Apple will add support for the RCS messaging standard to its devices starting in 2024, a move that will help make the messaging experience between iPhones and phones running the Android operating system more complete.
RCS is the acronym for “Rich Communication Services”, a standard that telephone operators want to become the successor to SMS and MMS and that allows the sending of higher quality images and videos and other series of advanced tools, such as better management of message groups between several people.
These types of tools are common in messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp or iMessage, but they could not be technically implemented over SMS, which is a standard that was not even initially conceived as a communication tool and has important limitations.
Apple’s adoption will simplify sending photos and videos or managing chat groups when the recipient – or one of the recipients – does not have an iPhone, although the experience will still be somewhat more limited than with iMessage, which Apple will continue using for communication between the company’s own devices. RCS, for example, does not support point-to-point encryption of messages. It is likely that Apple will continue to use different colors to distinguish messages.
Adoption could help alleviate the regulatory pressure Apple faces with the arrival of the Digital Markets Act. The European Commission has yet to decide whether the iMessage messaging service is considered “essential” and therefore should be opened to other platforms – mainly Android -. Apple has argued that the use of iMessage in Europe is a minority but both Google and European operators have asked Brussels to force Apple’s hand.
In a text sent to the specialized publication 9to5 Mac, Apple specifies in any case that support will be for the version of RCS supported by the GSMA, the international association that regulates telephony standards. It is important to note that this version presents some differences with the RCS protocol of Google and some telephone operators, which include proprietary elements. Still, the basic functionality, including support for high-resolution photos and videos, is universal.