Interesting that some people would take that as an Apple problem and others would take it as a Google problem

Who’s at fault for not having built-in messaging that works with rich text, photos, videos, etc?

Google has abandoned more messaging products than I can remember while Apple focused on literally the main function of a phone in the 21st century. And they get shit for it

Most of the world doesn't care about built in. Apple decided against iMessage on Android for lock in. Android had RCS in 2019.

Apple get shit for it because they made it a proprietary protocol for which clients are not available on anything except their own hardware. The whole point of messaging is that it should work with all my contacts, not just those who drank the Apple-flavored Kool-Aid.

Google’s protocol is proprietary too - their encryption extension makes it inaccessible for anyone else and google will not partner or license (companies have tried).

RCS as currently implemented is iMessage but with a coat of google paint. There is no there there.

Google should get plenty of shit too for closing down GTalk in the first place. It's not an either-or. Big tech in general hates open protocols and interoperability for consumer stuff; Apple is just the most egregious offender there.