Is Google jumping the gun on Apple's big announcement? The Android developer just released an updated landing page for Google Messages, showing off key features like customization, privacy and security, and of course, artificial intelligence.
On this landing page, there are different sections for each feature set, including the RCS section. As 9to5Google discovered, if you expand the RCS feature list and scroll to the bottom, you'll see a section that says "Coming soon to iOS: Better messaging for everyone." This isn't surprising: We've known since November that Apple was adopting RCS. However, the next sentence brings the news: "Apple has announced that it will adopt RCS in the fall of 2024."
Have it? Of course, the company has promised to bring RCS to iPhone, but the last time the subject was discussed, it only said support would be coming later this year. The company never made it clear when we would get RCS during the year, so anything Google announces here, no matter how subtle, is big news.
Why is RCS on iPhone so important?
Currently, Apple only supports the long-obsolete SMS and MMS protocols when sending text messages to non-Apple smartphones. (AKA green bubbles.) SMS/MMS results in poor image quality, poor video quality, group chat issues, and worst of all, poor security because it doesn't have end-to-end encryption (E2EE). RCS, on the other hand, is a newer messaging protocol with modern features such as E2EE, typing indicators, high-quality images and videos, and simplified group chats. Unlike iMessage, it's also not platform-specific: As long as your messaging app and carrier support RCS, you can easily send messages to other numbers on the platform.
However, Apple currently does not support RCS, so until support is available, only SMS/MMS will be supported. The reluctance to give up texting is what makes texting an Android phone from an iPhone such a pain. It's not your friend's fault: it's Apple's fault. You can read more about RCS on iPhone and its importance here.
RCS may be an iOS 18 feature
If Apple is indeed planning to launch RCS in the fall of 2024, it strongly suggests that adoption will be a feature of iOS 18. Apple typically releases major iOS updates in September, so the company is likely planning to include RCS support as part of that release. Of course, it's always possible that it will ship with an update like iOS 18.1 or 18.2, but here's hoping: If RCS is part of iOS 18, that means it could be in the iOS 18 beta and Apple will provide the seed to developers (And after the software was announced at WWDC 2024, anyone with the guts to install it can.
There's a chance - a chance - that we can provide RCS support on iPhone starting on June 10th. If this is true, you can bet I'll be installing iOS 18 Developer Beta 1 as soon as it's released.
