The company has resisted supporting rich communication services (RCS) on its hardware for years, causing a rift between its iMessage users and others dubbed the “green bubblers.”
However, that debate may finally be winding down as Apple says it will add iPhone support for the RCS messaging standard used by most Android phones.
To be clear, though, the company is not opening up iMessage to their platforms. Instead, it’s simply replacing SMS and MMS messages that currently operate separately from iMessage when available.
It should lead to a better messaging experience between iPhones and Androids.