Apple gets the message, RCS coming to iPhone in 2024 with same Universal Profile as Android

Abner Li | Nov 16 2023 - 10:05 am PT

Apple announced (via 9to5Mac) today that it’s adding RCS support to the iPhone in a great boost to Android-iOS messaging.

Specifically, the iPhone will be updated to support the RCS Universal Profile (from the GSM Association) in a future iOS release later next year. SMS remains as a fallback when RCS isn’t available.

RCS, or Rich Communications Services, is an upgrade to SMS/MMS that supports modern messaging features like typing indicators with read receipts (which can be turned off) and high-resolution photos and videos. This works by uploading to the cloud, and then the recipient gets a randomized URL that simply loads the image/video.

Group messaging has been improved with better controls to leave and join conversations. You can also send RCS messages over any internet connection (Wi-Fi and mobile data) instead of requiring your carrier’s cellular network.

Apple calls out the lack of strong encryption in the RCS specification and says it wants to work with GSMA members on adding that. Google Messages on Android offers its own end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for 1:1 and group conversations.

Apple is rolling out RCS Universal Profile support to the iPhone in 2024 and did not share many implementation details today. As such, iOS could very well keep displaying messages from Android devices with green bubbles. [Update: Apple is indeed keeping the bubbles green.] Notably, this is not Apple opening up access to iMessage.

Opinion: iOS should support RCS, but Apple has no incentive to make iMessage work with Android

Since 2021, Google has publicly called out Apple and the iPhone for not adopting RCS and degrading the messaging experience — blurry images, the group experience, and “white text on a bright green background” — with Android users. This culminated in a “Get The Message “advertising campaign on social media and even in the real world. Most recently, in September, Google equated the RCS-less iPhone to a pager.