Google says RCS chat is fully rolled out in UK and France, more countries soon

Ben Schoon | Jul 27 2019 - 12:33 pm PT

As we wait for Google’s RCS chat initiative to continue its rollout in more countries, Google has confirmed this weekend that the messaging option has been fully rolled out to Android users in both the UK and France.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, a senior vice president at Google confirmed today on Twitter that the company has completed its rollout of RCS to the UK and France after starting a few weeks prior. Almost exactly a month ago, RCS started working on Pixel devices through the Google Messaging app in those countries, and recently it’s started to expand to other Android smartphones.

In his hands-on with the new messaging option, our own Damien Wilde called it a “solid start,” saying that the experience has a “feeling of cohesion that can’t really be mimicked by a third-party app.”

Notably, Locheimer’s tweet was in reply to an article criticizing US carriers for their lack of effort when it comes to rolling out universally compatible RCS messaging for Android users. Lockheimer chimed in that Google would still “love” to work with US carriers on that initiative and that they are “trying” to do so. Still, he mentions that Google’s own RCS rollout will continue with more countries “soon,” although there’s no indication if the United States is on the list.

We'd love work with our US carrier partners on RCS. Trying!!!! PS: RCS now fully rolled out in UK and FR. Next wave of countries soon.

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) July 27, 2019

Dylan Roussel contributed to this article