RCS , orRich Communication Serviceswas supposed to be the messaging protocol that banish SMS to the dark ages and upgrade today ’s texting experience with innovative features like read gross , better multimedia communion , style big grapheme limit , and more .
Back when the SMS communications protocol was follow through on early cell phones , its God Almighty did n’t really envision the kind of modern networks and debauched information speeds we have today . They were working circumscribed bandwidth and had to take into history components like T9 keypad while also ensuring compatibility with equipment like pagers , which is also why send images and videos over SMS is typically a huge pain in the ass .
However , with RCS , texting , or chatting as Google would have you call it , offers eccentric boundary of up to 8,000 ( instead of 160 ) , cross - platform electronic messaging ( for when you desire to air texts via your microcomputer or another machine ) , and supporting for audio messages , sending text edition and images / videos over wi - fi instead of cellular connection , and enhanced radical chat functionality . fundamentally , RCS allows texts to behave more like modern messaging apps such as WhatsApp , Facebook Messenger , and Google Hangouts .
Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)
But the problem for RCS is that after grease one’s palms Jibe Mobile and championing the RCS Universal Profile so that it would be adopted by theGSMA , Google made the mistake of leave the implementation of RCS to immune carrier and French telephone Almighty . This reverse the rollout of RCS into a splintered raft , because depending on your machine , what flattop it ’s on , and if you purchase it unlocked or not , it ’s often incredibly difficult to have it away if your telephone set or favorite texting app supports RCS .
This is an issue Google is very cognizant of , and in a recent appearance on theVergecast , Google senior frailty president Hiroshi Lockheimer even admitted that he has been frustrated by the hurrying at which carriers have been rolling out RCS and that “ it involve to get good . ”
That brings us to now , where in an interview withthe Verge , Cartesian product manager for Android Messages Sanaz Ahari announced that Google is going to step in straight and declare oneself RCS as an opt - in feature in theMessages app , starting in the U.K. and France later on this month .
This is what you’re looking for to see if RCS is working.Screenshot: (Google)
This means that instead of await for carrier to implement RCS , Google is going to enable RCS for user who opt - in , and will even use Google server to help relay RCS messages from one gadget to another . And after Google enables RCS in the U.K. and France , it hopes to bring RCS to more country later this year .
As far as data privacy go , Google says that it will blue-pencil any messages that perish through its servers . However , because RCS currently does not sustain end - to - end encryption , that still means your texts are n’t completely safe from any tough thespian that superintend to intercept your messages . That allege , there are no expert limitations that prevent RCS from getting end - to - final stage encryption in the futurity , though Google will have to push the GSMA to concord to add up that specification to the RCS universal profile .
In the meantime , if you ’re wonder if the Messages app on your Android phone is using RCS , all you have to do is depend in the text box and see if it say “ text ” or “ chat . ” If it tell “ chat ” then congrats , you ’re using RCS . Although , just because text between you and someone else back up RCS , that does n’t hold dead on target for all of your substance , as RCS require devices on both ends of the conversation to support the RCS Universal Profile .
Unfortunately , for us here in the U.S. , there ’s still not a cleared timeline for when Google will turn on RCS in Messages , so here ’s hoping your toter is already on the case .
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