The Future Is Here
We may earn a commission from links on this page

Android Messaging Joins the 21st Century, Here's How to Turn It On

Image for article titled Android Messaging Joins the 21st Century, Here's How to Turn It On
Photo: Getty Images

Say bye to SMS. As of last week, Google finished rolling out RCS messaging on Android phones in the U.S.—meaning, it’s available regardless of your carrier.

To recap, RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a type of messaging protocol that does a hell of a lot more than basic SMS. For starters, it has an 8,000 character limit compared to SMS’s 160, supports read receipts, and can use wifi to send messages. It’s more like Apple’s iMessage or more modern messaging apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.

Advertisement
Advertisement

That said, RCS isn’t exactly new. Google’s been making waves about it replacing SMS since at least 2016. Unfortunately, carriers have been slow to roll out RCS as network and software updates are needed to make it work. A few months ago, Google said it was speeding up the process by directly letting users opt-in. At the time there wasn’t a clear timeline, but everyone in the U.S. should be able to do so now. (International users might have to wait a bit longer, depending on where they live.)

Advertisement

To enable RCS, all you need to do is have the latest versions of the Google Messages app and Carrier Services. If RCS isn’t enabled by default, then you should receive a “Do more with Messages” notification that will come with the option to toggle it on.

There are still a few caveats. While you will be able to reap the benefits of RCS, it only works if the person you’re messaging also has RCS enabled. Similarly, RCS messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted just yet, so if privacy is a major priority for you, you might be better off sticking with Signal or Telegram. Also, unlike Apple’s iMessage, you can’t sync your messages across multiple Android devices. That said, it’s still light years better than SMS.