Apple iMessage is about to change from any recognition, if a new report is correct. And the changes will affect not only how easy it is to use the app on an iPhone, but also for friends who have Android phones. And it looks like it could protect Apple from trouble in a recent Justice Department lawsuit against the company.
Apple iMessage is about to transform.
Updated on June 6 with additional comments and more details of the new RCS features coming to iPhone.
Apple is expected to announce the availability of RCS messaging for iPhone on Monday, June 10. Things could still change by the time the keynote starts at 10am PT, as there’s thought to be a lot to cram into the announcements, or even be saved for a special reveal, but next Monday looks more likely. possible.
We’ve known for some time that RCS support was coming, but the timing, if accurate, is big news, as Apple previously only committed to late 2024.
Rich Communication Services messaging is an advanced form of messaging currently used on Android phones and means that messages sent between iPhone and Android phones will benefit from additional features that were previously unable to cross a platform. in the other.
The change will mean that, as Abrar Al-Heeti comments on CNet, it will ‘make messaging Android users feel less archaic. When using an Android phone, the writer’s friends would “condemn the havoc I’d wreak on any text or group chat by ‘turning everything green.'” Apparently there’s nothing worse for an iMessage user than an Android ruining their precious blue bubble party.”
The report goes on to list some of the changes—I’ve listed others below—that are on the horizon: “Some features will remain exclusive to iMessage or Google’s Messages app. For example, while you can edit or delete texts in iMessage, you probably won’t be able to do so for messages sent via RCS. And Google Messages’ exclusive features, like texting using the Gemini AI model, likely won’t transfer across devices either. It’s also not yet clear whether messages sent across Android phones and iPhones will be end-to-end encrypted.
RCS is much more sophisticated and capable than SMS, which is limited to 160 characters, isn’t great with media, and has no encryption, for example.
If you’re sending a message from one iPhone to another, that’s of no interest, because Apple’s iMessage has so many superior features—such as the writing indicator that lets you know your message is being read by the other party, or horrible extras like balloons or confetti filling the screen.
The problem is that these features don’t play well with Android phones, and it’s one of the reasons that many people, especially outside the United States, have migrated to the platform-agnostic WhatsApp.
It is also the reason that when an iPhone user receives a message from an Android phone, the message is displayed in green instead of blue. Although it doesn’t excuse the way people look down on green bubbles. I mean, there are more important things in life, you know.
But the move to adopt RCS has been hailed by many, including Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO of business messaging hub RCS Dotgo, who has described it as “a huge win for Apple customers and a game changer for the ecosystem of messages”.
So what does it mean? Once it arrives, features found on each platform separately will be available on both. So Android users will be able to share their location with iPhone users within text message threads, there will be shared tap indicators for all users, and receipts to show that your messages have been read. There will be higher quality media sharing and greater encryption.
But how Forbes contributor Zak Doffman notes, “RCS is not end-to-end encrypted. RCS is more secure than SMS, but not as secure as iMessage, Google Messages, Signal, WhatsApp or even Facebook Messenger. it can to be fixed by an update to the core RCS platform itself, which Apple indicated it would require when it announced RCS last year.”
But even if it is not so secure, iMessage with RCS support has so many other advantages, I doubt that many iPhone users will abandon WhatsApp and other services for what is essential for Apple devices.
Oh, and one more thing about the green bubbles: Apple has said that even when it has adopted RCS, “blue bubbles will still be used to represent iMessages, while green bubbles will represent RCS messages,” as 9to5Mac reported.