For decades, texting has remained largely unchanged. Sure, we got MMS for blurry pictures and the occasional emoji upgrade. But at its core, SMS has been like that old flip phone your parents refuse to replace—functional, but painfully outdated. Then came RCS (Rich Communication Services), the so-called “next generation” of texting. Loaded with high-resolution media sharing, read receipts, and actual typing indicators, this is what it is (because yes, we’ve all stared at a screen wondering if someone was ghosting us).
With Apple finally bringing RCS Messaging to iOS 18 in 2024, you’d think the great messaging war—iMessage vs. Android—was finally over. But hold on. While we argue over green and blue bubbles, AI is quietly preparing to end texting as we know it.
RCS Messaging Is Booming: But Is It Too Little, Too Late?
RCS adoption has skyrocketed. Analysts predict that by 2029, global RCS traffic will hit 6 trillion messages. It was a whopping 1.5 trillion even in 2024. Apple’s adoption alone triggered a 14-fold increase in North America. Interestingly, the business world is also jumping on board. Astonishingly, RCS marketing campaigns have achieved 80% conversion rates so far, dwarfing SMS and email.
What Is RCS Chat Used For?
Think of RCS as the texting upgrade you didn’t know you needed. It turns boring old SMS into a feature-rich experience, bringing you:
- High-quality photo and video sharing (no more blurry messes)
- Read receipts (so you know when you’re being ignored)
- Typing indicators (because waiting in suspense is overrated)
- Group chats that actually work (without breaking into chaos)
- Interactive messaging for businesses (think buttons, QR codes, and rich media ads)
Basically, it’s texting that finally feels like 2025 instead of 2005.
How Does RCS Compare to iMessage?
|
Feature |
RCS |
iMessage |
|
Read Receipts |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Typing Indicators |
✅ |
✅ |
|
High-Quality Media |
✅ |
✅ |
|
End-to-End Encryption |
❌ (Limited) |
✅ Fully Encrypted |
|
Cross-Platform Support |
✅ Android & iOS 18+ |
❌ Apple-Only |
iMessage still wins on security. But RCS is bridging the gap—especially for Android users who’ve long been stuck with outdated SMS. Yet, for all its upgrades, RCS still has skeptics.
The Good: No More Pixelated Nightmares
One of RCS’s biggest wins is fixing the absolute disaster that is SMS media compression. Have you ever sent a video over SMS? It really transforms into a blurry, pixelated mess. One Reddit user summed up the frustration perfectly:
“I just hate sending any form of media to my friends and immediately having it destroyed by compression. Videos by SMS are useless trash heaps of random pixels…”
With RCS, that nightmare is over. Videos and photos finally look as they should, even between iPhones and Androids. It’s a game-changer for visual communication. RCS fixes that. But what if, in a few years, we aren’t even typing messages anymore?
The Bad: If It’s So Great, Why Isn’t Everyone Using It?
Despite its perks, RCS still isn’t seamless. Users report frequent glitches, from messages failing to send to RCS randomly reverting to SMS. One frustrated user shared their experience:
“Messages constantly failed to send and then asked me what I wanted to do. I would select send as SMS/MMS and it worked, but then a few minutes later it forgot what I wanted it to do and would ask me again.”
And then there’s the encryption issue. Unlike iMessage, which is fully encrypted by default, RCS still lacks universal end-to-end encryption. Group chats don’t even have read receipts or typing indicators yet. For a so-called upgrade, these gaps are frustrating.
The Ugly: AI Might Make This Entire Debate Pointless
Here’s the real kicker: While RCS is upgrading texting, AI is trying to eliminate it.
Why type out messages when AI chatbots can predict responses before you even think of them? Voice assistants like Google Assistant, Siri, and ChatGPT-powered bots are simply outperforming the messaging Industry. Even major brands are shifting towards AI-driven customer support instead of relying on text-based communication.
One user from an online discussion put it bluntly:
“Most of the world solved this by moving to other messaging apps a decade ago. Personally, the last time I sent an SMS was like 2011 or something like that.”
And that’s the reality. While RCS is busy trying to perfect texting, the world is already moving toward voice-first and AI-driven interactions.
Texting’s Real Competition: AI-Driven Conversations
Think about it. How often do you already use voice notes, AI assistants, or auto-suggested replies? If Google Assistant can schedule meetings and ChatGPT can write emails, do we really need to hammer out full sentences on a tiny keyboard?
“RCS makes texting feel modern,” one user noted. “But what if AI just replaces texting altogether?”
Voice-first and AI-driven messaging is creeping in. As we see, Platforms like WhatsApp and iMessage are already integrating AI-powered quick replies. We are getting away from the need for traditional back-and-forth texting. Apple and Google investing heavily in AI-powered virtual assistants. So looking deeply we can predict that RCS might just be the last upgrade before AI completely takes over.
Is Texting Gonna Really Die in 2025?
It’s true that we love to text. In the past couple of decades, we have attached a nostalgia about this medium of communication. Not everyone is convinced that AI will replace texting. Texting is simple, private, and doesn’t require speaking out loud in awkward situations. Plus, let’s be honest, sometimes we just don’t want to talk to an AI.
However, even within the texting world, RCS has hurdles to overcome. A few concerns floating around online:
- Carrier dependence: “RCS is a terrible messaging standard because it is dependent on a carrier phone bill,” one user complained.
- Security concerns: While RCS now has end-to-end encryption, early versions didn’t, making privacy advocates wary.
- Group messaging issues: As one tech reviewer pointed out: “No receipts for groups: People in group RCS chats don’t see read receipts or typing indicators… No encryption: iMessage is fully encrypted.”
So, while RCS is fixing some long-standing issues, it’s not perfect. And it may not have much time to become the dominant messaging standard before AI rewrites the rules entirely.
Wrap-Up: A Final Upgrade Before the Next Big Shift
RCS is finally making texting feel modern. It might be bridging the gap between Android and iPhone. But while we celebrate this long-overdue upgrade, AI-driven messaging and voice assistants are preparing to make traditional texting feel as outdated as dial-up internet.
Will RCS be the last great evolution of texting? Or will AI-powered conversations make even RCS feel ancient? Either way, enjoy this upgrade while it lasts. Because the way we communicate is about to change forever.
