally. I know it sucks for rooted users, but I don't blame developers for refusing to support those devices one bit.
- The standard seems to be complete and utter garbage. It was garbage from the very beginning, which is why I never understood why people were getting so incredibly hyped up about RCS support.

Good standard you have there. Good features are proprietary to Google and you can't use it while rooted.
Lmao

Every day I am attracted more and more by PinePhone. At least as a secondary device, at first.
Perhaps it's not even close to polished yet with existing distributions, but at least it isn't made to be shitty.
- No. I genuinely doubt it ever will... Huge pinephone stan here but I don't see it happening. And before you make the purchase.... Please be sure you know what you're getting into... I'm so sick and tired of folks popping in the chat rooms asking how to install android. We're actually dealing with a lot of spam lately due to a clearly butt hurt person...
- Seems like a decently attractive option. I wish more apps were/had PWA alternatives and I'd be good
  
  Not really a huge comment or critique... More just wanna spread the good word
  https://linuxphoneapps.org/

I don't know why, but that a sad news :/
- Good news.
  The more people they keep from using this garbage "standard", the better.
  It still requires a phone number. It still falls back to SMS, it still fails, a LOT - just see the comments in this thread.
  It's 20 years too late.
  XMPP was better, in 2010, than RCS is today. I was using XMPP on my phone in 2010, messaging people on computers, seamlessly. Without a phone number. On multiple services using Pidgin.
  No thanks, I don't want this garbage called RCS.

I was wondering why RCS just stopped working the other day

I don't get the RCS hype. I already have apps for rich messaging and RCS offers nothing for me over those apps. What I do appreciate is SMS, which is posed to be killed-off by RCS. I can rely on SMS even when there is no data signal, can't say that for RCS. I wish I had a way to permanently disable RCS on my Pixel 6a, instead I have to keep rejecting the 'upgrade to RCS' dialog.
- The hype is because America won't switch to Internet messaging by default and only wants one app to message with. So SMS is the only primary option for that. Meaning lower resolution media, and a lack of modern features like read receipts and typing indicators.

My husband and I were having an issue yesterday sending an RCS message, they were never getting delivered. They ended up being sent via SMS. It cleared up after an hour or so

I can also confirm it doesn't work on a de-Googled device, even with something like MicroG (though it may work on GrapheneOS's sandbox thing).
- Nope I had to go back to Google Android on my pixel won't even activate anymore.

This is shitty, but genuinely I have no idea why people root or run custom ROMs these days. I haven't found an actual use for it since about 2015
Edit: plenty have people have given me fair enough reasons now, thanks
- Less bloat ware/spy ware - custom ROMs don't come prepackaged with random shady games from shady companies or random shady social media apps from shady social media companies.
  Better privacy and security implementations along with DeGoogling - a lot of ROMs offer Gappless ROMs which is really important since Google is way to big and has too much influence on android OEMs and its easily the biggest ad company in the world and constantly refused to respect peoples privacy. e.g GrapheneOS https://grapheneos.org/features and DivestOS https://divestos.org/
  Long term software support to help against e-waste e.g LineageOS supports so many phones who's manufacturers have stopped supplying software updates. https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
  Customization e.g Crdroid includes loads of custom settings from a variety of other custom ROMs and OEM ROMs that rarely get implemented by any stock ROMs. https://crdroid.net/
  Rooting android phones gives users the ability to access system files that they may not have been able to backup if the apps don't support it. It also allows for a full system backup and restore
  It also allows users to block ads and unwated connections without using a local VPN e.g adaway
  Enabling Google to dictate what a user can do with their own device by limiting features is a slippery slope and the last thing we want to happen is for Android to end up like iOS with its walled garden approach.
  
  The walled garden is something that grows fast everywhere. Users should have the rights over their devices. Maybe its time to get the EU on this train, their last approaches like the GDPR or the DSA are from near the same spirit.
  
  You can still install custom roms without root enabled. Enabling root access is an optional step on most custom roms installation as long as your bootlooader has been unlocked. The question is, does google disable rcs on such devices too, or is it just on rooted devices?
- You want an example? GrapheneOS, to take back my privacy.
- Speak for yourself.
  
  I was speaking for myself, I have no idea why people do it. Didn't say there aren't legitimate reasons, I just don't know any of them
  
  Meh, they were speaking to the other population. They speak for most.
- Because it's my device, not Googles.
  Do you let Dell lock down your laptop and prevent you creating an Admin account?
  
  What I do on my PC and what I do on my phone are different. Above all the most important feature of my phone is that it works reliably, not that I can tinker or install mods
- for me , privacy. no google services run in my phone, and none od my data gets shared with anyone
- Because it's my fucking phone.
  Custom "rom"s extend the life of the device via both security updates and app compatibility. They're usually able to be used without propriety Google shit at all, if the person wants.
  Just rooting allows more control over what is and isn't on the device, which goes back to the "my fucking phone" factor as well as the rest.
  Yeah, you can partially debloat via adb, but that's a partial solution to a systematic problem.
  And that's ignoring apps that can do more with root, if you want them to have those abilities.
  Edit: hell, just access to hosts file is enough justification.
- Custom roms: I don't want google service on my device.
  As to rooting, I have rooted in the passed, its my device and I'm a tinkerer so why not?
  Might as well ask why people run linux after buying a laptop with pre installed windows.
  
  Well Linux is an entire different OS which comes with its own benefits. Rooting makes it a lot more difficult to use apps that use safetynet so doing it because "why not" rather than for a specific benefit doesn't make sense to me
- How do you keep a phone more than 5 years while still having security updates without a custom ROM?
  
  I had my note 8 for longer than security updates existed so I installed lineageOS on it, it got security updates but lost a ton of other features and became buggy and slow. Maybe with other phones the experience is better.
- Delete bloatware or just straight up remove all of the Google services
- Personal firewall.
  If an app doesn't need internet access to do its job, it doesn't get it. Simple as that.
- I'm running a laptop replacement chroot
- You need to differentiate between root and custom ROMs. Root is counterproductive in regards to security, because it significantly increases attack surface, but Custom ROMs like GrapheneOS can make your device much more private and secure. It also doesn't ship any proprietary apps by default and Google Play services are sandboxed and isolated, just like any other app. It's pretty amazing.
  
  It's not necessarily counterproductive, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish