The blue chat bubble means RCS is on, but I'm still waiting on the lock icon that's supposed to follow it.

Since Google's push to RCS standards in 2019, Android's Messages app by Google offers great in-house features. After you've opened Google Messages and enabled RCS chats, you'll find typing indicators, ...

RCS is a developed communication protocol that modernizes text messaging using a user’s mobile data plan to send text messages via SMS or MMS. Google began promoting widespread use of RCS in 2019, ...

Editor's Note: Verizon is warning an RCS texting change is in store for some users in 2025. Our latest story can be found here. Our original story continues below. If you've seen the letters RCS while ...

As a long-time staple on Pixel phones that recently took over for Samsung Messages in the U.S., Google Messages is the closest thing we have to a default texting app on Android. It has built-in RCS ...

Taylor worked with AP from 2018 to 2025, most recently as Google Editor. Google's been a big proponent of RCS, the standard that modernizes text messaging with features like high-quality media, typing ...

The Clock is Ticking for Samsung Messages: Move Everything Over Before the Shutdown ...

The newer form of text marketing, rich communication services, delivers more engagement from shoppers but a richer price tag ...

Person holding an iPhone displaying the Apple logo on its startup screen. Apple is preparing encrypted RCS support for iPhone, a change that could make messaging with Android users more secure and ...