Beginning subsequent 12 months, Verizon will be part of AT&T and T-Mobile in preloading Android Messages because the default texting app on all Android telephones it sells. It’s the ultimate step for making RCS Chat — the next-gen normal designed to interchange SMS — the default expertise for Android. In the US, that solely leaves one massive cohort that won’t use RCS as a default SMS substitute: iPhone customers.

Verizon has additionally stated it would absolutely help interoperability between carriers, so in idea the improved photos, video, learn receipts, and group chats ought to simply work — assuming all people you’re texting with can also be utilizing Android Messages.

Verizon was the final of the massive three US carriers to get on board with Google’s newest technique to push RCS as the brand new default for texting. After years of cajoling, shaming, and downright pleading, the corporate has made offers with carriers to easily use the usual Android Messages app, which helps RCS by default.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, senior vp of Android, Chrome OS, and the Play Store, is fast to notice that end-to-end encryption for RCS inside Android Messages can also be within the strategy of rolling out. It’s obtainable for “peer-to-peer” chats (i.e. a chat with one different individual), however group chats are on the roadmap as properly.

Default, end-to-end encrypted chats between Android telephones increase an attention-grabbing conundrum for Apple. Next 12 months, texts between Android telephones and iPhones can be much less safe than texts inside these two ecosystems — as a result of they are going to be on SMS as an alternative of RCS.

Apple’s Messages app gives end-to-end encryption if all customers are on the iMessage system, and it has proven no urge for food to both supply iMessage on Android nor to undertake RCS on the iPhone. Google, in the meantime, is glad to take the chance to needle Apple by overtly inviting it to make use of RCS.

“Going forward, the default messaging experience on Android is going to be more secure,” says Lockheimer, who has beforehand invited Apple to undertake RCS. “The fallback messaging experience on the other platform will not have encryption if it’s still SMS. I think that that is a pretty interesting dynamic and I would hope that as everyone focuses on security and privacy it becomes an important part of the discussion.”

Lockheimer wouldn’t affirm if Google is in energetic discussions with Apple, but it surely doesn’t appear as if RCS is more likely to come to the iPhone quickly and the corporate has declined to touch upon the matter a number of occasions over time. But there may be clearly a strain marketing campaign on, even when it’s not very strident. Speaking about Apple adoption, Lockheimer says, “I actually do think getting the three major carriers in the US to adopt RCS in a consistent manner is a big part of the equation.”

Currently, there are 473 million month-to-month energetic RCS customers across the globe, according to the GSMA. Adoption within the US is more likely to enhance that quantity by fairly a bit. Google has no plans to attempt to introduce a messaging app that helps RCS on the iPhone.

Although RCS has been intently related to Google, the corporate usually factors to the truth that it’s meant to be an ordinary that’s shared by the complete cellular trade and managed by the GSMA. Carriers are ready to make use of their very own RCS infrastructure as an alternative of Google’s. Still, RCS is intently tied to Google in many individuals’s minds and Google gives RCS companies to carriers and can even enable customers to straight use RCS through its companies if their provider doesn’t supply it. Google started pushing RCS as the brand new texting expertise on Android after its personal messaging makes an attempt (notably Hangouts and Allo) floundered.

Lockheimer claims that Google prefers the marginally extra open RCS strategy to a Google-owned texting answer being the default on Android. “We don’t think there should be one messaging app to rule them all. We fully realize people are going to use multiple messaging apps,” he says.

As for Verizon, it would proceed to supply its Verizon Message+ (VM+) software alongside Android Messages for purchasers who want to use it. It’s a maligned app and for good cause: it’s rife with awkward interface controls and Verizon branding — however because it’s actually the one approach to sync Verizon textual content messages throughout totally different units, it’s going to stay round.

Apparently Verizon and Google intend to discover a method to make sure that VM+ and Android Messages share a textual content message database in order that messages keep in sync. That’s probably a primary step towards opening up RCS to third-party functions — one thing that’s been not possible up to now.

Google’s cope with Verizon caps a flurry of RCS exercise that kicked off this previous March with the T-Mobile deal, then the tip of the encrypted chat beta in June, and at last a cope with AT&T in June as properly.

Unfortunately, as with all issues Android and RCS, the outcomes of that exercise gained’t be felt by customers till later. Verizon gained’t be making the swap to Android Messages till 2022.