Google Voice’s loss of RCS fortify is ruining my team chat

Each and every buddy team goes to have its black sheep. Possibly they’re the one that’s in all probability to want bailing out, the one that’s all the time canceling plans on the ultimate minute, or the one that’s by no means leaping on the likelihood to shop for the following spherical. I’m the black sheep in my buddy team, and it’s all Google’s fault.

Like many buddies do, we keep up a correspondence via a bunch chat, and to start with, the whole lot was once high quality. However one at a time, over the last few years everyone began upgrading to RCS, having access to new options — and having their expectancies for textual content messaging evolve. The massive drawback, despite the fact that: I’m the usage of Google Voice, and Google Voice feels love it’s by no means going to get RCS.

As you’re most probably smartly mindful via now, RCS (Wealthy Communique Services and products) is the massive improve to modernize textual content messaging that smartphones have wanted for a very long time. Android has been development out its fortify for years, and when RCS arrived for iPhones in 2024, a significant hurdle in the way in which of cross-platform verbal exchange in spite of everything got here down.

That is all nice, with RCS turning in the whole lot from fortify for reactions, to learn receipts, to very large media attachments. No less than, it’s nice … up till you’re the ultimate individual to your team chat with out get entry to. Reactions come via awkwardly as messages unto themselves. On occasion pictures don’t display up in any respect. And every now and then conversations appear to randomly drop messages and arrive out of order.

Particularly with that ultimate one, I will’t even say undoubtedly that that is particularly an RCS drawback inflicting it. Nevertheless it helps to keep taking place, and I will’t blame my buddies after they all level their arms on the one man insisting on the usage of decades-old SMS in 2026.

I’ve been the usage of Google Voice since ahead of Google even obtained it, again when it was once nonetheless GrandCentral. For any person who works with a large number of gadgets (as smartphone newshounds have a tendency to do), the facility to grasp any certainly one of them and feature get entry to to the similar conversations — whether or not or now not that telephone even has a SIM in it — is a large plus. And with the ability to pick out issues proper up in any internet browser, even if my telephone is nowhere close to me, is a wide variety of handy.

Issues had been nice for ages, however now the goalposts have moved, and quite than speeding to catch up, it appears like building on Voice has undoubtedly stalled out. I may now not let you know the ultimate time Voice modified the rest actually substantive. The few enhancements we do get have a tendency to be serious about paid Workspace utilization, just like the conference-call mode from ultimate yr.

What’s perhaps maximum irritating is that increasing RCS is obviously nonetheless vital to Google. Again in December, Google Fi were given a long-overdue improve to its RCS fortify, increasing from telephones to now paintings with Fi’s internet interface. And that’s nice for everyone on Fi! However for each and every replace Google deploys like that one, it turns into simply all of the extra evident that Voice is being handed over.

To 1 extent, I am getting it. Voice doesn’t have advertisements. Voice must interface with the general public telephone switching gadget. It’s were given to be dear to run. I doubt it was once ever even a lot of a loss chief, serving to draw other people into Google’s ecosystem. As a substitute, it’s this ongoing monetary burden. Possibly there are a couple of of you in the market who in truth acquire credit for VoIP calls, however for any person like me, mooching off Voice for many years, there’s little motivation for Google to spend much more cash simply to stay me satisfied.

I’m greater than a bit of stunned that Google merely hasn’t pulled the plug already. The indicators are unquestionably there that Voice may now not be much less of a concern for Google. If the loss of RCS weren’t telling sufficient, do that on for dimension: Google Voice has ZERO Gemini integration, in any way. I problem you in finding some other Google carrier that’s been much less touched via Gemini than Voice. A few of you can be guffawing, considering it is a just right factor and wishing Google had been as apathetic in opposition to forcing Gemini into all its different apps. However the truth is that during 2026, this inattention is an overly, very dangerous signal for Voice’s long term possibilities.

So, the place does that depart us? For my little team, they’ve given up on Voice ever getting its act in combination, and are pushing laborious to transport our chat to every other platform altogether. Whilst that would possibly unravel my problems with them, I’ve nonetheless were given the remainder of my textual content messaging existence all tied up with Google Voice, and I’m hesitant to burn all of it down once I truthfully nonetheless actually just like the core Voice revel in — it simply must get with the days.

As once a year passes, despite the fact that, it feels much less and not more most likely that it ever will. On some degree, I do know this: If Google cared sufficient to deliver RCS to Voice, it will have came about via now. However there’s nonetheless that lingering chance that perhaps I’ve were given Voice all fallacious, and it’s only one extra replace away from its giant RCS renaissance.

It’s like I’m in a nasty dating that’s now not running for me, but I’ve were given such a lot invested that I’m a ways too hesitant to chop ties and get started recent. I’m wondering what number of different long-time Voice customers really feel in a similar fashion, and what sort of time all people actually have left ahead of such a lot of do depart that it turns into now not price Google retaining the lighting fixtures on for the remainder. The sensible factor to do can be to get forward of it. However that doesn’t make me any much less unhappy that it’s come to this.