What you need to know
- Apple announced its iOS 18 update is starting to hit iPhone devices and the blog post held a little surprise for Android users.
- The iOS 18 update includes RCS support between iPhone and Android phones, bringing E2EE, read receipts, sharper photos, and a better chat experience over SMS.
- The fight with Apple to adopt RCS is extensive as Samsung got in on Google's campaign to help push the competition into the new standard.
Apple is starting to roll out its iOS 18 software to iPhones, but it packs a little something for Android users, too.
The company detailed its major iOS 18 patch in a Newsroom post, including a blurb about text messaging. According to Apple, the latest software update brings improved RCS support and messaging between iPhone and Android devices.
The post states this upgraded support brings "richer media" and "more reliable group messaging" capabilities over the old SMS/MMS standards. Both aspects of this update should aid in removing pixelation from shared photos and a host of other chat/group chat problems between iOS and Android.
This fight over unity in our text messages has been going on since Google launched its #GetTheMessage campaign two years ago. The purpose was to bring better reliability and a worthy experience to texting between iOS and Android. Through the SMS/MMS method, text messages, images, and the like were terrible. The latter were often fractured and nowhere near as crisp while the former was broken.
With RCS support arriving, users will notice typing indicators, read receipts, and they'll gain the ability to text over Wi-Fi. This struggle with Apple to finally adopt the RCS standard saw the likes of Samsung join Google's campaign.
Apple's iMessage lived another day following the EU's "gatekeeper" status investigation for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). However, the EU took another look into it to determine if the texting service could be considered a "core platform service." Despite the investigation, Apple confirmed two months later in November 2023 that it would bring RCS to iOS.
Not everything will work cross-platform with iOS 18 and RCS. During WWDC 2024, RCS was an afterthought and its new iMessage features didn't even consider it. The company's new "Send Later" will not work with RCS chats and its new "Tapback" emoji choices are a toss-up by this point.
Still, it's nice to see RCS support finally arriving for iOS and Android users. But the green-blue bubble aesthetic is still upon us.
Large and in charge
Google's Pixel 9 Pro XL is the new (old?) kid on the block as the company brings back an old name. The device is the largest of three slab Pixels, arriving with a 6.8-inch display. Internally, the device rocks the same time-saving Gemini features for summaries, Gemini Live, and more on-device prowess.
