Google Messages might finally support sending high quality photos over RCS

Google Messages and RCS (Rich Communication Services), the next step in SMS messaging (a greatly enhanced step, if you ask me), is going to get even better with Google's future improvement

The enhancement has to do with the way Google Messages handles images sent through the app – people have been complaining for a while now that the pictures are getting excessively compressed.

For example, users are reporting that Google Messages over RCS shrunk a 50MP/6MB image down to just a 1.9MP/147kB shadow of its former self. That's a lot of data lost, which equates to a worse quality. Not fun!

That's a pity, since RCS makes the default messaging app into a social media-like experience similar to WhatsApp, allowing users not only to send photos, videos, GIFs, and various other files, but RCS also supports end-to-end encryption, read receipts, and typing indicators.

A change is going to come rather sooner than later, though: Google is apparently going to address the issue. According to the report, Google is finally going to increase the image compression limit.

The analysis discovered code strings suggesting that users could soon send images up to 8,192 pixels wide and tall with JPEG quality set to 100. If the "Send Photos Faster" option is enabled, images will be compressed to 2,408 pixels with JPEG quality reduced to 90. Currently, this option compresses images to 1,600 pixels, significantly affecting their quality.

This issue isn't inherent to RCS, as other apps like Samsung Messages also use RCS without such limitations. The problem lies with Google, and if the company implements this change, users will notice a significant improvement in image quality sent through Google Messages. This change might be influenced by Apple's decision to support RCS in its Messages app with iOS 18, as Google has frequently urged Apple to adopt RCS.

Speaking of Apple and RCS…

After a public campaign that stretches back in time, Apple finally caved in to the peer pressure from Google to bring RCS to the iPhone and iOS.

Starting last month, with the release of iOS 18 developer beta 2, some iPhone users in the US gained the ability to message Android users via RCS. To utilize RCS, US iPhone users need to be on iOS 18 beta 2 or later and subscribe to Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T.

Recently, Apple released iOS 18 developer beta 3, expanding RCS support to iPhone users in Canada, France, Germany, and Spain, provided they use compatible carriers such as Videotron, Telus Mobility, Bell, Telefonica, SFR, and O2.

By the final release of iOS 18 in September, not all carriers will support RCS. However, those that do will enable iPhone users to send and receive high-quality media with Android users, avoiding the low-resolution limitations of SMS and MMS. The Messages app will indicate RCS use with "RCS Message" in the text field when chatting with Android users, while iMessage conversations will continue to show blue text bubbles.