RCS: no e2e, multi-device support, or any 3rd party application APIs on Android. In other words, gimped by Google.

Google's messaging department has been chasing it's tail for 10 years. Unless they clone iMessage from the inside out, RCS has no hope. Personally, I want to see RCS fail. It's a lousy spec with few privacy protections built-in. I had it enabled on my phone for a while and there was no indication as to whether my messages were passing through my carrier's servers or Google's RCS endpoint.

Google's been unable to build a iMessage competitor because they don't have the same leverage with the phone carriers that Apple does - because they don't even sell what few phones they manufacture in the carrier's stores.

They built out a technology and gave carriers the option to implement it themselves, or they could just piggyback on Google's servers. Carriers obviously opted to implement it themselves because they don't want to become dumb pipes, then dragged their feet for years.

As I understand it, Google wants to get a basic version in place with all the major carriers first, then start rolling out many of the other features you've mentioned.

Apple's been holding out on supporting it because it's not encrypted, but it'll be interesting to see how they respond to carrier-wide adoption of encrypted RCS when that comes. Will iMessage chats fall back to RCS with Android phones? Or will they continue to fall back to unencrypted oldschool SMS?

>a sonic sub-pixel fingerprint reader

Just hope nobody who steals your phone puts a screen protector on it.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/10127908/samsung-galaxy-s10-sc...

Under display scanner on Samsungs is so horribly bad that I'm not worried about it at all :) . I often can't unlock my S10+ in five tries after which it forces me to enter pin. And S10+ cost 1000$ on release last year. I don't use any screen protectors and I've rescanned fingers after Samsung rolled out "fixes" for the scanner. It's junk.

Zero issues with the S20. It works great; not as great as TouchID on older iPhones, as if that were still an option, but barring super wet fingers or gloves, it unlocks every time while declining the fingerprints of my other fingers and the half-dozen other people who have tried mine.

I still can't believe that Google would back an unencrypted messaging platform. It feels like malpractice on the part of their engineers.

RCS is only rolled out in a limited number of countries.

Countries which I do not live in, and people whom I do not interact with.

It'll get there. But, right now, it works great for me.

Sure, but I think this was a more general discussion and not a personal annecdote.