Coming this fall via iOS 18?

Apple shocked the world late last year when it suddenly (just kidding) announced it was bringing RCS support to the iPhone. finally, finallyGoogle, carriers, and some avid Android users who still haven’t figured out how to chat with friends on their iPhone.

Apple has said that support for RCS will be ready at some point this year, so the rollout of RCS won’t happen right away. This is not Google’s version of his RCS, but a GSMA-approved standard. That is, it does not support encryption initially.

I recently stated that this move is enough to defeat Google’s PR campaign against iMessage. It was also a great move in anticipation of the upcoming Digital Markets Act (DMA) deadline in Europe and an antitrust investigation in the United States.

Fast forward to late March and the DMA is in effect in Europe. But iMessage isn’t a gatekeeper, so Apple doesn’t have to make the app work with third-party chat apps in Europe. Meta should make WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger interoperable within the region.

The Department of Justice is also suing Apple in an antitrust case that centers on Apple’s alleged use of iMessage to lock people into the iPhone and its ecosystem.

Apple hasn’t yet announced when RCS support will arrive on the iPhone, but Google may have inadvertently jumped on board. Google has said that Apple will roll out RCS support in the fall of 2024, which suggests the feature will be part of Apple’s next iOS 18 update.

Google removed that remark from the page, but I think that’s what’s happening in real life. Apple will have to introduce RCS support to the iPhone this year and make a big deal about it. It’s not just the Justice Department’s antitrust case.

google leak

It’s unclear why Google said on its new RCS page that RCS is “coming soon to iOS.” Here’s what Google actually wrote: 9to5Google:

Apple has announced that it will adopt RCS in the fall of 2024. That will improve the messaging experience for everyone.

This could be a pure mistake, or it could be intentional, meant to somewhat revive Google’s push for RCS support on the iPhone. However, Apple has already confirmed that RCS support will be coming to iPhones this year. There’s no reason to try to put pressure on Apple, especially at this point.

In any case, Google removed the remark from the page, but before it was published on the internet.

Google has not announced when it will introduce RCS to iPhones. However, the fall 2024 timeframe indicates it will be part of the iOS 18 release. However, Apple may want to add his RCS to older iOS versions, given pressure from regulators and a Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit of which iMessage is a component.

Because not all iPhones that support iOS 17 will be upgraded to iOS 18. With new OS updates coming out almost every year, some older models may be left behind. However, the Messages app will still work on these, with support for iMessage and SMS/MMS. There’s no reason not to implement RCS.

Justice Department case and China

As we recently learned, Chinese laws related to RCS support on mobile devices may have been one of the major factors in Apple’s decision to support RCS on the iPhone. The Chinese government began working on legislation in this regard last year.

Apple cannot afford any failures in any of its largest markets. The European Union forced Apple to bring her USB-C to iPhones sooner than it had hoped. China’s RCS regulations may have been the deciding factor in introducing RCS this year.

The enactment of the DMA Act and the potential for antitrust litigation in the United States may have been equally important reasons for adopting RCS.

Regarding the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit, an Apple spokesperson addressed some of the lawsuit’s allegations and explained why the company decided to support RCS at this time. Apple cites recent improvements to his RCS and expanded user reach, as well as a decline in his MMS support from carriers, as among the reasons.

Apple also said it is working with Google to improve RCS by building end-to-end encryption and developing tools to prevent spam. Again, Apple isn’t just adopting Google’s end-to-end encrypted version of his RCS. And RCS definitely has spam issues in some markets that need fixing.

This also shows that Google is aware of some of Apple’s RCS plans.

People forget that iMessage is not standard

Apple did not say when it would release RCS, as the comments primarily referenced the Justice Department’s antitrust complaint regarding iMessage.

As a reminder, the U.S. government claims that iMessage gives iPhones an unfair advantage over Android, and we’re talking about the blue and green bubbles and the potential Apple has with iMessage. It reiterates some of the points we’ve been hearing for years about how it’s keeping new switchers away from Android. .

As we’ve explained repeatedly, many people, including U.S. government officials, miss the point when they talk about iMessage. iMessage is not the standard of communication for Android users. This is a unique tool invented by Apple and iPhone users pay for it by purchasing their iPhone.

However, you don’t have to use it, as there are plenty of great alternatives on the App Store. I may be an iPhone user, but I probably use WhatsApp more than iMessage to talk to family and friends, many of whom are iPhone users as well.

It shouldn’t be Apple’s responsibility to encrypt communications between iPhone and Android, but this is a criticism from antitrust lawsuits. It’s not like Apple could encrypt his SMS even if they wanted to.

Also, since Android is not a platform controlled by Apple, it is not Apple’s responsibility to improve the messaging experience on Android. Additionally, it cannot improve the quality of SMS text messages.

Needless to say, the problem of blue and green bubbles is not real anywhere in the world. Simply install third-party apps like WhatsApp and Signal to enjoy rich communication features protected by strong encryption.

WWDC is where we spread the word about RCS

But given all the pressure Apple is under to justify itself, I think it should make a big splash about RCS adoption at WWDC 2024, when it will inevitably announce the iMessage upgrade.

Apple told me it’s currently working on enabling the RCS Universal Profile, which will greatly improve messaging with non-iPhone users. RCS on iPhone supports high-resolution images and video, more reliable group messaging, location sharing, and voice messages.

The message here is that Apple is already working on improving messaging from iPhone to Android, which is one of the government’s antitrust concerns.

At WWDC 2024 in June, we may be able to demonstrate all of these features while also emphasizing that RCS is not encrypted in its initial form.

This public adoption of RCS should definitely work in Apple’s favor. And that should help Apple when dealing with regulators, whether it’s the Department of Justice, the EU, or China. To that extent, RCS is likely to be rolled out long before the Justice Department’s antitrust case concludes.

With all this in mind, I think RCS support should be released this fall as part of a major push for iOS 18, as Google hinted in a serendipitous reveal. Will it be compatible with iOS 18 or iOS 18.1? I hope WWDC answers that.