The Rich Communications Standard: a new messaging standard for the iPhone and Android ecosystems based on the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act

Apple may not be doing this out of its own willingness, but the addition of RCS is a more than welcome change — especially for all of us who have had to deal with receiving poor-quality videos sent from iPhones to Androids (and vice versa), along with a patchwork of other missing features that make it less appealing to text between devices.

The change likely comes in response to regulatory pressure from the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a rule that requires major companies, such as Apple, to make their services interoperable with other platforms. In September, the European Commission began an investigation into whether iMessage should be considered a core platform service. However, Apple reportedly argued iMessage isn’t popular enough in Europe for the rules to apply, and it’s planning to file an appeal against the government’s regulation of its App Store.

RCS, or Rich Communications Standard, is a messaging service that’s a step up from the SMS and MMS messaging standards that smartphones have used since they first arrived. RCS can do more than SMS and MMS: It allows users to share higher-resolution photos and videos between their devices; it supports read receipts; and there’s more fun stuff, like the ability to easily drop emoji and GIFs into a conversation. It also adds extra layers of security that the older messaging standards lack.

The Time for SUSY to die: Anshel Sag, CIO, Product Analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy

“It’s long been time for SMS to go away,” says Anshel Sag, principal analyst at the technology analyst firm Moor Insights and Strategy. It can be sunset now that a mobile service can die. So all the viruses and all the security flaws that are due to SMS can be eliminated.”

It’s not happening immediately; Apple told 9to5Mac that support for RCS will come in the later half of next year. This timing suggests that support could arrive with the next version of iOS, which typically rolls out in September.