Last year, back in November 2023, the fruit company ‘Apple’ surprised the fan community with an announcement regarding the RCS (Rich Communication Services Universal Profile) in 2024. It was announced that the brand will offer RCS support on the iPhone by the end of 2024.
Although somewhere it appears that Apple has decided this under the pressure of the Chinese state authorities as well as market pressure, But this will enhance the Android-iOS messaging experience. The driving force behind RCS on the iPhone might be new rules that modulators in China are implementing.
It is known that “iOS support for RCS is all about China,” and the reports of Daring Fireball indicate the corresponding Chinese regulation. Back in July 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China applied for feedback on the forthcoming rules regarding “Strengthening End-Network Collaboration to Support the Large-Scale Development of 5G Messaging.”
At the time, people expected this to likely lead to Apple adopting RCS. Here we are mentioning the relevant section through Reddit and the full document processed by Google Translate. The first is to promote incremental device support.
Even after six months from the date of this notice, there is a transitional period for mobile smartphone manufacturers to complete the system design and function updates of 5G smartphones decided to be listed in the industry in accordance with the relevant industry standards for 5G messages (RCS) as well as network access test specifications. Following the end of the transition period, 5G mobile smart phones newly applied for certification by smartphone manufacturers may support 5G messages and be tagged along with relevant network access test reports.
The second guideline is the update of existing gadgets. For 5G smartphone models that are already certified before the end of the transition period, smartphone manufacturers in a position to do so are encouraged to implement 5G message (RCS) support through product system updates. RCS permits for typing indicators with read receipts, high-res images and videos, better controls for leaving or joining group conversations, as well as messaging over mobile data or Wi-Fi. The brand Google also stated that it would work with Apple on implementing RCS.
However, at the moment, it is not clear whether Apple is adding RCS to the iPhone with an upcoming iOS 17.x update or whether it will come with iOS 18 in the fall.
Thanks to “9to5Google“
