Apple announced that the company is ready to adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging standard, breaking the boundary between Android and iOS phones.
Apple to Integrate RCS Next Year
In response to 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson stated that having the RCS support will provide more interoperability for cross-platform messages. "Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association," the company shared.
The feature is expected to work alongside Apple's default messaging platform, iMessage. This means that Android and iOS users can exchange messages starting next year and enjoy functions such as read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality sharing of content, and more.
In addition, users will also be allowed to share their location. Similar to iMessage, RCS only works through cellular data or a Wi-Fi connection.
iMessage Remains While RCS Gets Adopted
Amid the antitrust watch on big tech companies, specifically on Apple's iMessage app, Apple confirmed that it is not opening the app yet to other platforms. Instead, the company is only adopting RCS as a separate entity from iMessage.
RCS has proven its capability to develop through the years. Apple also assured that the company will work closely to further improve features such as the security and encryption of the messages. The company also shared that it will not put any proprietary end-to-end encryption on top of RCS.
Despite the adoption, Apple remains confident that iMessage is still the best and most secure messaging platform for Apple users. As of writing, the end-to-end encryption for Android RCS is only part of Google's implementation for the Message app. Apple assured that it will improve the RCS standard on its devices.
