Last year, Apple took everyone by surprise when it announced that iPhones would support RCS (Rich Communication Services). It was a major reversal of decisions, and that almost felt like hell had frozen over. Unsurprisingly, it also signaled an end to the infamous Green vs. Blue bubble saga. However, don’t get too excited, as Apple shortly confirmed that RCS messages will still appear as green bubbles.
Although Apple never mentioned when RCS support for the iPhone is coming, it sure confirmed that 2024 will be the year, but we must thank Google for sharing the good news, even if it was a mistake.
The Android’s official website featured a new landing page for Google Messages, but it’s been taken down for some reason. It mentioned that RCS support for the iPhones is coming in the fall of 2024. The screenshot read, “Apple has announced it will be adopting RCS in the fall of 2024. Once that happens, it will mean a better messaging experience for everyone,” which surprisingly also coincides with the release date of the next iPhone 16 series and if everything goes as planned, Apple could release the iOS 18 for the eligible devices sooner after the annual fall event.
While the website notes that RCS support is coming to iPhones this fall, there is a high chance that the beta users might have the first bite of it as Apple may push the RCS support with iOS 18 Developer Beta, expected much sooner than the stable release during its annual developer’s conference, WWDC, slated to kick off on June 10 and run through June 14.
On top of this, speculations suggest that there might be ‘point’ updates after iOS 18, which means that the full release of RCS could be expected with the rollout of iOS 18.1 or iOS 18.2. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the Journal app didn’t make it to iOS until the iOS 17.2 stable update.
That said, once iPhones have RCS support, users can easily view high-quality images and videos sent from Android devices. Additionally, iPhone users will receive read receipts and typing indicators when chatting with Android users. Messages will remain secure with end-to-end encryption. That said, it might be coming to iPhones but even Android users are going to have a bite of the cake.
And I should care why?