Chat features are being rebranded
Google is never satisfied with its messaging clients — it seems like when the company isn’t busy killing off one messenger service to replace it with another, it’s renaming apps and features. This drive to tinker with things even permeates its successful texting endeavors like RCS, which has seen widespread adoption ever since Google helped spearhead the standard with the Messages app for Android. After Google spent years branding the SMS replacement as Chat, it seems to be changing things up yet again.
Some users enrolled in the beta program for Messages by Google are seeing a change in the terminology used to refer to RCS Chat in various places around the app (via 9to5Google). For one, the input field at the bottom of RCS-enabled conversations that used to say Chat message now says RCS message. Another change is seen with the top entry in the app’s settings: Chat features has now been rebranded as RCS chats. Opening this menu will reveal several more changes — essentially, everything that used to say Chats now says RCS chats or simply RCS.
This change is likely aimed at helping unify the new standard’s branding — while Google has called it Chat, carriers like T-Mobile and Verizon have referred to the technology as Advanced Messaging. However, most companies still use the term RCS synonymously with their own branding, so ditching Chat in favor of the more universal name makes sense here.
RCS, of course, stands for Rich Communication Services, and it allows for advanced features like message reactions, read receipts, and end-to-end encryption when all parties in the conversation are using compatible phones and messaging apps. The list of RCS-compatible phones continues to grow after major companies like Samsung, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon added support in their default texting apps, but despite pressure from Google, Apple has yet to add the standard to its Messages app for iPhones.
