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The new features coming to Apple's iMessage and Messages apps in iOS 18 aren't AI emojis, or Genmoji, or even the ability to send text messages via satellite, but rather the ability to finally schedule messages for a later date and time, as well as support for RCS (the next-generation text messaging standard and replacement for SMS), which will make texting with Android users much less painful. These updates are already available in the iOS 18 public beta that just opened this week.

Although buried amid a flurry of AI announcements and other user interface tweaks at WWDC 2024, these messaging features will have a significant impact on how people communicate on a daily basis.

For years, consumer demand for scheduled messages has led developers to create complicated, cumbersome workarounds, such as apps that remind you to send text messages via push notifications, or solutions that only work on jailbroken iPhones. The new iOS will offer a built-in ability to schedule messages to be sent at a later time.

The feature was only briefly mentioned at WWDC. In Apple's press release, the feature was announced in the same sentence as the Tapbacks upgrade, which has been expanded to include support for any emoji or sticker in iOS 18. Apparently, Apple doesn't think Send Later is a feature worth spending too much time on. Still, the new scheduling feature will be a welcome addition for those who use their iPhone for business, or those who lie in bed at 3 a.m. and just remember to text something important. In addition to simply making life easier, like when you want to text someone across time zones without disturbing them, Apple's screenshots show that you can also use the feature to make sure you don't miss sending someone a birthday greeting.

More important, though, is the Messages app's support for RCS, the text messaging standard and replacement for SMS that will solve many of the frustrations that Android users with green speech bubbles have with texting.

Google has long urged Apple to adopt the standard to improve the communication experience between Android and iOS users. The Wall Street Journal has reported on the battle over green bubbles and how blue bubbles have become a must-have for American teenagers. While EU regulators ultimately decided that iMessage wasn't popular enough to be forced to open up and interoperate with other messaging services, the extra scrutiny likely influenced Apple's decision -- as did U.S. lawmakers' attention to Apple's shutdown of Beeper, a third-party app that brought iMessage to Android users.

Because Apple has long refused to add support for RCS, texting with Android users means no typing tips or read receipts, dropped group chats, and blurry photos and videos. It also means messages aren't end-to-end encrypted like they are on iMessage.

Unfortunately for Android users, messages sent via RCS will not be free of the green bubble curse on Apple devices, according to screenshots on the company's website. Instead, the text box will say in a light grey font that you're texting with someone that supports "SMS + RCS," while the message bubble itself will remain green.

However, the issues that have kept Apple users from experiencing the Messages app appear to be resolved, as Apple has said it will support the standard later this year. Granted, the news only gets a brief mention in Apple's press release, which notes that RCS will allow for "richer media and more reliable group messaging than SMS and MMS."

Earlier reports said that Apple intends to work with GSMA to add support for end-to-end encryption in the Universal Profile of RCS, but will not support E2EE at the outset. This may be the reason why Apple did not mention encryption information when announcing RCS.