It’s Time For Us to Move on From the Green Bubble Drama With iOS 18

Like each iPhone users, I person my bluish friends and my greenish friends. For acold excessively long, the greenish friends person been isolated to a little viable texting protocol. Starting today, the reign of SMS panic is over. With iOS 18, Apple has—reluctantly—come to the broadside of RCS communications. It’s been excessively long. The scars tally deep, but we present person to participate a clip of healing. 

Now that Rich Communication Services, AKA RCS, is modular connected the iOS 18 Messages app betwixt iPhone and Android, you’ll person a overmuch cleaner texting experience. You’ll inactive spot your Android friends popular up successful greenish bubbles, portion Apple users volition inactive look successful blue. The quality present is that your friends and you volition spot work receipts. You tin alteration these receipts for each idiosyncratic interaction arsenic well. 

There volition beryllium increasing pains. I’ve already encountered issues wherever my messages are sent arsenic RCS, but my little tech-savvy person can’t fig retired wherefore their older Android instrumentality lone sends via SMS oregon wherefore my messages support flipping backmost and forth. This has been the lawsuit since RCS went unrecorded successful the iOS 18 beta, truthful determination are going to beryllium immoderate hiccups that we anticipation Apple volition benignant out. At slightest present you tin spot if idiosyncratic is typing an RCS connection successful the Messages substance box.

But the effort is truthful worthy it. The play has been ongoing for truthful agelong that we person to admit the tiny things that adhd up to a amended texting experience. The small wiggling ellipses typing notification tells my friends I attraction capable astir them to substance back. There are work receipts arsenic well. Then there’s thing arsenic elemental arsenic my member and I sending immoderate non-blurry pics from our clip astatine the Renaissance Faire backmost and distant to each other. Then again, we usually usage Facebook Messenger for that.

We person to admit that iOS users volition person a antithetic acquisition texting their iPhone friends than those connected Android. The mentation of RCS Apple is utilizing is not encrypted, dissimilar iMessage. For that, you should effort WhatsApp oregon Signal—the second if you worth privateness supra each else. 

But sometimes, you conscionable request your basal texting app to work. I nary longer person to interest astir the radical chat with my parents, lone sending via SMS oregon MMS protocols. Just 2 years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook told a reporter, “Buy your ma an iPhone,” erstwhile helium complained that his parents couldn’t spot the videos helium sent them. 

The CEO’s effect is indicative of the contempt the institution has shown to users and regulators. The U.S. DOJ complained that non-iPhone users acquisition “exclusion and blame” owed to the greenish bubble play successful its ongoing antitrust lawsuit. Apple was truthful reluctant to instrumentality this measurement for truthful agelong that it took the European Union’s Digital Markets Act to yet get the Cupertino tech elephantine to shave a fewer inches disconnected its walled garden. 

Apple made the RCS announcement astatine its past WWDC event with a azygous condemnation connection aft talking up iOS 18 improvements. As should beryllium wide by now, you’ll inactive person a amended clip texting different iPhone users connected Messages. New capabilities are coming to iMessage, including emoji Tapback (something Android has had for a agelong time) and sticker reactions, which enactment amended erstwhile sending to iPhone than Android. Android users volition person a “[person] reacted [emoji]” connection for Tapback responses. iPhone users tin present docket messages for aboriginal times and nonstop larger-size images with little compression. There’s besides the enactment to nonstop SMS messages implicit outer if you’re utilizing an iPhone 14 oregon later.

We can’t linger connected the contented anymore. Perhaps 1 day, Apple volition judge a mentation of RCS with encryption, but we can’t clasp our breath. This is the caller presumption quo, and texters volition conscionable person to admit the favoritism betwixt instrumentality ecosystems.