iMessage gets handy improvements in iOS 15, but one thing has been missing for years: support for Rich Communication Services, or RCS. The providers already talked about it in 2012 and Apple is said to have held talks in 2019, but there is still no indication that it is being worked on. The three major American providers have now switched to RCS, Samsung has been offering it in the Messages app since October and Google is making RCS available to all Android users in the Netherlands. You are then no longer dependent on your provider. And the latter is good news, because in the Netherlands only Vodafone offers support for RCS. But iPhone users are failing on all fronts – and that depends on Apple.
Why you would want RCS
If you send a message via iMessage, it is encrypted. If you only have friends within the Apple ecosystem, it works well, but as soon as you want to send something to an Android user, iOS falls back to SMS. This can be recognized by the green speech bubbles. SMS is insecure because it is not end-to-end encrypted, making messages easy to intercept. Yet it is still used for important, privacy-sensitive communications. The vaccination reminders from the GGD are sent by SMS and for logging in to various services you sometimes receive security codes via SMS. Companies such as UPS, KLM, DHL, DPD, Tikkie, Aegon, ABN AMRO, ING, Knab, ICS, Facebook, Telegram, Clubhouse, Paypal, Google Nest and more send codes by SMS. Everyone knows that SMS is insecure and there is a better alternative, but Apple doesn't seem to be in a hurry.
As a result, many iPhone users prefer not to use Apple's Messages app. If you have many friends with Android, it is more attractive to use WhatsApp. You then have many more functions: you can send photos and videos, use stickers, have group conversations and see when someone types a message or receives your message. You don't have all those functions with SMS, but RCS does support it.
If Apple starts to offer support for RCS, it will be more attractive to use the Messages app in a mixed group of friends. So RCS is not only a more secure alternative to SMS (RCS has been offering end-to-end encryption since the end of 2020), but also offers commonly used extras that you know from WhatsApp, such as audio messages and sending large files. Later in this article, we list the pros and cons of RCS again.
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Why Apple Doesn't Want RCS
RCS Fits very much in the vein of Apple: it offers better security and privacy, two topics that are close to Apple's heart. We can only guess why Apple isn't in a hurry.
- Reason #1: Apple thinks that it already has an excellent secure solution with iMessage. Opening up to RCS undermines the superiority of Apple's proprietary solution. This seems nonsense to me, because now iMessage is open to SMS and that is much less secure. In addition, Apple is putting its customers at risk by continuing to support insecure SMS.
- Reason #2: iMessage makes for a great ‘wallet garden’ keeping people loyal to the iPhone. This is also a bad argument, because Apple is now banning people with mixed friends from iMessage. If they switch to WhatsApp, the step to an Android device will only become easier.
- Reason #3: It is technically very difficult to build in. This may well be the case, but Apple is known for owning hardware and software and having complete control over it. Google also succeeds with Android to support RCS on a platform with hundreds of different manufacturers and thousands of device variants. Then Apple should also succeed.
RCS in the Netherlands
It's good news if Apple ever supports RCS. But does it also benefit us immediately in the Netherlands? After all, it is often our turn to roll out services years later. There is also good news on that point: Google added RCS support to the Messages app in the Netherlands last fall. This works on all recent Android devices, without being dependent on your provider.
Samsung's Messages app already had support for RCS, but only if the provider itself offered it. However, since December 2020, it has been standard in Samsung's Messages app, even without carrier support. This is thanks to the global rollout of RCS on Android.
That you are not dependent on your provider is a good thing, because in the Netherlands only Vodafone has announced official support. This has been active since October 2020, but the provider writes:
Apple device
Apple does not currently support the global RCS standard and does not provide information about the future. Messages from Android & Samsung to Apple will continue to run via the traditional SMS method for the time being, without the new functionalities. So Apple already uses iMessage, which is comparable to RCS-Chat.
Vodafone is in itself right that Apple offers similar functionality in iMessage, but that does not solve the problem that you still have to exchange unsecure SMS messages between iPhone and Android and that you also receive communication from important authorities via the insecure SMS.< /p>
Pros and cons of RCS
Below we list everything about the pros and cons of RCS.
These are the advantages of RCS:
- No need for a separate app, it works in the Messages app of your smartphone.
- Safer than SMS thanks to end-to-end encryption.
- Many more functions: send photos, video calling, using emoji, having group conversations.
- Feels like a modern chat app.
- You can see if the interlocutor is typing.
- Not dependent on your carrier.
- Works on all phones of all brands (if the manufacturer supports it).
- Easier chatting with a mix of iPhones and Android devices.
- Works via telecom network, so also suitable for emergency messages and in situations where no internet is available.
- It's free.
- It's a common standard. There is no company like Facebook behind it that could misuse your data.
- All communication goes through one app, not through different apps from different providers.
- There is no limitation of 160 characters.
These are the disadvantages of RCS:
- It is linked to your telephone number and you do not always want to disclose it to all kinds of companies (for example if you are a well-known Dutch person).
- Because it is linked to your telephone number, it is mainly intended for smartphones. But we chat on many more devices, including desktop and tablet.
- RCS is not yet supported by all manufacturers, with Apple being the main exception.
- When using RCS, not all advanced functions, so that the user experience in WhatsApp (and similar apps) remains better. For example, you can send messages with effect in iMessage, which are not visible in RCS. Also some group functions will not work. If you have an iMessage group and you add an Android user to it, it will automatically become an SMS group with less functionality. That will be no different at RCS. And when Android users add an iPhone user to their group, it also creates a new group (with fewer options).