Back Rich Communication Services Czech Rich Communication Services Danish Rich Communication Services German Rich Communication Services Greek Servicios de comunicación enriquecida Spanish خدمات ارتباطی غنی Persian Rich Communication Services Finnish Rich Communication Services French Layanan Komunikasi yang Kaya ID Rich Communication Services Italian
 A thread of conversation and media in the Google Messages application on Android | |
| Developer | GSMA |
|---|---|
| Type | Instant messaging |
| Launch date | September 15, 2008 |
| Platform(s) | various Android smartphones, iPhone 11 and later |
| Operating system(s) | Android 5 and later, iOS 18 and later |
| Status | Active |
| Website | www |
Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a communication protocol standard between mobile telephone carriers, based on IP Multimedia Subsystem, developed and defined by the GSM Association (GSMA). It aims to be a replacement of SMS and MMS, with a text-message system that is richer and provides phonebook polling (for service discovery). It is also marketed as Advanced Messaging,[1] and was previously marketed as chat features,[2] joyn, SMSoIP,[3] Message+, and SMS+.[4]
RCS features include high-resolution photo and video sharing, file sharing, typing indicators, read receipts, operation over mobile data or Wi-Fi, and improved group chat functionality. End-to-end encryption is not a feature of RCS specified by GSMA, instead deferring to the individual messaging clients to establish encryption;[5][6][7][8] Google has added support for this feature using RCS in their own text messaging app, Google Messages.
By November 2020, RCS was available globally in Google Messages on Android, provided directly by Google if the operator does not provide RCS.[9] By 2023, there were 800 million active RCS users on Google's platform and 1.2 billion handsets worldwide supporting RCS.[10] Apple plans to support RCS in Messages with iOS 18 in the fall of 2024, at which time RCS will be supported by all major smartphone manufacturers.
- ^ "Advanced Messaging". T-Mobile Support. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ Friedman, Alan (23 February 2023). "Google drops "Chat" for "RCS" on Android". Phone Arena. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "About joyn". GSMA. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ^ "SMS+ - Telia.se". Telia.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ Bohn, Dieter (19 November 2020). "Google is rolling out end-to-end encryption for RCS in Android Messages beta". The Verge. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Omara, Emad (June 2021). Technical Paper: Messages End-to-End Encryption Overview - (PDF). gstatic.com (Report). 1.1.
- ^ "Google Messages Gets End-to-End Encryption for Group Chats on Android". PCMAG. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Li, Abner (2 December 2022). "Google Messages starts rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for group chats in beta". 9to5Google. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ "Helping you connect around the world with Messages". Google. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ MEF (21 November 2023). "RCS Business Messaging Takes Center Stage: Takeaways from RCS World 2023 - Blog". MEF. Retrieved 27 November 2023.