7 options RCS ought to steal from Apple iMessage

Blue bubbles or inexperienced bubbles? Folks have not cared this a lot about bubbles since Michael Jackson. The very fact is that it is nonetheless the case that messages despatched between iPhone customers use blue bubbles, and messages despatched from different gadgets use inexperienced bubbles. After all, on Android, you may select whatever color bubbles you want.

Bubbles aren’t the one subject with messaging between Android and iPhone, nonetheless. Sending photos could be problematic, learn receipts could also be lacking, there is not any indication of when somebody is typing, and group chats can turn into a nightmare.

Issues might quickly be altering for the higher, nonetheless. In a shock transfer, Apple introduced that it will be bringing support for RCS messages to the iPhone by the tip of 2024. It will imply that options similar to learn receipts, location sharing, and file switch can be doable between iPhones and Android.

RCS is a messaging protocol that is an enormous step up from the SMS and MMS protocols which can be at the moment used to ship info between iPhone and Android gadgets. It is nonetheless lacking some key options which can be doable when messaging between iPhones, nonetheless. Listed below are among the key options that RCS ought to steal from Apple iMessage.

1 Unsending messages

Take again errors, should you’re quick sufficient

We have all despatched messages by mistake. The message my buddy despatched to ‘Mother’ as a substitute of ‘Mark’ continues to be talked about to today. It is easy to pick out the incorrect recipient and ship a message that undoubtedly is not meant for the one who receives it.

In Apple’s Messages app, you might have the choice to unsend a message inside two minutes of sending it. The message is faraway from the recipient’s system and changed with some textual content stating that the message was unsent. Offered they did not examine their iPhone earlier than you hit unsend, they will by no means see the content material of the message.

RCS would not at the moment embody a characteristic to recall messages on this manner. It is one thing that is saved me a ton of embarrassment on many events and would undoubtedly be welcome in RCS.

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2 Enhancing messages

Repair these typos earlier than they’re learn

On iPhone, you may edit your messages as much as 5 occasions inside quarter-hour of sending them. The message will present that it has been edited, and the recipient can faucet the small Edited tag beneath the message to see the earlier model. In case you’d reasonably they did not see the earlier model, you will must unsend it as a substitute.

Enhancing can be a characteristic that is at the moment lacking in RCS and it is one thing that I exploit regularly. It’s now doable to edit RCS messages in the Google Messages app, however this is not one thing that is doable with all messaging apps that assist RCS.

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3 Inline replies

See related messages in a single thread

In case you use WhatsApp, you will be accustomed to the idea of quoting somebody’s message whenever you reply. It is a fast and straightforward solution to make it clear precisely which message you are replying to in order that there is not any confusion.

Apple’s iMessage consists of the power to answer to messages however takes this one step additional by letting you see a number of replies from all events in a single thread, with every other messages that weren’t a part of the identical thread hidden from view. It is a good way to concentrate on a particular matter inside your messages, with out different messages cluttering up the thread.

Whereas it is doable to make use of reply to a particular message in some apps that assist RCS, there’s at the moment no assist for reply threads. It is a actually helpful characteristic that will be an incredible addition to RCS.

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4 Mentions in group chats

Notify the individual your message is for

RCS does provide assist for group chats, permitting you to create a single dialog that features a number of completely different individuals. Nonetheless, one subject with group chats is that it is not all the time straightforward to inform who’s speaking to who. It is also typically the case that the individual you actually wish to learn the message is the one one who hasn’t seen it but.

Within the Apple Messages app, you should use the @ image to say particular members of the chat. Not solely does this make it clear who your message is aimed toward, however it should additionally ship an alert to the person who you point out, letting them know that they have been talked about within the chat.

Mentions aren’t at the moment doable utilizing RCS and it is a characteristic that may be a actual profit, particularly for group chats that include lots of people.

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5 Finish-to-end encryption

Maintaining your messages personal

One main good thing about blue bubble iMessages between Apple gadgets is that they use end-to-end encryption. Because the identify suggests, because of this your messages are encrypted after they depart your system and are solely decrypted after they attain the recipient’s system. Anybody who intercepts the messages in transit will not have the ability to learn them or see any hooked up media. Even Apple cannot see what your iMessages say.

RCS would not assist end-to-end encryption by default. It’s doable to use RCS with apps such as Google Messages that may add end-to-end encryption to your messages, however not all purchasers that assist RCS will achieve this, that means that you just’re not assured to have end-to-end encryption when sending messages to different gadgets. Apple has additionally stated that it will not use any end-to-end encryption on prime of RCS. Including end-to-end encryption for all RCS messages would make it a far safer solution to talk.

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6 Invisible Ink

Disguise your messages from prying eyes

There’s one main flaw with end-to-end encryption; your messages are unencrypted at both finish. Clearly until this was the case, you would not have the ability to learn any of your messages, and the complete course of could be pointless. But it surely does imply that your messages are vulnerable to prying eyes, each in your cellphone and the telephones of any recipients. If somebody is wanting over your shoulder whenever you learn a message, that end-to-end encryption counts for nothing.

Invisible Ink hides your messages behind a dancing line of tiny dots. The message itself is totally hidden and is barely revealed whenever you faucet the message. For longer messages, solely a part of the message can be revealed whenever you faucet it, too. It signifies that if anybody is wanting over your shoulder, they will not have the ability to inform what the message says. You’ll be able to then wait till you are alone to faucet the message and browse its contents. A characteristic of this sort would undoubtedly improve the privateness of RCS messaging, one thing that other messaging apps have been focusing on.

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7 Background animations

Add a contact of magic to messages

This final one is a little bit of a gimmick and never one thing that is going to make or break RCS, however it’s a good characteristic, nonetheless. Apple’s Messages app features a number of display screen results that fill the complete background of the messaging window with an animated impact. When the recipient reads the message, the animation will seem on their iPhone.

You’ll be able to select so as to add these animations to your message manually, however a few of them will routinely seem whenever you kind particular messages. For instance, should you ship one other iPhone use a message saying “Blissful Birthday” they will see a bunch of balloons float throughout the app window after they open the message. Ship “Blissful New 12 months” and also you get an analogous factor, however with fireworks. Ship “Congratulation” and confetti explodes over the display screen.

It isn’t one thing you are seemingly to make use of fairly often, but it surely’s nonetheless a characteristic that folks utilizing RCS may need that they had.

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FAQ

Q: What’s RCS?

Wealthy Communication Companies (RCS) is a message protocol that improves upon the frequent SMS and MMS protocols which have been utilized in textual content messaging for many years. As a substitute of sending info over the mobile community, like SMS, RCS makes use of Wi-Fi or cellular information to transmit the message and its contents. This permits RCS to supply extra options than are doable with SMS and MMS.

Q: What characteristic does RCS assist?

RCS helps a variety of options that make it extra appropriate with iMessage, together with:

• Longer messages
• Group chats
• File switch
• Typing indicators
• Learn receipts
• Reactions
• Content material sharing
• Geolocation sharing

Q: When is RCS coming to the iPhone?

There is not any confirmed date as of but. When Apple first introduced RCS assist in 2023, it stated it will be coming ‘subsequent yr’ so we must always see it occur by the tip of 2024. One of many extra seemingly situations is that it seems as a part of iOS 18 which can most likely be launched in September 2024.