Google has officially adopted the next-gen “RCS” text messaging protocol, which doesn’t really matter right now if you don’t use its Google Fi service. However, the company is also pushing every single carrier to move to RCS from SMS—a much-needed upgrade—and that will have a significant impact on your texting, selfie-sending, and GIF-blasting going forward.
What is RCS?
RCS (short for Rich Communication Services) is the next iteration of carrier text messaging technology, but it’s actually been around in one form or another since it was first proposed in 2007. The originally agreed-upon RCS standard included a number of enhancements over SMS messaging:
8,000 character limits per message (versus SMS’s 160 limit)
Supports read receipts and displays when the other person is typing
Web-based chat and cross-platform message syncing
Uses WiFi and mobile data to send messages
Group chat
Native audio messaging support
End-to-end message encryption
While those features might look like standard offerings in today’s most popular messaging apps, they’re a massive upgrade over SMS—basically, bringing an iMessage-like service to the ancient format.
Unfortunately, adoption of RCS by mobile carriers, developers, and phone manufacturers hasn’t really taken off due to the network and software updates required to implement it. Since RCS recently received an enthusiastic backing from Google—mighty arbiter of Android OS, a phone manufacturer, and a service provider itself—change is coming, but Google’s version of RCS differs a bit from the original RCS.
Introducing the “Chat” Protocol
You may have seen Google’s new text-messaging technology referred to as “Chat.” Despite the name sounding like a dedicated app, Chat is actually the RCS protocol developed by Google in cooperation with several other manufacturers and carriers (and was previously known as “Universal Profile”). It’s basically identical to the original RCS, save for one major difference: Chat does not support end-to-end encryption.
The lack of end-to-end encryption is a glaring omission, but it’s not that surprising. Google has been axing or repurposing its first-party messaging apps with encryption, including Allo and Hangouts, and instead suggesting that users migrate to the the Chat-based Android Messages app. Additionally, Android Messages will soon be the standard texting app on all Google phones and many other Android devices.
How to Use RCS
In order to send and receive RCS messages, all participants in the conversation must be using:
An RCS-supported phone on an RCS-supported network(s)
The same Chat/Universal Profile-based texting app
If either requirement is missing, your messages will be converted to SMS instead.
First off, here are where the major carriers currently stand on RCS messaging:
Google Fi: Full RCS support. All Pixel phone models, Moto G6, LG V35, LG G7, and Android One Moto X phones on the Google Fi network use the Chat-based Android messages as the default texting app. Other android phones on Google Fi’s network must manually download the app.
Verizon: RCS support for Pixel 3, rolling out RCS to more phones in early 2019
T-Mobile: RCS support on Samsung Galaxy S7 and S8, and Note 8 and 9 handsets
Sprint: Full RCS support
AT&T: Confirmed future RCS support, but not yet rolled out
In addition, GSMA has disclosed that 68 other companies playing in the telecommunications space have agreed to support Chat/Universal Profile, with many more expected.
If you need to know whether your carrier supports RCS messaging—or your favorite app—we recommend bookmarking this handy guide that a number of Redditors from /r/UniversalProfile have been working on. It’s a great way to see, at a glance, what you need to do to get RCS messaging working on your device/carrier/app combination (if it does).
Finally, a quick word on Apple’s RCS support. iOS cannot currently support RCS. However, iMessage includes many of the same features as RCS, but (obviously) only works when you’re texting between Apple devices. Apple has recently signaled an interest in future RCS support, but the company’s timeline for rolling it out (if it does) is anyone’s guess right now.
Updated February 4, 2019 - This article has been updated from its original version, which incorrectly labeled Universal Profile as the name for the original RCS protocol.