Apple to bring in RCS messages for iPhones in 2024

In a rather surprising turn of events, Apple has announced its plans to adopt RCS (Rich Communication Services) communication for iPhones starting next year. The announcement is a big step towards the improvement of messaging between iOS and Android phones. But what is RCS support? How does it affect the SMS experience, and what can Apple and non-Apple smartphone users expect moving forward? Let’s understand all about the standard and how it helps cross-platform messaging in general.

What is RCS chat?

RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is simply a communication protocol between your mobile phone and carrier. This protocol largely aims at superseding SMS messages by replacing them with text messages that are richer and can support media-based communication.

In layperson’s terms, RCS brings better media support than standard MMS (multimedia messaging service), including support for sending and receiving higher-resolution photos and videos.

RCS replaces the standard SMS messages when two devices with RCS support text each other. Both Microsoft and Google already support RCS, the latter even pushing users to turn on RCS on newer Android phones, allowing users to have a richer texting and media-sharing experience without needing third-party apps like WhatsApp or Telegram.

What does RCS messaging mean for iPhones?

For one, RCS will bring in iMessage-style features for exchange between Android and iOS devices. Implementing it will additionally allow users to share their location with people within these text threads. Features, such as high-quality images, videos, typing indicators, and read receipts, will also be a part of this upgrade. However, unlike SMS, RCS messages will be able to work with mobile data or a working Wi-Fi network as well.

What happens to iMessage?

Apple, in an official statement, goes on to mention how iMessage will not be replaced as a messaging platform. It will continue to serve communication between iPhones while RCS replaces MMS and SMS-based chats. That said, Apple is still not opening up iMessage for Android users.

ALSO READ: Evolution of the iPhone: How Apple built the poster boy for smartphones

While RCS support will not really change how Apple’s iPhones interact with each other via iMessage, it will make texting between iPhones and Android phones much better. Currently, when an Android phone texts an iPhone, only a standard SMS/MMS can go through, with media often getting blurred to maintain the size and data limitations of standard SMS and MMS. RCS support will fix that.

Will Android phones get blue bubbles?

Very unlikely. While Apple has no official comment on the matter yet, it is unlikely that adding RCS support to iMessage will bring blue bubbles to all phones. Messages from non-Apple devices will likely still be displayed on iPhones with a green hue, but RCS will surely remove the drawbacks that Android phones have had while texting iPhones.

This will, at least in part, solve a major issue in Western countries like the US, where iMessage/standard texting is a more popular form of communication compared to third-party apps like WhatsApp.

When will iPhones actually get RCS support?

While there’s no saying when this development comes into play, we might have to wait until Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developer’s Conference) in 2024 for more information on the update. Until then, the best way to text and share media between iPhones and Android smartphones is via third-party apps.