Google Messages better get this fix before iPhone RCS support rolls out

Opinion post by

C. Scott Brown

At some point this year, the unthinkable will finally happen: iPhones will support rich communication services (RCS). This will knock a few bricks out of the infamous “walled garden” that prevents iPhone users who rely exclusively on iMessage from effectively communicating with Android users. While people outside the United States have already solved this interoperability problem through the use of platform-agnostic apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.), some iPhone users in the US are so addicted to iMessage that they will ostracize friends and family or even refuse to date someone who initiates the “green bubble” in their conversations.

Sadly, the green bubble isn’t going anywhere. RCS support, however, will allow several notable new features to work between the native messaging apps of Android phones and iPhones. These include read receipts, typing indicators, location sharing, and the ability to send high-resolution media.