In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communications Services) in the Messages app starting “later” in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more tight time frame.
In a since-deleted section of the revamp Google Messages web pageobserver by 9to5GoogleGoogle said Apple will adopt RCS on the iPhone in “fall of 2024.” This time frame indicates that RCS support will be added to iPhone running iOS 18, which should be available in beta in June and will be released in September. At the latest, support should be added to iOS 18.1, which will likely be released in October.
RCS support should bring the following improvements to the Messages app for conversations between iPhones and Android smartphones:
- High resolution photos and videos
- Voice messages
- Writing indicators
- Read receipts
- Wi-Fi messages
- Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users
These modern features are already available for iMessage, and in several third-party messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. RCS support on iPhone will extend the features to the green bubbles in the Messages app.
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