SMS, soon to end on all phones? What is RCS, the technology that will replace them

Text messages are almost over. MMS too. And the name of their successor is already known: the RCS, for Rich Communication Services. A more modern technology which will allow you to send messages called “ enriched “. We'll explain all that to you.

SMS/MMS modernization

“Appeared in the 1990s, SMS has revolutionized communicationby allowing the sending of short messages between mobile phones. Its ease of use and speed have enabled SMS to become a global standard,” recalls France Num, the government site for the digital transition of businesses.

Yes, but since the 2010s, the evolution of technologies and changes in habits have led to the advent of other instant messagingsuch as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, offering many more possibilities.

And alongside applications of this type, SMS/MMS have appeared, for several years, to be very limited . The texts are basic, the number of characters is limited, the images lose quality when sent… So many things that have caused them, little by little, to fall into disuse.

The GSMA (Special Mobile Association Group), which brings together mobile operators around the world, therefore designed the RCS, developed and promoted in particular by Google.SMS/MMS will not disappear completely, at least not right away : it is still possible to exchange some.

How does it work?

Very simply, the e RCS aims to replace SMS/MMSby a standardized rich messaging system.

More modern, it allows you to exchange interactive messages, multimedia streams, transfer files in different formats in real time, etc. All this via the Internet.

“RCS relies on data networks (Wi-Fi, 4G, 5G) to transmit its richer messages, where SMS pass through the traditional telephone network and can only contain simple text messages,” explains France Num.

Offering functionalities similar to messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and Signal, RCS intends to compete with them thanks to the interoperability it offers. Indeed, like SMS/MMS, you do not need a specific application to read them.

In short, the idea is to look like these other apps which have, over the years, made texting obsolete and have gradually replaced them, especially among younger generations. A bit like Apple with iMessage for iPhone (or iMac) owners.

What does that change?

Compared to SMS (Short Message Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), many features are emerging.

Among them, let us mention: the end of character limit(160 for SMS), “enriched content” (hypertext links, documents, photos, videos, gifs…), authenticated senders, group conversations, read receipts and an indication when the interlocutor is writing, the addition of events to the calendar or even location sharing.

Unlike other instant messaging applications, which may be subject to restrictions or even a ban in certain countries for example, access to RCS does not require installing a specific application on its smartphone.

For which phone?

The RCS is already available and operational for some users and will soon be the case for others. Google has already started its deployment.

It is directly integrated into compatible devices, which were estimated in December 2024 to approximately 87% of mobile phonesaccording to France Num.

It is compatible with all mobile phones running Android operating system (via Messages app). Or with 46% of the telephone base, according to Af2m, the French Association for the development of multi-operator multimedia services and uses.

The standard was finallyadopted on fairly recent iPhones.

Apple phones are now compatible, depending on the iOS version used, for subscribers of the various mobile telephone operators Free, SFR, Bouygues and soon Orange, provided that their owner has activated this option.

If it's already available on your phone, it will tell you on your traditional messages app (see screenshots below).

France Num emphasizes, however, that “some relatively old phone models are not compatiblewith the RCS”.

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