Well, as I write this my LinkedIn feed is starting to explode with articles from TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, and many others about the fact that Apple has agreed to support RCS. This is quite surprising, considering Tim Cook’s pronouncement in 2022. But it is very, very good news and quite surprising to be sure.
I’ve gotten this wrong so many times on my Predictions posts that, several years ago, I just quit predicting that Apple would support RCS and moved onto other messaging topics. And of course, now we already know that Apple will support RCS in 2024, so there goes that prediction!
All of this aside, let’s unpack this news a bit.
Here’s the quote from Apple as I see it on 9to5Mac:
Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.
Apple spokesperson to 9to5Mac
First, support for RCS Universal Profile from GMSA – the set of specifications that define RCS and its features: things like group chat, file sharing, typing indicators, read receipts, location sharing, and other rich messaging capabilities.
One thing about Universal Profile, is that even the Android world does not always support the exact standards defined by the GSMA. While Google Messages (the predominant messaging app on Android devices) certainly supports Universal Profile (of which the latest version 2.4 is from 16 October 2019); because it’s Google, and they work faster than a standards body like GSMA, past history has shown that what Google provides for RCS is typically months, if not years ahead of attributes or features that are actually part of Universal Profile.
What this means is that all of the features that Android users enjoy may not be compatible with the version of Universal Profile that is ultimately implemented by Apple.
Secondly, they say: “We believe Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS.” I believe that too. I expect that for cross platform messaging (on both the Apple and Android side), we’ll see at minimum:
- Typing indicators
- Group chat features
- Read receipts.
- File / Rich media sharing – Remember: With MMS, rich content is actually sent TO the device, which uses a great deal of bandwidth. With RCS, only a link is sent and the device will request access to the media when necessary – it’s not sent to the device like MMS.
- Location sharing within the messaging app
- Video / audio calls from within the messaging app to a person on the other iOS
There is also uncertainty about how Apple and Google will ultimately implement all of this. Today Person-to-Person (or P2P) RCS messages leverage a Google cloud. Recall, that for some markets, Google implemented a direct-to-consumer launch of RCS through Android Messages — regardless of carrier support. The likely answer is that both Google and Apple will exchange traffic and data directly — without the need of an independent messaging interop provider like the SMS and MMS channels leverage.
Beyond the above list of personal messaging features, does this also mean that Apple’s Universal Profile implementation will support the delivery of RCS Business Messaging (RBM) elements?
That is very unclear at this time.
The implementation of RCS will be built into Apple’s Messages app and of course, it already supports Apple Business Chat (or just Business Chat as it’s now called). RCS provides a number of elements for business (or A2P, using an older term) messaging that include:
- Verified Sender (right now Google is the primary verifier – Apple probably won’t like this)
- Custom Branding for the business sender with logo and colors
- Business Information page – which, to be honest – is really a Google Business Page – not sure that Apple would want that supported from within Apple Messages.
- Suggested Reply and Action buttons
- Rich Cards and Rich Card Carousels
- Rich media
Nothing in the announcement today foretells if Apple will support RCS Business Messaging as part of this implementation. What is said, however, seems to indicate that the primary support will be for person-to-person interoperability. That does not necessarily include business messaging.
Which, I think is a little sad, but understandable, given that Apple has put a lot of effort in Business Chat. The big difference between RCS Business Messaging and Apple’s Business Chat is that brands can initiate messages to consumers (B2C) while Business Chat must be initiated by the consumer (essentially C2B) before the business or brand can respond.
Certainly, support for RCS Business Messaging would be a godsend for marketers, customer service and really just about brand that wants to engage with subscribers through the rich RCS feature-set that is available. That way, there doesn’t have to be one implementation for Android devices and another for iOS. At this point, let’s leave that door open, but also not get our hopes up that Apple’s RCS implementation will support RCS Business Messaging.
Why? And Why Now?
The DMA – or the EU Digital Markets Act. That’s why. This was announced in 2022 and part of it was to require messaging app developers to enable their apps to interoperate.
Longtime and loyal readers will recall that on 29 March, 2022, I published a rather extensive piece on the EU’s DMA and it’s potential effect on messaging: Are we about to see a new round of Messaging Interoperability? This has been in the works for quite some time. In fact, I did note that (to toot my own horn a bit here): “…if I’m an Android user with RCS, my message could be received by a Telegram user or even and iMessage user.”
The original EU Press released noted: “EU lawmakers agreed that the largest messaging services (such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or iMessage) will have to open and interoperate with smaller messaging platforms, if they so request.” Well, now Google, on behalf of RCS has requested that Apple iMessage be designated as a core platform service.
I think that Apple’s change of position on RCS is very likely due to this ongoing investigation by the EU regulators. That’s also why I think it will be limited to conversational or P2P messaging and not include RCS Business Messaging. Apple will do enough to comply with the likely ruling from the EU to interoperate with RCS.
Of course, Apple makes a very strong point about its own security and encryption level verses that of RCS. I think that is a very good move by Apple to not compromise it’s own security and its offer to work with the GSMA to enhance the overall security and encryption levels of RCS. This will be good for the entire ecosystem in the long run — not just iOS users.
Regardless of my cautions, this is absolutely huge news for the mobile messaging industry and will change how we view messaging. For those of us that work in and make this industry work, this will change how we manage certain aspects of this channel. Whether or not the business world benefits is still completely unclear, but given the stakes, I tend to remain extremely cautious about Apple allowing RCS Business Messaging functionality on iOS devices.
The users who text will be the ultimate winners. This will lead to a cleaner, more consistent messaging experience no matter who is texting whom. While there may still be different color text bubbles, I suspect the overall experience will be quite an improvement.
And as for the lowly SMS? Don’t worry – it’s going to be around for a long, long time – even for conversational texting. The Android world is very fragmented and not everyone even uses or activates RCS on their Android devices (even if they have it). So, SMS as a common channel for Person-to-Person communications will remain. MMS too!!