Google Messages is making yet another push for RCS adoption, with a new feature aimed at encouraging users to pressure their contacts into enabling the modern messaging protocol.
In the latest open beta of the app, Google is working on a feature that will prompt users to send a reminder SMS to anyone in their contact list who is still using regular SMS or MMS.
The feature is part of Google’s ongoing effort to make RCS the dominant messaging standard on Android devices. If a contact is not using RCS, the app will display a message suggesting that users encourage them to switch. While the message is intended to be friendly, the idea of multiple contacts sending similar reminders might create a subtle social pressure to join RCS.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, offers many improvements over SMS, such as high-quality media sharing, emoji reactions, typing indicators, and end-to-end encryption. However, for these benefits to be fully realized, everyone in the conversation must have RCS enabled and use a compatible app. This new feature from Google is designed to push RCS adoption by motivating existing users to help spread the word and encourage holdouts to make the switch.
Aside from this reminder feature, Google has been adding other RCS-related features. One such addition is the ability to identify RCS-enabled contacts in Google Contacts, and in group chats, users will soon be able to rename groups and add custom icons for better organization.
While the official launch of this reminder feature has yet to be confirmed, it is clear that Google is betting on a little peer pressure to convince users to adopt RCS. Whether this will lead to a surge in RCS adoption or just annoy users remains to be seen.