Google leaks when Apple will be bringing RCS to the iPhone

Google has rolled out a new landing page for Google Messages that provides a bunch of information regarding the benefits of its service and, particularly, the Rich Communication Services (RCS) communication protocol.

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Apple announced in November 2023 that it was going to be adopting RCS sometime "later next year", which led most users to expect the update to roll out with the next big iOS update, presumably iOS 18, which is slated to be Apple's biggest iOS update ever. Now, Google has seemingly confirmed that with one of the new Android landing pages stating the following: "Apple has announced it will be adopting RCS in the fall of 2024. Once that happens, it will mean a better messaging experience for everyone."

Notably, Apple never specifically said when it was going to adopt RCS, which means Google's announcement is may have circumvented Apple's upcoming announcement. For those that don't know, Apple has been using SMS and MMS protocols when texting non-Apple smartphones, which means low-quality images/videos when sending to non-Apple smartphones, problems with group chats, and low security. The adoption of RCS will mean users will get typing indicators between Android and iOS devices, improved security, and many more features.

This lack of RCS adoption is also the reason why texting Android devices from an iOS device shows the Android messages in the green bubble.