Android

Jibe, maybe. RCS is just a telecom spec, like SMS and VoLTE are. If your carrier bothered to implement RCS, you can just use one of the alternative RCS apps (which won't have Google's proprietary encryption, of course)

Even so you'd think they'd want to get as many people as possible on board with RCS to increase adoption, not fewer.

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.

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.

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.

Does the Pinephone have RCS these days?

Seems like a decently attractive option. I wish more apps were/had PWA alternatives and I'd be good

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.

Can't you just disable RCS in the Google Messages app and use a different messenger? You can just change the default SMS app to one that doesn't do RCS (which is almost all of them).

Edit:

I can rely on SMS even when there is no data signal, can’t say that for RCS.

The RCS Universal Profile Service Definition Document has the following to say about that:

Users in many cases switch cellular data usage off locally on their device. To allow the MNO to offer IR 92 / IR 94 and RCS services to their users even in these use cases, the data off switch shall have an MNO configurable impact on the device connectivity. It shall be up to the individual MNO to ensure a good Operator service experience by the end user in cases that allow IP service usage even if the data switch was set to ’off’ by the end user.

"MNO" refers to the cellular network operator you have a subscription with.

Of course, this requirement cannot be satisfied if you use a random internet server (such as Google's) for RCS, rather than your carrier's. This is a problem with Google's servers, RCS itself was designed to operate even if you have data disabled. 4G and later are completely packet-based, so there is no "no data signal" situation, just "terrible reception and slow data rates" without fallback to 3G (if your area still has 3G providers) or 2G (if you enjoy the security risk of leaving 2G support enabled).

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.