Last November, after years of lobbying from Google and other companies, Apple finally relented to support RCS on the iPhone. RCS brings rich text and other additional features akin to iMessage for messages sent between any devices that support it, regardless of their manufacturer.
At the time, Apple only mentioned that RCS would "land on iPhone later next year," meaning "later in 2024." Today, Google has provided a more specific release timeframe: "fall 2024." This sounds a lot like a strong hint that RCS will debut with iOS 18, set to be released on June 10, but will only be available alongside the iPhone 16 series later this fall.
While Google didn't explicitly state this, it's an easy conclusion to draw, especially considering that rumors back in January essentially said the same thing. This is likely the most accurate information we can get.
The screenshot above is from Google's new website, which introduces the "Messages" app with RCS support.
Last year, Google announced new features for RCS, such as personal profiles, Photomoji, and improved voice note audio quality, citing 1 billion monthly RCS users.
As Google partially unveils the iPhone RCS compatibility timeline, the U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing legal action against Apple for antitrust behavior. It's worth noting that this lawsuit lists the "green bubble" as one of the issues affecting user safety.
However, even with RCS support, nothing would stop Apple from continuing to differentiate bubble colors in its Messages app, with blue representing iMessage and green representing RCS. So don't expect this situation to change with the rollout of RCS on the iPhone.
