Tech giant Apple is preparing to all but retire old-school text messaging in some of the most significant updates to its Messages app in years with iOS 26.4 coming this spring.
The new iOS update will expand Apple’s support for Rich Communication Services (RCS) in a move to remove the limitations of traditional SMS.
The update aims to create a modern cross-platform messaging experience that aligns with modern communication practices.
RCS is said to be the telecom industry’s long-awaited successor to SMS and MMS, offering features that users expect from modern messaging apps like WhatsApp. It facilitates high-quality media sharing, read receipts, write indicators and reliable delivery over Wi-Fi or mobile data.
One notable point for iPhone users is that RCS bridges the gap between Apple’s iMessage ecosystem and Android devices, replacing the unreliable “green bubble” SMS experience with a native chat experience.
“End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we’re pleased to have helped lead a cross-industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile,” Apple said.
This means that encrypted conversations previously limited to iMessage-to-iMessage chats will now be converted to iPhone-to-Android texts, with privacy protection ensured across platforms.
iOS 26.4 has been reported to bring a number of functional improvements that were missing in previous RCS implementations. Features such as inline replies, message editing, message sending and fuller reactions are sure to enhance the user experience and bring Apple’s RCS offering in line with its competitors.
These developments point to a clear shift in Apple’s approach to cross-platform communications, as internal beta builds indicate active collaboration with mobile networks to support this transition.
