Apple announces surprise adoption of RCS messaging, 'the new SMS' Android-maker Google spent years pushing for
In a surprise move, technology giant Apple says 2024 will see it adopt the RCS messaging standard that aims to eventually replace SMS, allowing for improved messaging between smartphones running different operating systems, such as Google's Android. 
The announcement comes after years of lobbying and publicity campaigns by the likes of Google and fellow Apple competitor Samsung, as well as mobile carriers that are part of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA).
Those groups have blamed Apple's previous lack of RCS adoption for things such as low-resolution media in text messages, broken group chats and no read receipts or typing indicators when using SMS or MMS messaging between Apple and non-Apple devices.
Apple's announcement also comes as EU antitrust regulators investigate whether the company's iMessage service — which is used by billions of Apple devices — should have to comply with the rules of its new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which could compel big tech companies to make their platforms interoperable.
In a statement, Apple says iMessage will work alongside RCS — which was first released in 2008, and stands for Rich Communication Services — when it is implemented through a software update and supported by carriers in 2024.
The company says SMS and MMS will continue to be supported as well.
"Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association," Apple says.
"We believe the RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS.
"This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users."
Apple confirmed to ABC News that RCS messages would remain green in colour when displayed on Apple devices, much like SMS messages.
The company said it decided to implement RCS because of better interoperability with other devices and improvements over SMS and MMS, including the ability to let users share their locations within messages.
Google has welcomed Apple's decision.
In a statement, a Google spokesperson says the company is "happy to see Apple take their first step today by coming on board to embrace RCS".
Google says Apple should ditch SMS messaging.
"We welcome Apple's participation in our ongoing work with GSMA to evolve RCS and make messaging more equitable and secure, and look forward to working with them to implement this on iOS in a way that works well for everyone," they say.
"Everyone deserves to communicate with each other in ways that are modern and secure, no matter what phone they have."
On social media platform X, Google's Android account called Apple's move a "huge step" to making messaging better across platforms.
A Google engineer described RCS as "the new SMS" in an official blog post for the company's publicity campaign in 2022, and touted the platform's encryption standards.
Some of the world's largest tech companies are collaborating to kill off the password.
"It enables things like high-resolution photo and video sharing, read receipts, emoji reactions, better security and privacy with end-to-end encryption and more," the engineer said.
"Everyone should be able to pick up their phone and have a secure, modern messaging experience. Anyone who has a phone number should get that, and that's been lost a little bit because we're still finding ourselves using outdated messaging systems."
Apple declined to comment when contacted by ABC News in 2022 about those statements, but it now says that while RCS Universal Profile has some improvements over SMS and MMS, it does not support strong end-to-end encryption.
The company says it wants to work with the GSMA to strengthen the encryption used by the RCS specification.
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