Apple confirms the iPhone will support RCS in 2024
By
Apple confirms the iPhone will support RCS in 2024
Apple announced it will support Rich Communication Services (RCS) on the iPhone in 2024.
In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple says the RCS Universal Profile will deliver "a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS".
To be clear, Apple emphasizes that iMessage remains and will continue to be "the best and most secure messaging experience" for iPhone users.
Crucially, this also means that the blue bubbles representing iMessages between Apple users, and green bubbles representing text messages between iPhone users and Android users, will stay.
For those who are not aware of RCS, it is a new protocol supported on Android phones and most telcos around the world. RCS offers richer text messaging features such as encryption, read receipts, typing indicators, high-res media, cross-platform emojis, group chats and more.
Google has been urging Apple to adopt RCS for the past two years. Earlier this year, it placed a huge ad at CES 2023 to ask Apple to adopt RCS. In 2022, Google launched the "Get The Message" campaign to pressure Apple to support RCS.
Similar to how Apple is forced to allow app sideloading on the iPhone, the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) is likely the main factor in making Apple change its mind about supporting RCS.
