New report explains why Apple is adding RCS support to the iPhone this year،
Last November, Apple could have delivered the second biggest surprise of the year (after Huawei introduced the Mate 60 Pro and its 5G Kirin 9000s SoC) by announcing that the iPhone would support Rich Communications Services (RCS). ) starting in the second half of 2024. Google had this on its wish list for a long time and had run high-profile ads in Times Square asking Apple to support it.
The problem is that Apple sees the iMessage platform as a major selling point for the iPhone, even though Android users who send messages through the Google Messages app get the same features like read receipts, input indicators, end-to-end encryption, receiving high-quality images. , and longer messages. However, the problem for both platforms is that iPhone users only get these features when chatting with other iPhone users, and Android users only get these features when chatting with other iPhone users, and Android users only get these features when chatting with other iPhone users. They send messages to other RCS users on Android.
Where there is cross-platform messaging, it is done via old-fashioned SMS text, which limits the length of conversations and the images received are very poor quality at best. If you're an Android user and you've received a video from a friend or family member with an iPhone, you'll know exactly what we're talking about. But once Apple starts supporting RCS, those participating in a cross-platform chat will be able to see high-quality images, read receipts, typing indicators, and longer messages.
The only difference is that Apple doesn't want to support Google's end-to-end encryption extension, which is used only in chats between Google Messages users. Apple instead wants standards body GSMA to add encryption to the RCS Universal Profile.
So why did Apple finally give in and support RCS? The answer, according to John Gruber written in Daring Fireball, has to do with China. Some might have thought that the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) was to blame. After all, the latter forced Apple next month to allow iPhone users in the 27 EU member states to download apps, use alternative browser engines on the iPhone, allow developers to link their apps to other in-app payment platforms, and much more.
But the real culprit is China, which is the world's largest smartphone market and where Apple is now battling a reinvigorated Huawei. According to Gruber, the problem lies with a new law being considered in China that would require all new 5G phones to support RCS. And Apple, always keenly aware of who butters its bread, feels it needs to put its ducks in a row in anticipation of the new law.
