After conspicuously ignoring it for years, Apple will finally support the Rich Communication Services protocol, abbreviated RCS, in 2024. Apple has made this known to 9to5Mac by a short press release:
Over the next year, we will add support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard currently published by the GSM Association. We believe that the RCS Universal Profile will provide a better interoperability experience compared to SMS or MMS.
Google employees must be popping champagne in Mountain View, having lobbied hard for years for Apple to adopt this technology. RCS, which has been deployed for almost five years on Android, is in a way SMS 2.0. This standard makes it possible to exchange messages and content with modern functions that SMS and MMS lack: HD quality, group conversation, Wi-Fi operation, composition indicator, etc.
In short, by integrating RCS into iOS, Apple will improve instant chats with Android smartphones, something Google clamors for whenever the opportunity arises.
This is a spectacular turnaround, with Tim Cook still ensuring last year that he had not “didn’t hear a lot of [ses] users [lui] ask to put a lot of energy [sur RCS]. » To a journalist who deplored that her mother, equipped with an Android smartphone, could not see the videos she sent to him from her iPhone, the Apple boss even replied: “buy your mom an iPhone!” »
RCS does not sign the end of iMessage however. In its statement, Apple specifies: “ [RCS] will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users. » From what we understand, RCS should be integrated into the Messages application, like SMS and MMS are today. Will the new protocol put an end to the distinction between green bubbles (SMS) and blue bubbles (iMessage), as Google has wanted for years? Or will it instead add a third bubble color? It’s still too early to tell.
This rebound could be the consequence of increasingly strong pressure from competition and regulatory authorities. The European Commission is currently examining whether iMessage should be subject to the DMA and therefore become interoperable with WhatsApp and Messenger. Support for RCS is not synonymous with opening iMessage to competition, Apple emphasizes that it will be a parallel system, but this change in Messages in favor of interoperability between platforms could appease the regulator.
Even if it means adopting RCS, Apple has indicated that it will collaborate with other members of the GSMA to improve the protocol, particularly with regard to confidentiality. Because if Google’s implementation manages end-to-end encryption, this is not the case for the standard itself. iMessage remains superior on this point and will increase its lead in terms of security with ignition key verification available from iOS 17.2.