After years of begging and public scrutiny, Apple has finally brought RCS to iPhones. The feature is still in beta and is expected to roll out in the next couple of months with the public release of iOS 18. A new RCS update has been released to improve messaging between iPhones and Android devices like Galaxy phones.
RCS update could make messaging better between Galaxy phones and iPhones
The GSMA Association (GSMA), which maintains RCS, has released (via 9To5Google) A new update (Universal Profile 2.7) to the standard. It includes the Extended Messaging feature, which aims to improve RCS interoperability between Android phones and iPhones.
Universal Profile 2.7 for RCS was released in June 2024. It provides features such as replies to individual messages, reactions, custom reactions to messages, and editing/deleting/recovering sent messages.
Currently, emoji reactions to messages are converted to text messages so that emojis appear. However, with the new RCS update, apps don’t have to convert emojis, and they will appear on top of the associated message. The update also brings support for custom responses that can use an existing or created image (like stickers).
The story continues after the video below.
As of now, the Messages app on iPhones running iOS 18 doesn’t support inline replies. So replies from an Android phone appear as separate messages and don’t reference the original message. With the new RCS update, Apple will have to implement inline replies for RCS messages.
The RCS update allows users to edit, retrieve, or delete messages. It also provides a spam reporting system for messaging between people. We hope this will reduce the chances of spam messages through crowdsourcing.
With this update, RCS should provide a satisfying user experience when sending and receiving messages between Galaxy phones (or any other Android phone) and iPhones.