Google is very, very pumped about RCS messaging coming to iPhones with iOS 18. So much so it is advertising the fact.
In a new video released today Google plays the role of proud parent when it proclaims: “RCS is finally coming to iPhones” complete with heart emojis.
Galaxy Z Flip 6 with 100GB for £39.99 a month
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 is still the clamshell foldable to beat and this is the best contract we’ve seen
- Mobiles UK
- £79 upfront
- £39.99 a month with 100GB of data
Google has been forcefully campaigning for Apple to embrace the Rich Communication Services standard for years now and is less than two months from it happening when Apple releases iOS 18 in early September. The Android maker says it’ll be the end of a series of ills between iPhone and Android users’ group chats.
There’ll be no more blurry videos, full resolution photos, no more broken group chats when new users are added, and there’ll be read receipts and typing indicators across platforms.
While Apple isn’t ditching the iMessage platform for iPhone-to-iPhone (or Mac, or iPad) communications. Nothing will change there. However, iPhone to Android communications will finally be free of the ancient SMS standard that lacks encryption and results in a greatly diminished experience Google has bemoaned for so long.
It’s a little bit surprising that Google hasn’t mentioned that RCS messaging betwen iPhone and Android will feature encryption, which could soon be upgraded to end-to-end encryption. However, for most every day iPhone and Android users, fixing the shambles of texting between platforms might take priority.
The video we’ve seen from Google today certainly demonstates more excitement from Google than anything we’ve seen from its Android 15 communications.
Apple confirmed RCS adoption in November last year. In the statement Apple said: “Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.”
