Are there any (preferably FOSS) RCS/SMS/MMS apps as an alternative to Google Messages? I can’t convince anyone to switch to signal and would like to at least use an app that I trust. Eventually I’ll be moving to a privacy-respecting mobile OS so I’ll need an SMS app to run without Google Play Services, but I don’t want to totally miss out on RCS. Are there any alternatives? Is this even possible?
Europe has historically been charged by the text message, the US not so much. So SMS became dominant in the US primarily because of that, but also because it’s the lowest common denominator and everyone supports it, no matter what phone you have.