RCS, the next generation of SMS protocol, finally seems to be coming to users. Boasting a slew of notable features like high-res photo & file sharing, secure payment, location sharing, and more, Rich Communication Services has got enough impressive goodies to replace the old-fashioned SMS messages with a richer and more versatile text-message system. That said, RCS (also known as SMS+) is still embroiled into a rather complicated career and its dependency on carriers is preventing the advanced messaging from being available to everyone across the world. Thankfully, that’s changing a little bit and if your device is compatible, you can get RCS messaging on your Android device. Even if your phone carrier doesn’t support this, there is a workaround that can help you activate RCS. So, without further ado, let’s see how you can enable RCS on your Android device.
As promised, Google is rolling out RCS in several countries around the globe. Unfortunately, what seems to be preventing it from achieving the full potential is not the shortcomings (more on them later) but the lack of straightforward roll-out policy. A case in point, in many parts of the world including the United States, an Android device user must be on a carrier that supports the RCS Universal Profile like Google Fi. Though the search giant is slowly but steadily providing RCS chat services directly to Android users in some countries ( i.e the UK and France), the days for the direct rollout of this advanced messaging system across the globe still seem far away at least for now. Anyway, whether you have a supported Android phone or your device is yet to get lucky, we have got you covered.
- Launch “Google Messages” (free) on your Android phone.
As mentioned above, even if you don’t have a compatible device, you can still put your hands on the RCS chat thanks to a team of Redditors who have come up with this method. But before going ahead with the process, make sure to fulfill the requirements upfront.
Be sure to get the beta version of the Google Messages app (direct link).
Make sure you have the Activity Launcher app installed on your device. If you don’t have one, download it right now from the Google Play Store.
If the Messages app is running in the background, make sure to force quit it.
Head over to system settings on your phone and then locate the carrier services. After that clear the storage data.
Be sure to turn off Wi-Fi as well.
Open Activity Launcher on your Android device.
- Now, launch the Messages app on your Android device. Voila! The RCS chat setup would be waiting for you. Now, you can ideally set it up in a few minutes (roughly around three minutes). Get it done and you will then be able to chat using a ton of impressive features. As mentioned above, you can enjoy sharing rich messages with anyone who has an Android device.
Touted as the advanced messaging, RCS chat appears to be a true SMS/MMS successor. Being part of a broader IP multimedia subsystem, it is a more efficient text-message system. Moreover, it’s versatile, can transmit in-call multimedia and also offers phonebook polling (designed for service discovery).
What are the Cons of RCS Chat?
Despite being hailed as the next-generation SMS protocol, RCS badly lacks the teeth to safeguard messages. Considering the age where security and privacy have become a must-have subject that everyone – from WhatsApp to Telegram – wants to embrace (at least on the paper), it’s baffling to know that RCS chat doesn’t yet offer end-to-end encryption. Are you kidding?
So, that’s how you can enable RCS messaging on virtually Android devices. Though I can’t say how long Google will allow this trick to work, I can surely confirm that this hack works elegantly in getting rid of that roadblocks that are preventing SMS+ from being available across the board. Until Google comes with a straightforward solution, get the most out of it to take a sneak peek at what the future of text-messaging has in store. Also, share your tidbits about the things you like in SMSoIP.
