Apple was reluctant to upgrade its messaging protocols to the new RCS standard initially, and ever since it gave in, Google claims that almost 1 billion messages are sent daily in the United States. The number is enormous, and the iPhone’s adoption has a significant role to play in this regard. Google mocked Apple, called it by name, and was hell-bent on getting the company to adopt the new standard, and there was a reason for it.
In the U.S., the iPhone is quite popular, and with it, Apple’s iMessage platform. Google wanted to create an alternative messaging service to iMessage, and the closer it could get to it was by making Apple accept RCS as the new protocol for the Messages app. This allowed non-iPhone smartphones to send and receive not just texts but media, voice notes, reactions, and a lot more. While Apple has a lot to do with the boosted adoption rate, the new RCS standard gained a massive user base back in 2023, as the service gathered over a billion monthly users. Fast forward to 2025, and RCS is being used at a whole new level, beating any previous record.
Google has come out and stated that users in the United States send more than “a billion” RCS messages daily.
Over the last few years, we’ve been focused on improving how people connect, no matter what phone they have. That’s why we helped make RCS the messaging standard for Android and iOS. Now, in the U.S. alone, there are more than a billion RCS messages sent every day (based on an average of the last 28 days). This means more people have been able to send high-quality photos and videos, and add someone to the group chat without it breaking.
While the number is bigger than before, SMS and MMS messages still take the lead in the United States, with over 6 billion messages sent on a daily basis. This is because there are still carriers in the United States that do not support the new RCS standard on the iPhone yet, which is causing the number to be a lot lower than it should be. Once the carriers update their systems with the new standards, it is certain that the adoption will skyrocket. Do you use RCS on your Android device on a daily basis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments if it feels like an upgrade over traditional SMS/MMS messages.
About the author: Ali Salman is a technology reporter for Wccftech mobile section with a specialized focus on Apple and the intellectual property that drives mobile innovation. He has cultivated a unique expertise in analyzing and deconstructing complex technology patents, translating dense legal and technical documents into clear, insightful reports on future products.
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