RCS is coming to iPhones, with Apple rumored to introduce support for the messaging standard in an update to iOS 18 arriving by the end of 2024.
Last year, Apple announced it would make texting between iPhones and Android easier by adopting the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging standard, which is backed by wireless carriers, Google and the GSM Association.
The company only said that RCS would come to iPhone “later next year,” but we didn’t know whether that meant RCS support would come via an update to iOS 17, in iOS 18.0 this fall or an update to iOS 18 later in 2024 or sometime in 2025.
RCS will come to iPhone via an update to iOS 18
Mark Gurman claims in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that RCS will be available on iPhone in an iOS 18 update at the end of 2024.
One of the complaints in the United States Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple centers on the company’s refusal to permit third-party developers to access users’ SMS messages.
RCS will not automatically enable apps to send SMS messages like on Android, but it will improve interoperability between iPhone and Android. Make no mistake about it: The decision to support RCS was forced by mounting regulatory pressure.
Apple said it would adopt the RCS Universal Profile to offer “a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS.” RCS brings iMessage-like features that don’t work when an iPhone user messages Android users via the SMS or MMS protocol, like hires media attachments, read receipts, typing indicators, etc.
Apple has confirmed that the RCS features will work in the Messages app alongside iMessage.RCS chats will use green bubbles on your iPhone, just like SMS and MMS, with the blue bubble remaining exclusive to iMessage.
Gurman also wrote in the newsletter that iOS 18 will bring feature a “more customizable” Home Screen to your iPhone, with MacRumors claiming you’ll be able to arrange app icons on the Home Screen more freely by creating blank spaces, rows and columns between icons.