At one time, we used SMS to write short text messages. After the advent of instant messengers, SMS began to quickly lose popularity, because messengers like Messenger or WhatsApp allow much more – we can use them to send photos, videos, animated GIFs, emoji, or even any files from your phone or computer.

This is where RCS comes in – a new messaging standard that replaces SMS expands the capabilities of the text messaging system and makes it more secure. RCS is the brainchild of Google and was presented back in 2007, and a year later it was approved by the GSMA.

RCS has been operating for some time. The change may not have been visible at first glance, but each of us one day realized that when writing an SMS we can add emojis, animated GIFs, or more people to the conversation.

RCS – how does it work?

Overnight, the SMS application in your Android smartphone gained new functionalities or simply was replaced by a new one – just with RCS support.

While a classic SMS message could be up to 160 characters long, an RCS message can be up to 100 MB long. It is also possible to track the status of the message – whether it has been sent and delivered. Fancy a group chat? No problem. The data is transmitted via the Internet.

Another excellent feature of RCS is protection against spam and fraud. The system can warn us of a potentially dangerous message or sender, but we can also report suspicious numbers to the system.

RCS can also boast of another functionality, namely end-to-end encryption, which SMS messages simply did not have.

To use RCS, simply download the latest version of Google Messages, although you may experience issues with operation on older phones. If the number you are writing to does not have RCS enabled, or the operator does not allow it, the message will be delivered as a regular SMS. If you’re using another text messaging app, see if RCS is available in its settings.

The RCS only works on Android smartphones. So far, iPhones do not support it – as Google regularly reminds us. Of course, however, similar functions are performed by the iMessage messenger.