- Apple confirmed it will bring RCS support to iPhones.
- This will enable a better messaging experience between iPhone and Android users.
- It also questions the need for Nothing Chats, an app that lets you chat with iMessage users.
Nothing launched a new messaging app ‘Nothing Chats’ earlier this week. The highlight of this app is that it lets Phone (2) users text iMessage users, and have the same blue bubbles experience. Shortly after, Apple confirmed it will bring RCS (Rich Communication Services) to iPhones next year. This would make it easier for Android users to have a better messaging experience with iPhone users. It also questions the need of Nothing Chats now that RCS is coming to iMessage.
RCS on iPhones: what does it mean
- Before we get to that, let’s talk about how RCS in iPhones makes a huge difference for cross-platform messaging. RCS basically turns your simple SMS/MMS messaging experience into a “rich” one with smart features such as sharing full-res photos and videos, read receipts, and more.
- It’s something like WhatsApp but on your regular messaging app. Google Messages already supports this, and it’s been wanting Apple to do adopt it as well for iMessage.
- Soon iPhone and Android users will be able to message each other properly without having to resort to the old SMS style. This, however, does not end the blue bubble-green bubble debate as that won’t change even with RCS.
- iMessage will continue to remain a separate service exclusive to iPhones, and not enable any cross-platform messaging there.
Carl Pei on iPhone RCS support and Nothing Chats
Nothing CEO Carl Pei posted on X (Twitter) about Apple’s decision saying that it’s “Good for consumers, competition, and innovation.” Pei also responded to a question about Nothing Chats still being in the pipeline. Pei said, “Yeah while this is great, it doesn’t solve the blue bubble vs. green bubble issue.”
This is one feature that Nothing Chats has, and it definitely does bring the iMessage experience to Android. But the app is also limited in terms of availability with a release scheduled only for the US, Canada, UK and EU on Friday. And it’s only for Nothing Phone (2). It isn’t clear if Nothing will expand this to more devices in the future.
But even if you don’t have a Nothing phone, you will be able to chat with your iPhone buddies better by next year.
