Not just the iPhone: Google needs to take RCS texting further

RCS texting is coming to the iPhone. But Apple phones aren't the only ones that don't yet have access to the latest texting standard.

Google, which invested considerably in building RCS while making promises about how it could bring higher-quality typing indicators and group chats, has spent years pushing for Apple to adopt the messaging standard. It even built features into Google Messages, like support for message reactions, in an attempt to make texting for iPhone users a little less awful. Finally, in late 2023, Apple announced that RCS support would come to iOS in 2024, bringing hope that improved texting between Android and iOS, complete with typing indicators and high-quality media, could actually happen.

But if RCS is truly going to replace the antiquated SMS and MMS text messaging that most phones have been stuck with for decades, it needs to come to every phone. Not just Android phones, and not just Apple's iPhone.

This includes basic phones like flip phones and other phones with minimalist features you can resort to a “digital detox”. This also means that apps and services that rely on SMS to send text messages to a phone number, some of which Google makes itself, will need to adopt RCS.

There's also a world of alternative texting apps for Android that haven't yet gained access to RCS texting.

This equates to many devices, services and applications still using SMS. But RCS really needs to be available on all cell phones and texting apps, not just the iPhone, before we leave old standards like SMS and MMS behind.

Basic flip phones could still use better texting

Basic phones are having their own moment right now, resulting in retro flip phones and candy bar-style phones that have more features than ever. HMD, in particular, has spent the last few years continuing the Nokia phone line, creating entry-level phones that run on KaiOS, while also developing branded phones with companies like the recently revealed Heineken Boring Phone and an upcoming Barbie flip phone. The company has had enough success with these devices that the analytics firm International Data Corporation reported that HMD held the majority of the feature phone market (30.7% by value and 22.4% by volume) in Q3 2023.

Some of these HMD-developed phones even support a limited number of apps and web services, such as Google Maps and, in some cases, WhatsApp. For example, my colleague Jessica Fierro recently spent a week with the Nokia 2780, during which she was able to use it to watch YouTube, get directions on Google Maps, and use the web browser for most other services. But when it came to texting, the Nokia 2780 was limited to SMS and MMS only.

While entry-level phones rarely make the best-selling phone lists, which often feature smartphones made by Apple and Samsung, these devices clearly have an audience that could benefit from access to a more modern texting standard. While basic phones themselves will probably be limited to T9 texting because of their numeric keypads, the improved group chat support and typing indicators that RCS brings could be a huge efficiency boost for someone who is just trying to type a short text.

Online services still get stuck in SMS

Services that provide virtual phone numbers have been around for a long time and are a convenient way to use another phone number without having to purchase a new line from a carrier. They offer features like call forwarding to any other phone number you want, improved support for voicemail and SMS text messaging. But this last point is now part of the obstacle preventing RCS from supplanting SMS and MMS.

I am personally a long time user of Google Voice, as it provides an unlimited voicemail box for my calls, while also providing an alternate phone number to use for whatever reason I want. I also use Zoom Phone as my work phone number, which allows me to receive calls from my laptop or whatever phone I'm currently reviewing.

Both services meet my needs well…except messaging. It's frustrating that these tools are still stuck on using SMS and MMS. This is especially the case with Google Voice, as Google is leading the RCS push with its Google Messages app. Hopefully these and other similar services can soon gain access to RCS and hopefully get a better texting experience that will make them easier to use.

Android texting apps also lack RCS

While Android has thus far been the main phone operating system providing RCS texting, this doesn't necessarily extend to third-party messaging apps. One of the advantages of Android is the level of customization it offers. You can change the launcher if you want better home screen controls, or set up a third-party app store if you need to access a service that isn't natively provided by the Google Play Store.

For example, before Google Messages added desktop support in a web browser, my Android texting app of choice was Pulse SMS. It provides broad access to the texting app, whether on a phone or in native apps for Mac and Windows, as well as web browser support. But Pulse SMS currently does not have RCS supportciting that Google has not yet provided a way for developers to integrate with it.

Considering how open Android is, it's strange that RCS integration isn't yet available to third-party developers. However, Google works with other phone manufacturers on RCS integration. For example, the Samsung Messages app, which is still included as a texting option on Galaxy phones, includes support for RCS.

Beeper, for now, supports RCS in its third-party texting app, which was relaunched on Android after attempts to integrate with Apple's iMessage network. But Beeper had to reverse engineer his way in integration with Google Messages for this to happen. For now, it appears that Google isn't going after Beeper in the same way that Apple did by turning off iMessage integration.

It's clear that RCS still has a long way to go before it truly replaces SMS and MMS text messaging. We'll see for the first time how interoperable RCS texting really is when Apple's iPhone starts supporting the standard for sharing high-resolution photos and videos, as the company said last year, as well as group messaging. more reliable, read receipts and location sharing. Other features, such as encryption, will depend on Apple's work with the GSMA to improve the RCS standard itself, as Apple noted in its RCS announcement last year that the company will not use another company's encryption protocol – possibly referring to what Google Messages uses.

Perhaps, as Apple is now working with the rest of the GSMA on the standard, RCS will improve and make its way into additional phones and services. It could be similar to what we're seeing now with the Qi2 wireless charging standard, which includes some of the improvements Apple has developed with its MagSafe charging. However, until we see RCS become truly available across all devices and services, SMS and MMS will continue to be a dominant, albeit antiquated, messaging standard.