Apple finally adds RCS support to iMessage

Threat of legal action seemingly forces Apple's hand

- ROB MEAD-GREEN

Despite constant prodding and pleading from Google, Apple has long refused to add support for Rich Communications Services (RCS) to its messaging platforms. Yet in a highly surprising about-face, the company recently told TechRadar and 9to5Mac that it would support RCS after all. As TechRadar’s headline blared, “Hell freezes over”.

In a statement, Apple announced that “Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe the RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.”

RCS is a messaging standard meant to replace the SMS (Short Messaging Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) services that came before it. It should allow greater interoperability between iPhone and Android devices by offering features like cross-platform group chats, read receipts, typing indicators and high-resolution media.

RCS should allow cross-platform group chats, read receipts, and high-res media

Why all the shock surrounding Apple’s announcement? Well, for a long time Apple has either ignored RCS or taken a sceptical view of it. RCS doesn’t have end-to-end encryption built-in, for example, and it’s not even used on the majority of Android handsets, according to some estimates.