Apple holds out in adopting next-generation RCS texting standard

As Android and mobile carriers plan to adopt the next-generation RCS standard for texting, Apple appears to be one of the sole remaining holdouts.

Verizon on Tuesday announced that it would adopt the Rich Communications Service (RCS) standard beginning in 2021, joining AT&T and T-Mobile. It marks the final step toward replacing SMS with RCS on Android.

As The Verge points out, Apple has yet to announce any plans or interest in adopting RCS support for iPhone.

Through iMessage, Apple users have long had the features that RCS offers to Android owners. Likely because of that, Apple has been absent from conversations about adopting RCS.

What this means, essentially, is that both Android and iPhone users will be able to take advantage of rich texting features and end-to-end encryption, just not when messaging with each other. If an Android user messages an Apple user, or vice versa, the text will default back to SMS, which isn't end-to-end encrypted and has no enhanced texting features.

However, with Google's Android and all three major carriers in the U.S. adopting the RCS standard, Apple may be more interested in bringing support for the next-generation texting standard to its iPhone.

It likely won't replace iMessage, but RCS adoption could make communications between Android and iPhone users more feature-rich and secure.

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30 Comments

mcdave 1927 comments · 19 Years

About 3 years ago

I don’t see what this has to do with the carriers, are they trying to stay relevant?

Apple should just add RCS to SMS as the fall-back option in iMessage.

OutdoorAppDeveloper 1292 comments · 15 Years

If Apple switched to RCS, how would a government be able to to silently spy on you by sending it an iMessage?

Beats 3073 comments · 4 Years

I wouldn’t trust this standard.

auxio 2762 comments · 19 Years

Just had a quick read through the history and current status of RCS on the Wikipedia page. Sounds like a real mess of carriers trying to market it as their own (joyn, message+, etc) and different levels of support. Not surprising Apple wants to steer clear of it for now.

EDIT: Not to mention there are security issues

DangDave 98 comments · 8 Years

mcdave said:

I don’t see what this has to do with the carriers, are they trying to stay relevant?

Apple should just add RCS to SMS as the fall-back option in iMessage.

Carriers will always be relevant!

I like your second thought of having your carrier determine whether your fall-back option is RCS or SMS. So here is the logic for iMessage users:
1.) If you are an iPhone iMessage user and you try to chat/message a non-iMessage phone number it currently falls back to your carrier.
2.) Say your carrier is AT&T and you have an RCS capable phone, AT&T then checks to see if the phone number you are calling is an AT&T RCS number and if so, it will initiate a carrier chat. Apple shouldn’t care!
3.) Eventually when AT&T successfully implements cross-carrier persistent RCS with other carriers you will be able to chat with anyone on those other carriers. Apple shouldn’t care!