I didn’t understand the RCS hype until I tried these features
For years, I was the person breaking iMessage group chats by adding green bubbles into the mix with my Android phone. That bothered me. Not because of the blue bubble stigma, but because green bubbles are a sign your chats are relying on outdated and insecure messaging standards. Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) texts are limited in features, functionality, and quality. The future is Rich Communication Services (RCS), which adds high-quality media, read receipts, and better group chats to both iOS and Android.
I’m finally getting excited about RCS, and it’s not because I’m using it for the first time. I’ve been using RCS for over half a decade, but your RCS experience critically depends on whether the people you message use it too. Now that iOS has supported RCS for nearly two years, adoption is widespread. My friends and family use RCS at long last, and the RCS standard now delivers on its hype.
Higher-quality photos and videos
Say goodbye to grainy, tiny, and pixelated MMS photos or videos
SMS and MMS are legacy texting standards, and they aren’t fit for modern attachments. SMS messages can only handle text and emoji, supporting a maximum of 160 basic characters or just 70 characters if emoji or special characters are mixed in. MMS chats are the ones that handle your photos and videos. They are limited to just a few megabytes of data, which is a problem considering the size of modern files. Photos can easily consume multiple megabytes on their own, with longer videos stretching into the gigabyte territory.
The size limit of MMS texts is fixed, so bigger photos and videos have to be compressed. This is why photos and videos sent over MMS end up tiny and pixelated. Luckily, RCS fixes this issue with a file size limit of over 100MB. You can send almost anything from your phone without it being ruined before it reaches the sender. I’ve loved sharing photos and videos between iOS and Android phones because of RCS — everything gets delivered at the quality that it should.
Message editing and deletion
Try to claw back that accidental message with these RCS features
RCS supports cross-platform message editing. If you send an RCS message with a mistake or a typo and want to clarify it, you’ll have 15 minutes to do so. You can still see the original, unedited message after you update it — don’t assume the old message goes away completely. RCS also supports unsending messages before the other person opens it. There’s a Delete for everyone button in Google Messages that’ll claw back your chat if the other person hasn’t seen it yet. You’ll have only 15 minutes to do this, too.
It’s not a solution for completely erasing a text you regret. Both sides of the conversation need to be using the right RCS Universal Profile version for it to work. However, it’s still helpful for those times when you notice a typo immediately after hitting send.
Delivered and read receipts
Know exactly when someone received or opened your message
When sending SMS or MMS messages, you fire texts off into the ether and hope they reach the recipient. You’ll get a confirmation when an SMS or MMS text was sent, but not when the other person actually received it. RCS fixes this problem by introducing delivered and read receipts. In Google Messages, one check means a text was sent, another confirms it was delivered, and blue checks let you know it was opened. Apple Messages handles everything a bit clearer, with “Delivered” and “Read” badges in plain text.
While some users like to turn off read receipts, I find them incredibly useful. It’s nice to know when someone opens your text, and it’s even better to know that it was properly delivered. This peace of mind was impossible to get when using SMS or MMS.
Message and screen reactions
Add a little flavor to your chats using RCS reactions
I’m not a huge fan of the obnoxious screen and message reactions in Google Messages, but the fact that RCS supports them at all across iOS and Android chats is something to be happy about. Before, message reactions would appear in plain text for cross-platform conversation. The laughing emoji applied to a message won’t be displayed the same way on the other side of the chat. Now, they just work thanks to RCS, regardless of whether you’re using an iPhone or Android phone.
The old way SMS and MMS handled message reactions involved sending them as separate text, which quickly crowded group chats and casual conversations. I might not love Google Messages’ implementation of reactions, but they’re better with RCS than SMS or MMS.
End-to-end encryption
Safeguard your messages using end-to-end encryption for RCS chats
SMS and MMS chats are woefully insecure, and RCS addresses this vulnerability. RCS supports end-to-end encryption, meaning no one can see your messages as they are sent between the sender and recipient. There is a catch, which is that your messaging app, device, and cellular carrier all need to support end-to-end encryption over RCS for it to work. As such, not every RCS conversation will use end-to-end encryption (E2EE).
There’s still work to do, and I’d love to see E2EE become the true default for RCS messaging. I’m seeing more and more of my conversations support it now that Apple rolled out cross-platform E2EE support for RCS chats in Messages. Again, it’s a sign of RCS finally delivering on the hype.
Wi-Fi and data messaging
It’s faster than using your carrier’s voice and signaling channels
Not everyone knows that SMS and MMS texts are sent via your carrier’s voice and signaling channels, instead of the cellular data channels you use to browse the web and connect to the internet. They also can’t be sent over Wi-Fi networks. This is why SMS and MMS messages might fail to send, even if you can load websites using cellular data or a Wi-Fi connection.
RCS messages can be sent over cellular data networks or Wi-Fi networks. They’ll fall back to SMS or MMS if they can’t be sent over data or Wi-Fi, which means you’ll lose out on RCS features. Still, we’re usually not far from a data connection or Wi-Fi network these days.
Turn RCS on right now, if you haven’t already
The RCS Universal Profile, which is the official name for the modern iteration of RCS we currently use, isn’t universally loved. This is because RCS hasn’t always lived up to its promises and hype. A lot of that has to do with adoption — if you and the people you message don’t use it, you won’t reap the benefits.
That’s why you should enable RCS if you haven’t already. iPhone users should navigate to Settings → Apps → Messages → RCS Messaging and flip the toggle beside RCS Messaging. Android users can check that RCS is enabled in Google Messages by opening the app, tapping their profile picture, and navigating to Messages settings → RCS chats. Then, tap the toggle beside Turn on RCS chats.
After that, you’ll be ready to enjoy RCS. Remember: it only works if everyone’s using it.
- OS
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Android
- Released
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November 12, 2014
- Publisher(s)
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Google
Google Messages is the official messaging app for Android, powered by Rich Communication Services (RCS) to offer an enhanced chat experience. It supports high-quality photo and video sharing, dynamic group chats, and end-to-end encryption for privacy. Features include spam protection, AI-powered suggestions, and seamless device integration, making conversations expressive and secure across Android and the web.
