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Apple’s Messages app will get support for RCS text messages later this year as part of iOS 18, promising to add more advanced features to conversations between an iPhone and an Android phone. Although the feature didn’t get much more than transitional reference during the company WWDC 2024 Bottom line, it promises to be a huge improvement that could enable better photo sharing and group chats, whether your contacts use iPhone or Android.
Buried in Apple’s iOS 18 preview page (scroll down to the Messages section or just look at the above picture that I cropped) is a screenshot that shows what an RCS conversation might look like when an iPhone is texting with an Android.
Although it looks a lot like an SMS or MMS conversation, featuring two green bubbles and a green audio waveform, there are three notable RCS features on display. The biggest one is the “Delivered” status message, which is a huge step forward since SMS and MMS can’t provide such confirmations.
Next up is a (hopefully) high-quality photo that doesn’t look great in this screenshot, so we’ll have to believe from the green bubble text below it that it really is “live.” Current iPhone MMS text messages support audio messages with Android phones, but hopefully the audio in that conversation is clearer than what’s going on right now.
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And in the text box at the bottom of the image, there’s a caption that now says “RCS” to the right of “Text Message,” the latter of which is currently only used for SMS and MMS chats.
RCS is a more modern text messaging standard that is supposed to replace the outdated SMS and MMS formats due to its ability to support features such as input indicators, group chats, and high-quality media sharing. The standard is supported by the GSMA industry group and has been used by Google’s Messages app for Android for several years.
However, although Google Messages app supports several functions that rival Apple’s iMessage by taking advantage of RCS, including RCS support in iOS 18, doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple’s Messages app will support the same one-to-one features. For example, Apple said last year it will work with the GSMA to improve the encryption standard included in RCS, rather than adopting another company, such as that used by Google Messages. Apple also announced that its iMessage service will continue to be supported alongside RCS, so it’s likely that we’ll continue to see iMessage features that will remain separate from RCS.
Many questions remain regarding Apple’s support for RCS. For example, how well will it support group chats? Will it translate message reactions sent from Android phones to iPhone? For now, those details will remain under wraps, likely until Apple is ready to unveil its next iPhone later this year.
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