- Google is finally starting to roll out the ability for Android users to edit RCS messages sent to iPhones, a feature previously unavailable cross-platform.
- Made possible by the new Universal Profile 3.0 specification, users can long-press a sent message to edit and resend it within a 15-minute window.
- The feature is in limited testing and isn’t perfect yet, as edited texts currently appear as a new message on iPhones and iPhones can’t edit messages sent to Android devices.
For years, text messaging between Android and iOS was a terrible experience, but that has recently changed thanks to Rich Communication Services (RCS). This new messaging standard dramatically improves texting between iPhones and Androids by enabling features like high-quality media sharing, read receipts, and typing indicators. While certain features were missing when cross-platform RCS launched last year, Google and Apple are gradually introducing them. For instance, the ability to edit a message sent from an Android phone to an iPhone is now finally starting to roll out.
iPhone users have long been able to edit iMessages sent to other iPhones, and Android users have enjoyed the same capability for about a year when using RCS to message each other. However, when Google first launched this feature on Android, it wasn’t part of the official RCS specification. Since Apple based its implementation on the official standard at the time (Universal Profile 2.4) that didn’t define message editing, the feature was unavailable for cross-platform chats.