Apple has announced it will adopt the rich communication services (RCS) messaging standard for all iPhones in a surprise move. The iPhone maker says RCS will arrive at some point in 2024 as part of a software update, indicating it could be here within months.
It comes after years of Apple refusing to bow to pressure to adopt the messaging standard, which allows iPhone users to message Android users seamlessly and is far more secure than SMS.
In fact, in 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook dismissed the idea of adopting RCS messaging to end the green bubbles iPhone users see when they text an Android device. “Buy your mom an iPhone,” he said.
So what’s changed? A couple of things—one is regulation. Apple is under pressure from the European Union legislation, the Digital Markets Act. This was going to include Apple’s iMessage service in its list of gatekeepers, with a specific request to offer messaging interconnection, says Dario Betti, CEO of the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF). “Apple was likely to be forced to introduce an RCS-like service in any case.”
User experience is another important factor: SMS/MMS interconnection for advanced messaging was “becoming unsustainable for Apple,” says Betti. “Messaging is now much more advanced. An evolution for SMS had to be supported even by Apple, even if only for non-iOS.”
Apple Doubles Down On iMessage—But RCS Is Good For PR
Apple says iMessage will stay the default method for connecting iPhone users to each other, with RCS to be adopted separately—rather than the move representing Apple opening up iMessage to other platforms.
The iPhone maker says iMessage is more secure: It is end-to-end encrypted—which means no one can see your messages, even Apple—and was recently boosted with additional security with Advanced Data Protection for Messages in iCloud.
The announcement is a “politically balanced approach,” says Betti. “It introduces the new technology without celebrating it. After all, Apple is not moving away from its successful Apple-to-Apple messaging platform, iMessage.”
Apple’s surprise iPhone move also provides the company with an image boost: In security, Apple wants to be seen as adopting standards and contributing to them, making it a prominent part of the community. The iPhone maker is already promoting Passkey adoption and is part of the FIDO Alliance pushing to end the password.
Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at security firm ESET, calls Apple’s RCS move a “win-win.”
While he concedes that cross-platform communication offering privacy and security should “be standard in modern day technology”, he says the RCS move is “better late than never.”
RCS has the benefit of offering end-to-end encryption, giving it an edge over SMS—which uses old technology and cannot be securely relied upon, says Moore. “SMS messages can be intercepted relatively easily, so it felt strange that Apple dragged its feet with this change.”
With the new Apple RCS move, Moore says iPhone users “will have the added advantage of knowing their messages to devices outside of the Apple ecosystem are now properly looked after and remain private.”
So, while it’s not full iMessage integration—that would have been overkill for Apple— the move to support RCS is a big deal that will benefit all iPhone users. Bravo Apple.
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