Apple’s Big Surprise
Apple recently announced that it will begin to support RCS, the modern standard for smartphone messaging. This decision to adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol in 2024 marks a significant shift in the landscape of cross-platform messaging, promising enhanced interoperability between iOS and Android devices.
Announced to be part of a future iOS update, likely iOS 18, RCS support on iPhone will introduce a range of iMessage-like features for texts between iPhone and Android users, including read receipts, typing indicators, and high-quality media sharing. RCS has been supported by Android devices for some time, with Google and Samsung championing the standard as a modern replacement for the aging SMS and MMS protocols.
Apple’s adoption of RCS, as announced in November 2023, comes after years of industry pressure and amidst growing regulatory scrutiny over proprietary technologies like iMessage. However, it’s important to note that RCS, while offering many improvements over SMS/MMS, does not currently match iMessage’s end-to-end encryption for all messages.
Apple will not be opening up their proprietary communication protocol to allow end-to-end encryption communication with Androids over iMessage. Instead, RCS is going to be Apple’s fallback protocol when communicating with an Android device. Apple has committed to working with the GSM Association to enhance RCS’s security features, including better encryption standards.
Despite these advancements, iMessage will remain exclusive to Apple devices, maintaining its encrypted communication platform for iPhone users only. The introduction of RCS on iPhones aims to alleviate some of the common frustrations experienced in cross-platform messaging, such as issues with group conversations and the sharing of media between Android and iPhone users.
While RCS messages will continue to appear as green bubbles on Apple devices, the underlying technology will ensure a more seamless and feature-rich messaging experience. This move, while long-awaited, is a positive step towards bridging the communication gap between iPhone and Android users, offering a glimpse into a more unified messaging future.
Having just recently experienced the frustrating inability to send any messages to a mixed Android and iPhone group chat. I can say that I am personally quite happy that Apple finally made this decision.