Google thought Apple’s introduction of RCS (Rich Communication Services) would solve everything, but the messaging protocol still lags far behind iMessage due to a lack of carrier support, device support, and encryption.
According to a list from Foxt Dev, RCS support is limited to a few popular carriers in the US, Canada, Spain, UK, Germany, Belgium and France – apart from these countries, there is no support for RCS on the iPhone whatsoever.
In the UK you have to use EE to benefit from it, meaning companies like Vodafone, O2 and Three have yet to get it, although Apple mentions that they support the feature.
Although some operators in select countries are enabling RCS, it is far from a global or universal messaging protocol. For example, Google uses its own implementation and not the standard developed by the GSMA.
This article originally appeared in our sister publication Macworld Sweden and was translated and adapted from Swedish.