iPhones and Androids are starting to get along

Like Anne Hathaway at the start of The Princess Diaries, messaging between iPhone and Android users is about to receive a major glow-up. Apple announced yesterday that its phones will support a next-gen messaging standard called RCS – the same one used by most Android phones – starting later next year.

RCS aims to replace traditional SMS/MMS text messaging between iPhones and Androids with a system offering more robust chat features, like Wi-Fi messaging, read receipts, higher-resolution photos/videos, and emoji message reactions. RCS messages are also encrypted, while SMS/MMS messages are not.

• Google, Samsung, and many Android users have called on Apple to support RCS for years, but the tech giant had previously resisted due to iMessage’s ecosystem lock-in effect.

✋ Yes, but: Apple still isn’t opening up iMessage to non-Apple devices, meaning the age-old debate that’s divided friend groups, torn apart families, and sowed division throughout the world – aka green bubble vs. blue bubble – will remain for users texting between Android and iPhone.

👀 Looking ahead… It’s unclear exactly which RCS features will be supported on iPhones and how the system will be implemented, with Apple declining to comment any further than its initial announcement.