Apple has announced that it will incorporate Rich Communication Services (RCS) as its new SMS standard. RCS is like a text message with added features like GIFs and stickers, similar to Apple’s own iMessage.
At a time when global regulators are investigating most Big Tech companies for some practice, Apple is getting ahead of a potential investigation. By rolling out RCS, it will now improve communication between iPhones and Androids without needing a third party app like WhatsApp. 9 to 5 Mac reports:
In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard. The feature will launch via a software update “later next year” and bring a wide range of iMessage-style features to messaging between iPhone and Android users.
Apple’s decision comes amid pressure from regulators and competitors like Google and Samsung. It also comes as RCS has continued to develop and become a more mature platform than it once was.
RCS will not be analogous to iMessage however. It will continue to feature the green bubbles to indicate it is not an encrypted message. Apple specific integrations like iMessage games will also not be included. Apple Insider continues:
Part of the pressure on Apple to adopt RCS has been to do with how — in the US — there is a perceived stigma between the blue and green text messages of iMessage and other users. It’s a distinction that is simply not noticed in the rest of the world, where WhatsApp has typically far greater penetration than iMessage.
However, it should improved issues such as sending images and videos between iPhone and Android. At present, Android users in a group message chat will receive scaled-down images sent over traditional MMS.
This double approach to messaging with both RCS and iMessage will both solve the messaging problem. Google however might not get the answer it wanted, as iMessage itself will continue to exist and make iPhones unique.
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