Apple has announced that it will finally add RCS support to its iMessage service starting next year. According to 9to5Mac, the company said the rollout will be based on the RCS Universal Profile, which is a standard set by the GSM Association (GSMA).
For those who are unfamiliar, the Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a protocol between mobile operators and phones, developed in 2007 as an eventual replacement for SMS and MMS messaging. Much like services such as WhatsApp and Telegram, RCS adopts a messaging style where live chats and an exchange of different media can take place via a data network. That said, communication between users done through the system are not charged per use, unlike its SMS and MMS predecessors.
In 2016, the GSMA established the aforementioned Universal Profile, which is a set of standards that all mobile operators, phone manufacturers and software developers can use to implement RCS on devices. However, Apple did not adopt the standard as it already has its own dedicated iMessage service which functions the same way, but works exclusively within its devices and ecosystem.
While cross-messaging with Android devices is still possible, features such as multimedia sharing, cross-encryption and read receipts are not supported – several factors which sparked the whole blue vs green chat bubble debate. For the uninitiated, blue bubbles indicate that a message is sent between two iPhones, while green ones are used to identify those that are sent through a different service other than iMessage as well as a non-iPhone device. This itself may seem like a small detail, but the green bubble has been treated as a symbol of exclusion and status, much to the dismay of Android users.
Back to the subject at hand, it is very likely that the change comes in response to the EU’s enforcement of its Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires all companies to make their services interoperable with other platforms. Of course, this isn’t the first time that the regional regulator has forced Apple to drop certain exclusivities, with the shift from Lightning to USB-C ports on newer iPhone models being the most recent example.
Apple spokesperson Jacqueline Roy told The Verge that the company believes the upcoming RCS Universal Profile will work alongside iMessage, offering users with a better interoperability experience. It’s not entirely clear how the implementation will work on iPhones, though it is believed this will finally address the cross-messaging limitations that were mentioned earlier.
However, not all of the issues will be rectified. In a follow-up report by 9to5Mac, Apple confirmed that the change will still maintain the same colour scheme as before: RCS or SMS messages are labelled by green bubbles, while those sent via iMessage are in blue. Despite its decision to finally embrace RCS, the company insists that its first-party service is the best and most secure way for iPhone users to communicate.
We believe everyone deserves to communicate inclusively no matter what phone they have. This is one huge step closer to doing that. Excited for Apple to embrace RCS, the modern industry standard, to help make messaging better for everyone. 💚💙https://t.co/fzP24uKBsA
— Android (@Android) November 17, 2023
Meanwhile, those who aren’t willing to wait for Apple’s official RCS implementation can already bridge the gap by using the recently released Nothing Chats, which brings iMessage support to Android – but only if you’re using Nothing’s own Phone (2) smartphone. The other alternative is something most of us Malaysians are already familiar with: Using third-party services such as WhatsApp and Telegram, which has supported cross-device messaging for quite some time now.
(Source: 9to5Mac)
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