Google hopes new campaign will get Apple to support RCS TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Google hopes new campaign will get Apple to support RCS By Steve McCaskill published 11 August 2022 Apple joining RCS would be boost for cross-platform messaging (Image credit: Apple Inc) Audio player loading… Google is ramping up its efforts to get Apple to support the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard on iMessage after previous offers to work together on integration fell on deaf ears. With support from the mobile industry body GSMA, device manufacturers, and mobile operators, Google has been spearheading RCS as a successor to SMS and a competitor to over-the-top messaging platforms like WhatsApp. RCS works natively in vendor messaging applications, including Android Messages but Apple has not yet got on board. It launched iMessage in 2011 with iOS 8 but the application has not spread beyond Apple devices like the iPhone iPad and Mac. Apple RCS This means iMessage users wanting to communicate with non-iOS users need to send SMS texts that lack the ability to include rich media such as images, videos, and gifs. Google's new 'Get the message' campaign highlights the problems that many users have with a lack of interoperability. This includes broken group chats, a lack of multimedia support, and the inability to communicate if there is no Wi-Fi connection.Read more > Android really wants to get Apple going on RCS iMessage integration (opens in new tab) > These are the business SIM-only deals (opens in new tab) > What is RCS, and why is Google asking Apple to repeatedly embrace it? (opens in new tab) "It's not about the colour of the bubbles," reads the campaign website. (opens in new tab) It's the blurry videos, broken group chats, missing read receipts and typing indicators, no texting over Wi-Fi, and more. These problems exist because Apple refuses to adopt modern texting standards when people with iPhones and Android phones text each other. "Apple turns texts between iPhones and Android phones into SMS and MMS, out-of-date technologies from the 90s and 00s. But Apple can adopt RCS-the modern industry standard-for these threads instead. Solving the problem without changing your iPhone to iPhone conversations and making messaging better for everyone."Here are the best mobile phone deals (opens in new tab) Steve McCaskillSteve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media. See more Mobile phones news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1You may not have to sell a body part to afford the Nvidia RTX 4090 after all2Blizzard made me explain Overwatch 2 smurfing to my mum for nothing3Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month4Google's AI editing tricks are making Photoshop irrelevant for most people5One of the world's most popular programming languages is coming to Linux1Best laptops for designers and coders 2The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me3Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie4Microsoft Teams users are using it for a really bad reason, so stop now5iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)