iMessage: a Rich Communication Standard that’s coming to your group chat (and why you shouldn’t) add it now — after the European Commission
Good news is coming to your group chat. Today, Apple said it will add support for the RCS messaging standard to the iPhone. The website 9to5Mac broke the news that Apple will release a software update some time next year that will bring support to iOS for the messaging standard, which is already widely used by Android phones.
This change is likely the result of a European Union rule requiring major companies, such as Apple, to make their services compatible with other platforms. In September, the European Commission opened up an investigation into iMessage to determine whether it should be considered a “core platform service.” However, Apple reportedly argued iMessage isn’t popular enough in Europe for the rules to apply, and it’s planning to file an appeal against the government’s regulation of its App Store.
RCS, or Rich Communications Standard, is a messaging service that’s a step up from the SMS and MMS messaging standards that smartphones have used since they first arrived. RCS can do more than SMS and MMS: It allows users to share higher-resolution photos and videos between their devices; it supports read receipts; and there’s more fun stuff, like the ability to easily drop emoji and GIFs into a conversation. It also adds extra layers of security that the older messaging standards lack.
The End of SUSY: Why Mobile Communications Service Can Go Away Now That Symmetric Service Has Storified Its Effort
“It’s long been time for SMS to go away,” says Anshel Sag, principal analyst at the technology analyst firm Moor Insights and Strategy. It can be a sunset now that mobile communications service is able to die. All the security flaws caused by SMS can be eliminated, so all the viruses can be eliminated.
The move isn’t happening immediately; Apple told 9to5Mac that RCS support will come “in the later half of next year.” This timing suggests that support could arrive with the next version of iOS, which typically rolls out in September.
