Google celebrated the release of iOS 18 by tweeting this video
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Perhaps lost in all of the Apple Intelligence talk that doesn't matter until iOS 18.1 is released next month is that the release of iOS 18 yesterday brings RCS support to the iPhone. RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a messaging platform available to Android users that offers many of the same features of Apple's Messages app. Before the release of iOS 18, RCS only worked during chats between RCS users.
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Previously, when an iPhone user received a text from an Android user, it would use SMS (Short Message Service) resulting in iPhone users receiving low-quality images from Android users and vice versa. Prior to the iOS 18 update, if you were about to text an Android user from your iPhone, the message field would say "Text Message-SMS." Now, if an iPhone user is texting an Android user who is using an app that supports RCS (like Google Messages), you'll see Text Message-RCS in the iPhone's message field.
If you're an iPhone user running iOS 18 and later and send a message to an Android user running RCS, you will be able to send and receive high-quality photographic images and videos, and see typing indicators that tell you that the other person is typing out a response. A read receipt will show you if the Android user you are chatting with has received your message. Keep in mind that the bubble colors have not changed so that messages from Android users still appear in a green text bubble while messages from iPhone users remain in blue.
Another reason why this news is being overlooked is that it has been available for iPhone users who installed the iOS 18 Beta back in June. I was one of them and while it was nice to see typing indicators, read receipts, and viewable images when engaging in a chat with an Android user, keep in mind that there is no end-to-end encryption because Apple is supporting the basic RCS Universal Profile and not Google's version of RCS which includes end-to-end encryption. This means employees of your wireless firm can access your chats as can law enforcement.
No more blurry video chaos, now that Apple is starting to #GetTheMessage and upgrade to RCS.
— Android (@Android) September 16, 2024
Discover why RCS is a game-changer: https://t.co/fs5jaitbkspic.twitter.com/4jIqoGx6iP
While Apple's support of RCS might not be perfect (Android and iOS users are still distinguished by different color bubbles and there is no end-to-end encryption), it still beats the pre-support days when trying to decipher a photo that an Android user messaged to you could take some time. While the iOS support of RCS might lead to fewer bullying incidents since most iPhone users won't notice any difference to group chats that are joined by an Android user (which was iPhone user's main gripe), Google posted a tweet on "X" to promote the RCS support on iPhone.
Top, iOS chat with Android user not running messaging app with RCS support. Bottom, iOS chat with Android user with RCS support. | Image credit-PhoneArena
To a cover version of War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?," Google informs us that a "A new era of texting has begun." And it follows up by saying that "Apple is starting to #GetTheMessage" which was the point of Google's campaign in 2022 when it was asking Apple to support RCS.
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