Source: TechCrunch
After years of public pressure, Apple has agreed to support RCS (Rich Communication Services) with end-to-end encryption, closing a major interoperability gap that has fragmented the 2 billion Android and iPhone users globally. This resolves a genuine user experience problem—green vs. blue text bubbles, inability to share high-quality media, and lack of read receipts across platforms—while also addressing regulatory scrutiny in the EU and elsewhere about Apple's walled-garden practices. Even the most dominant tech platforms now face enough institutional and consumer pressure on messaging interoperability that proprietary lock-in on basic communication becomes untenable.