iMessage: Creating a Core Platform for Video Messages in the Light of EU DMA Regulation and Apple’s Digital Markets Act

Although Apple may not be doing this out of pure will, it’s still a great change for everyone who has had to deal with poor-quality videos sent from one device to another.

The change likely comes in response to regulatory pressure from the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a rule that requires major companies, such as Apple, to make their services interoperable with other platforms. iMessage is being investigated by the European Commission to see if it should be considered a core platform service. However, Apple reportedly argued iMessage isn’t popular enough in Europe for the rules to apply, and it’s planning to file an appeal against the government’s regulation of its App Store.

The service, known as RCS, is a way to send and receive messages, which is a step up from the old methods of sending and receiving messages. More than just sending and receiving messages, RCS allows users to share higher-resolution photos and videos between their devices; it supports read receipts; and it can also be used to send and receive photos and video. It also adds extra layers of security that the older messaging standards lack.

Are SMS Security Flaws Dead? Anshel Sag’s Comment on RCS Support for Next-Generation Mobile Operating Systems

“It’s long been time for SMS to go away,” says Anshel Sag, principal analyst at the technology analyst firm Moor Insights and Strategy. “Now SMS can die, it can be sunset. Security flaws can be eliminated because all the viruses are made by SMS.

The move isn’t happening immediately; Apple told 9to5Mac that RCS support will come “in the later half of next year.” The next version of Apple’s mobile operating system could get support with this timing.