Once RCS chat is turned on in Google Messages, you can send secure and interactive messages on your Android phone. This used to require a third-party application as well as an iPhone. RCS chat is fast growing into one of the most popular standards for texting because it offers a variety of advanced options like advanced sharing of media, inline replies, typing indicators, and encryption.
The most popular Android smartphones have excellent cameras. However, for the best quality photos and videos to be shared with the highest quality, you’ll need RCS, not the older SMS and MMS messaging protocols developed for the low bandwidth mobile connectivity of the past. By using 5G and RCS, you can show your friends and colleagues where you are and what’s happening and be more empathetic with the unique features available in the Android’s built-in Messenger app.
What exactly is RCS Messaging, and what’s different from? Ordinary texts.
Rich Communications Services (RCS) is a communications protocol that will eventually replace SMS and MMS messages currently available on Android devices. Though the RCS protocol was first introduced in 2007, it recently got traction.
Google cooperated with GSMA, its members, and other carriers worldwide to develop a global profile that works with RCS, which uses the Android Messages Client, in 2019. Most Android users can access RCS Messaging, but it isn’t available on iOS.
The RCS upgrade offers a better overall messaging experience, featuring features comparable to those found in iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. The encrypted messaging feature, enhanced multimedia sharing, group chats, and real-time keyboard indicators are only some features included in RCS chat.
What’s the significance of the RCS message?
Rich Communication Services is a communication protocol for mobile phone operators and phones. The main goal of RCS is that it will eventually be able to replace SMS and MMS messaging formats, which are the ones we’re familiar with since they’ve been in use for many years.
RCS first came into existence in 2007 and was then acquired from the GSM Association (GSMA), the industry trade organization representing mobile service providers across the globe and was established in 2008. In 2016, the GSMA reached an agreement on the Universal Profile – a set of guidelines that all phone makers, mobile operators, and software companies can apply to implement RCS on their devices. RCS messaging functions similarly to WhatsApp and allows live chat to be used, as well as multimedia support. The network of data manages everything.
The service is viewed as a competitor of the Apple iMessage service, though there are minor differences in how the two platforms operate.
What’s the latest status for RCS messages?
Since the beginning of time, RCS has been widely used by mobile phone networks and devices, software and. RCS is supported by the default Google Messages app available on Android. One of the issues in the past was that mobile phone networks were given responsibility for support, but only some acted to change to take it on. A myriad of factors contributed to this – eliminating SMS or MMS prices and working on cross-network features could have been seen by RCS as a low priority.
But, in June, Google took the reins back. It has since seen RCS messages being supported for Android devices, and it is using Google’s servers instead of mobile phone networks’ servers. Google has also stated that if a particular phone network can support RCS, its servers could be utilized to transmit messages.
The system was launched on its feet, opening up an entirely new platform for messaging to Android users, but Google focused on France and the UK initially. In the UK, it was launched on June 28, 2019, to a select group of users. It was rolled out to the US beginning in December of this year.
Within the US, the top US providers – Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile – agreed on an inter-carrier solution to RCS as part of a CCMI – Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative project. Today, we’re on the verge of being in a situation where RCS is widely available and interoperable, with exclusion from Russia and China.
What do you think of Apple? Does it work with RCS?
Apple needs to be added to this list of OEMs supporting RCS. Apple isn’t listed. Cupertino tech company has yet to announce when it’ll support RCS or otherwise, but it’s not ready to embrace it.
If Apple decides not to take on RCS, most smartphone users may use apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to communicate with families and friends between Android and iOS. It can share photos, videos and other valuable information.
What impact this could have on RCS’s success is yet to be determined. Still, considering that Apple is already providing an iMessage feature to its users, It may not seem necessary to add rich messages to communicate with those on other platforms.
Between 2022 and 2023, we’ve heard Google propose that Apple is adopting RCS on various occasions, suggesting that it will result in more secure messages for all users regardless of their platform.
Using RCS
Google provides RCS chat globally through its Android Messages app to all users who install and make it the default messaging app. As Google rolls out RCS as the primary Android messaging platform to Android Messages, many Android smartphones already have Android Messages onboard. The partnership that was formed between Google and Samsung lets RCS features work seamlessly with Samsung Messages as well as Android Messages apps, the native SMS apps that are installed on smartphones. It is also possible to visit the Google Play Store to download Messages. Google Play Store to download the Messages app for yourself.
The backstory of text messages
Text messaging was developed long before smartphones like the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Palm Pilot. SMS was initially proposed in 1982 as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), a second-generation cell standard created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
The concept was to send messages through the signalling systems controlling the telephone’s traffic. ETSI engineers designed an infrastructure that was compact enough to be able to integrate into the signalling routes currently in use (128 bytes later upgraded to include 160 seven-bit characters) but flexible enough to allow carriers’ management functions like real-time billing as well as messages routing (routing messages to an address different from the one designated by the customer) and blocking messages.
After more than a decade of experimentation, SMS was deployed commercially in December 1992, an achievement that the engineer Neil Papworth marked by texting Happy Christmas to Vodafone customer Richard Jarvis. Then, phone makers and operators joined the bandwagon of messaging. As of 2010, almost twenty years after the first text message, mobile users sent 6.1 trillion texts.
Despite the rapid expansion of SMS technology, it remained relatively the same from the 90s. While phone design and features were changed, and Apple’s iPhone was the first smartphone with touchscreens, SMS was the same up to the limit of 160 characters.
How does RCS affect SlickText?
Here at SlickText, We are awestruck by the latest technological advancements. We’re always thinking about what new and exciting things we could provide in our services of mass text messages. We’ve just released our platform’s latest features, allowing users to benefit from the newest method of communicating with clients.
Do I have to use RCS with an iPhone?
Google is keen to get Apple to join the party and implement RCS. However, the company has yet to show enthusiasm for it.
Its exclusive messaging technology is called iMessage, which accomplishes the exact same things. However, although it functions very well between iPhones, it needs to integrate better with Android contacts (who must be relegated to the dreaded green bubble and deprived of other essential capabilities.)
Google has attempted various ways to smack Apple to join the industry standard. This includes making a ‘Get the Message’ site and asking people to include Apple in pre-written tweets that express their appreciation.
In the most recently held Google I/O event, Sameer Samat had another run and was greeted with roaring applause in this eloquent sentence: “We hope every mobile operating system gets the message and adopts RCS, so we can all hang out in the group chat together no matter what device we’re using.”
At most, Apple has no interest in doing so. In response to questions regarding the absence of support by 2022, Tim Cook replied: “I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point.” After it was mentioned that the person asking the question couldn’t send his mother videos since she has an Android phone, Cook’s answer was simple but flimsy: “Buy your mom an iPhone.”
Therefore, don’t anticipate the support anytime soon, although Apple’s support may eventually be ordered. As the EU played a crucial role in getting Apple to accept USB-C, the EU could also make it necessary for Apple to go on the RCS over the coming years.
Last thoughts and the next steps
Are you looking for an RCS advanced experience for messaging? Work with MessageDesk to develop the next generation of communication to engage the right audience.