Apple’s Messages icon Apple will add RCS messaging support to iPhone, iPad, Mac through a software release early next year, the company said in a statement. Lance Ulanoff for TechRadar: ‎ RCS or Rich Communication Services, a communications standard developed by the GSM Association and adopted by much of the Android ecosystem, is designed to universally elevate messaging communication across mobile devices. Even though Apple has been working with the group, it has until this moment steadfastly refused to add RCS support to iPhones. Now, however, Apple is changing its tune. “Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe the RCS Universal Profile will offer…

Stickers that you make from your own pictures are a lot of fun to send in group chats. You can even add fun, realistic sticker effects. (via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Messages this year introduced Check In, a feature that allows the user to notify family members and friends that they’ve arrived at their destination safely. Google and some of Europe’s largest telecoms operators have called on the European Union (EU) to designate iMessage as a “core” service that would require Apple open its iMessage service to Android. Javier Espinoza for Financial Times: ‎ The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, is investigating whether iMessage should be on a list of services that must comply with the new Digital Markets Act, and so be able to connect seamlessly with competitors such as WhatsApp. Currently, only Apple users are able to communicate via iMessage, making its signature “blue bubble” texts a key…

Google and European telecom groups have urged EU regulators to designate iMessage a "core" service that would force Apple to make the communications platform interoperable with competing chat services, reports the Financial Times. In a letter sent to the European Commission, the EU's executive body, the signatories including Google and some of Europe's largest telecoms operators claimed that Apple's service meets the qualitative thresholds of the act, and should therefore be captured by the rules to "benefit European consumers and businesses." The "fundamental nature" of iMessage as "an important gateway between business users and their customers is without doubt justification for Apple’s designation as gatekeeper for its iMessage service," argued Google, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Orange in the letter.…

How do you use Check In, the new iOS 17 feature that tracks your ETA during your travels? You no longer have to count on remembering to text someone when you make it home safely — your iPhone will let everyone know for you.  (via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Samsung used a short video to join Google in urging Apple to add support for Rich Communication Services to iMessage. (via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)