Saga ends: Apple says iPhone will support RCS messages from 2024
The blue and green balloon debate seems to be finally winding down. According to new developments, Apple claims iPhone will support RCS messagesa messaging standard that most Android phones uses, from 2024.
“Later next year, we will add support for RCS Universal Profile, a standard currently being published by the GSM Association“an Apple spokesperson said. “We believe that the RCS Universal Profile will provide a better interoperability experience compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.”
I iPhone adopt RCS messages, this would enable support for read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality images and videos, and more when sending texts between iPhone and Android devices, as according to 9to5Mac. Apple says it will allow users to share locations in text messages.
It is still unclear what form these new RCS messages will take, but this does not mean that Apple is opening up iMessage to other platforms.
RCS will replace SMS and MMS and “exist separately from iMessage when available
This change likely comes in response to regulatory pressure from the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), rules that require big companies like Apple to make their services interoperable with other platforms. In September, the European Commission opened an investigation into iMessage to determine whether it should be considered “basic service of the platform“. However, Apple reportedly argues that iMessage is not popular enough in Europe for the rules to apply, and plans to appeal the regulation of its App Store.
RCS messages have been pushed by the Android lobby for some time, Apple is almost in court
Companies such as Google and Samsung, they have been pressing for a long time Apple to support RCS messages through marketing campaigns and videos. Earlier this month, Google sent a letter to the European Commission claiming that it would iMessage should be considered a basic platform service according to the DMA.
ShutterstockEven Nothing, the phone company owned by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, decided to respond to Apple by bringing iMessage to send messages to your Android phones.
Apple may not be doing this of its own accord, but the addition of RCS support is a more than welcome change, especially for anyone who has had to deal with receiving poor quality videos sent from iPhone to Android devices (and vice versa), along with a host of other missing features that make sending multimedia messages between devices of different operating systems less attractive.
In the end, he also spoke Google by an official announcement that says: “Everyone deserves to communicate in a modern and secure way, regardless of the type of phone they use. That's why we've worked closely with the mobile industry to accelerate RCS adoption, and we're excited to see Apple take its first step today by joining and embracing RCS. We welcome Apple's involvement in our continued work with the GSMA to improve RCS and make messaging fairer and safer. We look forward to working with them to bring this to iOS in a way that works for everyone.”
It looks like 2024 will bring something nice, in the end.