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Last November, Apple announced that iPhones would support Rich Communication Services (RCS) sometime in the second half of 2024, making it the second biggest surprise of the year (after Huawei announced the Mate 60 Pro and its 5G Kirin 9000s SoC). It may have brought. Google has had it on its wish list for a long time, running a high-profile ad in Times Square asking Apple to help.
The problem is that even though Android users have the same features when sending messages through the Google Messages app, such as read receipts, input indicators, end-to-end encryption, and receiving high-quality images, Apple It sees the iMessage platform as a major selling point for the iPhone. , and longer messages. However, the problem with both platforms is that an iPhone user can only take advantage of these features when chatting with other his iPhone users, whereas an Android user can only message other his RCS users on his Android. These features are only available when sending.
When cross-platform messaging happens, it’s done through old-fashioned SMS texts that limit the length of conversations, and the images received are of very poor quality at best. If you’re an Android user and have ever received a video from a friend or family member using your iPhone, you’ll know exactly what we’re referring to. But once Apple starts supporting his RCS, you’ll be able to see high-quality images, read receipts, typing indicators, and long messages during cross-platform chats.
The only difference is that Apple doesn’t want to support Google’s end-to-end encryption extension, which is only used in chats between Google Messages users. Apple instead wants the GSMA standards body to add encryption to the RCS Universal Profile.
So why did Apple finally relent and support RCS? As John Gruber writes in Daring Fireball, the answer has to do with China. Some might have blamed the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). After all, the latter provision means that next month Apple will allow iPhone users in 27 EU countries to allow apps to sideload, use alternative browser engines on the iPhone, and allow developers to link their apps to alternative in-app payment platforms. etc. will be allowed.
But the real culprit is China, the world’s largest smartphone market and the one where Apple is currently battling a reinvigorated Huawei. Gruber said the issue is a new law being considered in China that would force all new 5G phones to support RCS. And Apple, always keenly aware of who butters its bread, feels it must do everything in its power to prepare for the new law.
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