RCS (Rich Communication Services) chat on Android phones is definitely a good feature to have, but the carrier and geographical limitations are keeping it from reaching its true potential. Doing its bit for the cause, T-Mobile has announced that it is enabling cross-carrier RCS messaging across the globe.
But there are few limitations here. It will come into action only if the person you are chatting with has an RCS-ready Android smartphone and is using the Google Messages app. Also, T-Mobile is the only major name that has enabled global cross-carrier RCS messaging, so this is move is cross-carrier only in the name, for the time being.
Thankfully, Google began rolling out RCS chat for all Android phones in the US running the Google Messages app back in November last year. As for the advantages, RCS brings typing indicators, read receipts, and message delivery notifications. Plus, Google is also preparing to add end-to-end encryption to RCS chat via the Google Messages app, so that’s a perk.
