Over a billion RCS messages are sent on a daily basis in the United States, Google said today. RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol that replaced the prior SMS and MMS messaging standards.
It was developed by the GSM Association, but Google has been championing it for years. Apple held out on adopting RCS for quite some time, but finally added support with the launch of iOS 18. On devices running iOS 18, RCS is the default messaging protocol for texts between an iPhone user and an Android user.
Apple's adoption of RCS has undoubtedly increased the number of RCS messages sent per day, but Google's 1 billion figure includes Android to Android text messages along with Android to iPhone text messages (and vice versa).
RCS is a notable improvement over SMS and MMS, and it makes for a better texting experience between iPhone users and Android users, as Android users can't take advantage of iMessage. Some of the RCS features:
- Support for higher resolution photos and videos.
- Support for larger file sizes and file sharing.
- Audio messages.
- Cross-platform emoji reactions.
- Real-time typing indicators and read receipts.
- Better group chats with support for removing people.
- The option to send messages over cellular or Wi-Fi.
For iPhone to iPhone conversations, iMessage is still the default, but RCS has made "green bubble" texting with Android users less of a hassle.
RCS is supported by the major carriers in the United States, but some smaller carriers like Boost Mobile, Mint Mobile, Ting, and others have yet to add support.
