Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Apple
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Apple
Cloud Computing
Department of Commerce
Crypto
Image Credits:Apple
go-ahead
EVs
Fintech
fundraise
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
ironware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
concealment
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
television
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
The biggest update come to Apple ’s iMessage and its Messages app in iOS 18 are n’t itsAI emoji , Genmoji , or even the ability to sendtexts via artificial satellite . It ’s the power to finally , finallyschedule message to send at a previous date and clip , as well as support forRCS , the next - gen message standard and replacement for SMS that will make texting with Android common people much less painful . These update arenow available in iOS 18 ’s public beta , which just opened up this week .
Though forget amid aslate of AI announcementsand other user interface tweaks atWWDC 2024 , these messaging features will have a important impact on how people pass along every day .
For years , consumer demand for scheduling message has run developer to create complicated and cumbrous workarounds , like apps that cue youvia push notifications to broadcast a text , for example , or root that only worked on jailbroken iPhones . The new iOS will offer the power to schedule your messages to be commit later as build - in functionality .
The feature only got a abbreviated mention at WWDC . In Apple’spress release , it was announced in the same time as the Tapbacks climb , which has expanded to include support for any emoji or sticker in iOS 18 . Clearly , Apple does n’t think “ Send Later ” is a lineament worth spending much time on . But for anyone who operate a business from their iPhone — or the great unwashed who only remember the important things they call for to text while put in bed at 3 a.m. — the Modern scheduling feature article will be a much - welcomed plus . Beyond simply make lifetime easier , like when you require to text someone across time zones without disturbing them , Apple ’s screenshot suggests you could also expend the lineament to see to it you do n’t miss send someone a birthday greeting .
Of even greater grandness , however , is the Messages app ’s support for RCS , the messaging banner and replacement for SMS that will treat many of the grievance of texting those Android users with a unripened bubble .
For a foresightful time , Google has pep up andcampaigned for Apple to adopt the standard , which would improve the communication experience between Android and iOS users . The Wall Street Journalran a report onthe fighting over the green bubble and how blue bubblesare a must - have for U.S. adolescent . While EUregulators at last decidedthat iMessage was not pop enough to be coerce to open up and become interoperable with other message services , the additional examination likely influenced Apple ’s decision here — as didU.S. lawgiver ’ interestin Apple ’s closure of Beeper , a third - party app that brought iMessage to Android users .
Because of Apple ’s longtime refusal to add support for RCS , texting with Android users meant no type indicators or read receipts , broken mathematical group chats and blurry photos and videos . It also meant that messages would not be terminate - to - end encrypted as they were on iMessage .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
regrettably for Android substance abuser , Messages station via RCS wo n’t be relieve of the green house of cards swearword on Apple devices according to screenshots on its web site , which show the characteristic in action . Instead , the text box indicates in a light grey typeface that your texts with someone livelihood both “ schoolbook subject matter + RCS , ” while the schoolbook themselves are still green .
However , takings that make the Messages app a broken experience for Apple ’s customers will be addressed , it seems , as Apple says it will support the standard later this class . The news , of class , only got a abbreviated reference in Apple ’s imperativeness loss , where it noted that RCS would allow for “ richer medium and more reliable mathematical group messaging compared to SMS and MMS . ”
Earlier report card indicated Appleintends to act upon with the GSMAto add support for end - to - end encoding in the Universal Profile for RCS , but wo n’t support E2EE out of the gate . That ’s likely why there was no mention of encrypted electronic messaging in Apple ’s promulgation of RCS .
This account was originally publish June 11 and was update to reflect that the iOS 18 public genus Beta is live .
