iOS RCS Support Delayed
Allison Johnson (Hacker News):
The long-awaited day is here: Apple has announced that its Messages app will support RCS in iOS 18. The new standard will replace SMS as the default communication protocol between Android and iOS devices. The move comes after years of taunting, cajoling, and finally, some regulatory scrutiny from the EU.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much else other than the fact that it’s coming in iOS 18. Apple’s website on the upcoming release does at least include one example of how RCS will look on iPhones. “RCS” appears in the text field to indicate a connection, but otherwise, it’s all pretty standard.
Green bubbles, of course.
Apple said in its WWDC 2024 announcement on Monday that RCS support will be introduced in a software update later in the year.
However, it may not coincide with the initial release of iOS 18. Users might see RCS features become available in subsequent updates.
Last November, Apple had said that RCS would be added to iOS 17 in early 2024, so it’s disappointing to hear that it probably won’t even be in iOS 18.0.
The keynote announcement had the same energy as announcing the iPhone 15 switch from Lightning to USB-C. But I thought that was great, and I have high hopes for RCS if it can indeed improve the photo quality over MMS.
Previously:
- iOS 18 Announced
- Apple to Add RCS Messaging in iOS 17 Update
- DMA Gatekeepers Designated
- Anticipating the Coming USB-C iPhone Backlash
- Time for Apple to Fix Texting
Update (2024-06-18): Emma Roth:
Instead of showing how RCS will make things better, Apple softly announced support for the standard and focused on all the great features coming to iMessage users — not RCS ones.
Apple didn’t go over how RCS adoption will finally let iPhone and Android users send each other high-resolution pictures and videos. It didn’t even say how RCS will enable support for cross-platform read receipts and typing indicators.
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RCS should indeed increase image quality unless Apple fudges the implementation. (Which wouldn't surprise me tbh)
It was a noticeable step up when it finally arrived some years ago.
Just lay week I had to send a photo of a passport to my dad for visa reasons. He had an iphone and I have a cheap android. The result was unreadable. I had to resort to email
@Kristoffer:
Why not use a secure, cross-platform instant messaging service like Signal or Threema, or even WhatsApp?
I don't understand the fixation many Americans have on iMessage versus SMS/MMS/RCS.
RCS will always carry the stigma of being developed by telecom companies.
@Anonymous Because we have mixed conversations with iPhone users who only have iMessage and Android users who don’t have those other apps. As far as I can see, despite the limitations, RCS is better than SMS in every way.
@anonymous
Yeah, I'm not going of juggling different apps for different contacts, but I also hate having to do it support for yet another app I ask my parents to install.
And Whatsapp/ Messenger is off the table because I have less trust in Zuckerberg than Swedish telcos.
