Google is working with Samsung to ensure RCS messaging works across devices

Rich Communication Services, or RCS, are designed to make texting more robust, with plenty of features compete with messaging apps out there like WhatsApp and Telegram.

But it isn’t as widespread as some companies like Google would like, and even the technologies beneath RCS can be different, making it so that some apps can’t get the same experience as another. That’s very apparent when a Samsung device owner is trying to talk to an Android Messages user, for instance, because Android Messages and Samsung Messages don’t support the same RCS technologies.

But that is going to change beginning now. Google has announced that it is working with Samsung directly to make sure both apps “will work seamlessly together and with RCS messaging”. This means that even if you’re using Android Messages to talk with someone on Samsung Messages, you should still be able to text over a Wi-Fi connection, see read receipts and typing indicators, and share more robust conversations with high-resolution videos and photos.

Google says that the two companies have worked together on some Samsung devices already, but that it will be expanding that support to a broader range of handsets from now on, starting with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Beyond that, all new Samsung phones will natively support RCS messaging, beginning with “those on a set of carriers that have or will soon launch RCS”.

This is good news for folks who prefer to have richer text conversations, especially for the Android platform in general. Samsung is still one of the leading Android device manufacturers out there, so getting RCS support on those handsets is good news for all those involved.

source: androidandme