Wired
Apple announced in November last year that the iPhone’s Messages app would begin supporting the cross-platform messaging standard RCS “later” in 2024. Recently, Google inadvertently revealed a more precise time frame on its redesigned Google Messages page, although the part has since been removed.
According to 9to5Google, Google mentioned that Apple will adopt RCS on iPhone in the fall of 2024. This time frame suggests that RCS support will be coming to iPhone with iOS 18, which is expected to be available in beta in June and officially released in September. At the latest, support will be added in iOS 18.1, an update expected to be released in October.
RCS support is expected to provide the following improvements to conversations between iPhone and Android smartphones:
- Higher resolution photos and videos
- voice message
- Input instructions
- read receipt
- Wi-Fi messaging
- Improved group chats, including iPhone users can leave conversations that include Android users
These features are already available in iMessage and many third-party messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. Support for RCS on iPhone will expand these capabilities to the green bubble in the Messages app.