Before Apple released iOS 18.4 in late March, only iPhone handsets connected to major U.S. carriers offered Rich Communication Services (RCS) as a messaging option for iOS users. For those unaware, RCS is the messaging platform that gives Android users many of the same features that iPhone users get when chatting with fellow iOS users with the Messages app. That means RCS brings to Android users:
- The ability to send longer messages.
- High-resolution photos and videos.
- Typing Indicators.
- Read Receipts.
- Ability to share larger files.
- Wi-Fi and Data connectivity.
Of course, Apple being Apple, at first it wouldn’t allow iPhone users to use RCS when messaging Android users on the RCS platform. Despite Google constantly attacking Apple asking it to support RCS, it took the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) legislation to make Apple feel as though it had no choice but to support RCS. As we noted, originally only the three major stateside carriers offered iPhone users the ability to use RCS when chatting with Android owners.
Once Apple released iOS 18.4, several T-Mobile MVNOs started hooking up their iPhone users with RCS compatibility, and one of these firms, Mint Mobile, has begun sending emails to its subscribers urging them to make sure that their iPhones are running at least iOS 18.4. With the update to iOS 18.4 or later, these Mint Mobile subscribers will be able to use RCS when chatting Android users on their iPhones. Mint Mobile has also posted a website for customers that explains what RCS is and how subscribers can enable it on their iPhone or Android handsets.
One important feature of RCS not available yet for cross-platform RCS messaging is end-to-end encryption. Currently, in-transit encryption is available for all messages sent over RCS including cross-platform chats. This means that your chats are encrypted as they travel over the internet between your device and RCS servers preventing your messages from getting intercepted by someone “listening in” on the network.
Google has always offered end-to-end-encryption (E2EE) on Android-to-Android messaging as long as both sides used Google Messages. Apple has always offered E2EE on messaging between iOS users. With both Apple and Google committed to eventually offering end-to-end encryption on cross-platform RCS messaging, the iOS Messages app and iMessage will soon no longer be a major selling point for phone buyers.
During the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit, internal Apple emails from Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, indicated that the company considers iMessage a good reason why parents should buy their kids an iPhone. The emails from Federighi also claimed that the Messages app and iMessage were big reasons why consumers want to stay inside the Apple ecosystem.
