APPLE has finally announced RCS support for iPhones, giving customers eight new features when texting Android-owning friends.
After years of waiting, the Silicon Valley giant has announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) today that the new features will be rolling out soon.
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RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is the successor to SMS and MMS.
In October last year, Apple made the surprise bulletin that RCS support would be coming to iPhones sometime in 2024.
It will essentially make iPhone-to-Android texting much more like iPhone-to-iPhone texting via iMessage.
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RCS support is set to bring eight iMessage-style features to texts between iPhone and Android users, including:
- Higher-resolution photos and videos
- Audio messages
- Typing indicators
- Read receipts
- Wi-Fi messaging between iPhones and Android devices
- Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users
- Improved encryption compared to SMS
- Share location with people inside text threads
The ability to send messages over Wi-Fi will save iPhone owners money while travelling.
It may also cut out the inconvenience of using social media apps like WhatsApp and Facebook to reach out to Android owners pals while abroad.
These features are already available for blue-bubble iMessages in iPhone-to-iPhone conversations.
However, they are have not been available when texting Android devices from an iPhone.
Android has supported RCS for more than a decade.
Samsung's first RCS capable devices were launched in Europe in 2012, and have been in the US since 2015.
Text Effects
New text effects are also on the way, allowing iPhone owners to emphasise texts or bring emojis to life with new movements.
Unlike animations - which shower confetti on your screen or make an entire message bubble multiply - text effects can be placed on specific words in a message.
iPhone owners will be able to make words - and emoji - buzz and shake in iMessage.
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Reminders
Apple is also adding a nifty Reminders features to iMessage.
This will allow iPhone owners to be reminded of iMessages sat in their inbox, and even schedule texts like you do your emails.
Formatting
There are also new text formatting options coming.
Apple is giving people to option to use italics, bold font, and even underscores to emphasise certain words.