RCS Universal Profile is an industry-agreed set of features and technologies the GSMA has standardized so RCS can be widely deployed in products and services. The most recent version, RCS Universal Profile 2.7, introduced support for more advanced messaging features, such as reactions, editing of sent messages, and improved message indicators.
Apple now supports RCS on iPhone
Apple has now adopted RCS within iOS 18, replacing the long-in-the-tooth SMS system for texts to Android devices. Messages between the platforms are much improved as a result — many users were annoyed that they couldn’t share high-resolution images, for example.
However, the lack of E2EE is a glaring hole in messaging security; it means enterprise users will likely employ other messaging services for critical information. Apple’s own message system does support E2EE, but not when sharing with an Android device — hence, the colored bubbles to show you when a message is secure. You will know when you’re in an RCS chat with an Android user because you’ll see a small grey label that says RCS Message in the text field.
