In addition to SMS, Apple’s iMessage will also support communication via Rich Communication Services in the future. This enables, among other things, the sending of photos between Apple iMessage and Google Messages.
Apple will now be the successor to SMS, Rich Communication Services support. The Cupertino company confirmed this 9to5Mac. The standard, previously only used by Android devices, allows cross-platform communication with functions that were previously reserved for messaging applications.
The iPhone manufacturer relies on its own messaging solution iMessage for “short messages”. However, functions that go beyond simply sending text messages as SMS are reserved for Apple devices. iPhone owners who want to communicate with Android devices via iMessage have so far been limited to the SMS standard.
In contrast to SMS, Rich Communication Services (RCS) use the mobile network or WLAN connections and allow, among other things, group chats and the sending of photos and videos. Your own location can also be released via RCS and shared with other users.
“Over the next year, we will add support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard currently published by the GSM Association,” Apple told 9to5Mac. “We believe RCS Universal Profile will provide better interoperability compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best, most secure messaging experience for Apple users.”
With the announcement of RCS support, Apple is probably also responding to demands from its competitors that the EU Commission should classify iMessage as a gatekeeper service. This would force Apple to meet interoperability requirements with competitor services. With support for RCS, Apple could potentially meet these requirements.
However, Apple emphasized in an interview with TechRadar that RCS is less secure than its own iMessage service. In fact, the RCS standard currently lacks an implementation of end-to-end encryption. Google offers this via the chat function in its Messages app, but this is a Google-owned solution – which Apple will not adopt. According to TechRadar, the company is now lobbying the GSM Association to add encryption to the RCS standard.