What if I just want my phone's text messaging app to only do text messages? What if I don't want fluff features like voice messages that I didn't ask for? Is there a simple vanilla text messaging app to take over texts on my phone since Google feels the need to add extra weight to Messages, an otherwise simple feature that all cell phones share?
Luckily you're on android and not an iPhone. You can go ahead and install whichever text messaging handling application you would like in its place to use and switch the default app.
I know. I was pointing out one of the nice things that this person can do, since they're referring specifically to the default android sms handling app, is that android allows you to switch the default to whatever sms app you'd prefer to use. So if you don't like the direction Google is taking theirs, you can find a different one that better fits with what you prefer.
If you have an iPhone and don't like the direction apple takes one of their default apps, like sms or phone calling apps, you can't change the defaults that handle those and other phone functions.
I really don't know why you're being down voted, this is definitely true. I'm Gen Z, and I definitely got excluded from group chats in high school because I have an Android phone. Even in college it's a pain to communicate with people outside of engineering/CS/DS majors because they always complain about the green bubble.
I personally use QKSMS, which isn't perfect, but it's all I've been able to stand since Signal dropped SMS support.
This RCS stuff scares me a bit, because it sounds like it will function over a data connection and not be nearly as universal of a standard as SMS/MMS is. There are already a million such apps and standards if one wants to use data for messaging. Trying to sneak it on top of SMS is very annoying. If I use my SMS app, I want my messages to be sent as such. Getting a surprise data bill shouldn't be a fear.
RCS does function over a data connection (and WiFi!), however unless you're sending large files over the wire it's probably not going to have any effect on your data bill. Text messages are a handful of kilobytes large at worst. SMS/MMS have lots of issues to do with security and capability, and most handsets support it in some form already.
Not if you want RCS. Google still refuses to make a user-level API for some reason. So you can only use the messenger app bundled with your phone for RCS.
None will, Google is slowly closed-sourcing the entire platform. Messaging was one of the next steps. Also why apps like Signal won't be seeing carrier messaging in the future.
For me, the one feature I want from messages is sending text messages when I don't have an internet connection. If "having features [I'm not] interested in using" means it breaks the one feature I want (by default & without telling me), seems reasonable to be a bit peeved, no?
The connection between having a feature you don't want and missing one you do want is entirely in your mind. If you're going to complain, why not complain about what's actually bothering you?