Who doesn’t like a cool third-party messenger app? One that can work no matter what or that gives you some extra features that the default messaging app installed on your phone can’t provide… I don’t necessarily mean Snapchat, Instagram, etc. when I am discussing this since they fall more under social media than strictly a messenger even though it can function as such.

Google: The giant company with many projects and hands in many different bowls, if you know what I’m saying, has decided to pretty much shift development from Google Allo, a cross-platform messenger app that sought to bring people in, to yet another app that will supposedly “kill” iMessages.

Simply titled “Chat”, Google is trying to make the future an mms-free world. Instead of going with the flow and just accepting their place in the market Google has made moves to have mobile carriers work with them to market the RCS dynamic.

As per GSMA’s website, the proprietor of RCS, “The Universal Profile contains core features such as capability discovery (which will be interoperable between regions), chat, group chat, file transfer, audio messaging, video share, multi-device, enriched calling, location share and live sketching. It also introduces the key enablers for Messaging as a Platform (MaaP).” They refer to their “Universal Profile” as a tool to better implement RCS across the globe.

Something consistent and uniform on Android devices could be a nice change of pace to the typically open-ended free-for-all that it is. What is somewhat concerning is the need for Google to move in the direction of carrier support to market their product instead of creating something worth downloading on its own. Getting an abundance of carriers to implement this would mean progress to a degree. Not only would we be moving past Multimedia Messaging Services towards something more capable as they claim; but we would also be ditching a system developed in the 80s for what could be an improvement. There is no doubt that the start of implementing this could be rocky but greatness takes risks…

Hopefully providing the freedom, customization, and design it promises “Chat” may or may not be the next best thing in messaging. There is plenty to doubt when it comes to Android and the word stability, but this looks promising and perhaps it will turn out better than past ventures made by the giant.