Does signal support rcs? Explained
Talking about the best instant messaging app and services we have today, you can’t go wrong with signal. It may not neccesarily be very popular like Whatsapp and others, but it is a good instant messaging app and available on android and iPhone.
For a quite number of persons, they don’t really know much about the app, and this bring about the topic of the day.
Does signal support rcs especially on android just like the google messages.
Both are instant messaging but the differ in one way or another.
Let’s proceed to that.
Does signal support rcs?
Signal do support rcs as it is an instant messaging service that uses VoIP and internet to send and receive messages.
Talking about rcs chat, it is a feature which was introduced by Google few years ago to help android users to send and receive both sms and multimedia messages using the internet just like Apple iMessage.
Previously on android, you can only send instant messages using the likes of whatsapp, Skype, Facebook messenger, telegram, etc, until Google introduced the rcs chat message that works similar to the likes of whatsapp and Co.
Talking about does signal support rcs, kindly note that signal is an instant messaging service and this means that it support rcs chat though quite different from google messages rcs chat feature.
What is rcs chat
Rcs chat which stands for rich communication services is a message feature that was introduced by Google in 2019 which offers an option for android users to send texts and multimedia messages using the internet.
As iMessage became so popular among Apple users that they don’t bother using other instant messaging apps like whatsapp, Skype, Facebook messenger, telegram, viber, etc, Google decides to come up with their.
Just like on iMessage, Google integrated the rcs chat into the Google messages thereby giving the option of sending sms text messages or sending a chat message on any given android phone or tablet.
The major difference between the two is that you can use only your apple id to activate iMessage on your iPhone, while Google messages requires a phone number to activate and connect rcs chat feature.
Maybe later in the future Google will give the option to use google account to activate and use the rcs chat message.
As Google added rcs chat message to their Google messages app, android users can send texts and multimedia messages right from the Google messages app.
They can also receive multimedia messages from the Google messages as long as both parties involved do have an active internet connection.
Whenever you head or see rcs chat message, kindly know that it is a type of iMessage but available on android.
As iMessage is for Apple users, Google rcs chat message is for android though it still has a long way to go and I do hope they will add the option of using just Google account to activate the rcs chat message.
Google rcs chat message has features like;
- You can react to a message just like on iMessage.
- You can send high quality videos and pictures though you’re limited to 200mb per a file.
- It has a delivery report and read receipts.
- You can tell when someone is typing a message to you as it has a typing indicator.
- Messages on google messages are encrypted though according to Google.
Here comes the major disadvantage of using Google messages and I do hope Google will add the feature very soon.
Google messages rcs chat has no option to delete messages for everyone.
So far you can’t delete messages for everyone on rcs chat message except for yourself.
If you make a mistake on any of messages you sent using the rcs chat message, you can’t undo the message except for yourself.
However, as the feature is now available on iMessage since the release of ios 16, I’m quite sure that Google will add the undo or unsend for everyone on their rcs chat message.
I won’t go further to explain more on rcs chat message, and let’s proceed on signal Messages.
Understanding signal messages
When you hear or see signal messages, kindly note that the signal being talked about is not the network signal, but rather an instant messaging service.
Signal may not neccesarily be as popular as whatsapp, Skype, Facebook messenger, telegram, viber, but the app is growing day by day.
There’s no much difference between signal and the likes of whatsapp except for the fact that you can have up to 500 group members in whatsapp and send a file of 2GB in size.
However, whatsapp do compress images and videos thereby reducing the quality a lot.
That can’t be said for signal as you can send a high quality pictures and videos without them getting compressd just like on whatsapp.
In signal, you have features like;
- Delivery reports and read receipts.
- Status updates though on signal it says Signal Stories.
- Option to delete messages for everyone.
- Video call and voice call are available.
- You have the option to change to your preferred wallpaper for your message chats.
- You can decide to lock your signal chat and use fingerprint or face id to unlock it.
- Your signal account d well protected with a pin.
Signal works on both android and iPhone, and you can link your signal account to your computer.
Signal vs Google Messages
The difference between signal and Google messages is that signal gives you the option to delete messages for everyone and which is not yet available on Google messages.
As both signal and Google rcs chat messages are instant messaging, there quite a lot difference between the two and they are as follows;
1. Delete for everyone
Signal messaging has the delete for everyone feature while it is still lacking in Google rcs chat messages.
I’m sure by next year or even this year, Google will definitely add delete for everyone feature in Google messages as the likes of iMessage now has the unsend and edit feature.
But for now, there’s no delete for everyone or unsend messages on google rcs chat messages except you delete for yourself.
2. Status updates
Signal do have a status update feature which they called Share Stories, and this feature is not available on Google rcs chat message.
Maybe Google will say iMessage doesn’t have the feature so they care less.
But if you’re the type that loves the status updates on whatsapp, you sure will love signal Share stories feature as it is the same with WhatsApp status update.
3. You can change your chat wallpaper on signal
Signal gives you the option to change your chat wallpaper and this is not available on Google rcs chat message.
You can only change the default theme but don’t have the option to change the chat wallpaper on google messages rcs chat.
4. Signal is more protected
Using signal you will provide a pin for your signal account which is used to protect your signal account.
Also, you have the option to lock your signal every minutes and use a pin, fingerprint or face id to unlock your signal app.
5. Voice and video call
You can directly make voice calls and video calls on signal, which is not possible on google messages except if you use Google duo app.
Signal voice call and video call are way better compared Google duo.
6. Payment option
Signal messaging offers payment options for their users while this is not available on Google messages.
7. Signal is available on android and ios
You can use signal on any given android phone or tablet and ios, but Google messages is only available to android users.
These are some of the difference between Signal vs Google Messages and mind you, signal messaging is encrypted and so as Google messages.
Both signal messaging and Google messages requires a phone number and they have read receipts.
Lastly before I go, does signal support rcs? Signal do support rcs as it is an instant messaging service that uses VoIP and internet to send and receive messages.
