Wear OS Watches Could Soon Get RCS Messaging

RCS has been the talk of the town lately. With Apple adding RCS support in iOS 18, seamless messaging between iPhone and Android devices is more seamless than ever. Having convinced Apple earlier, Google is shifting its focus to Wear OS. The latest findings suggest that RCS could arrive soon on the Google Messages app on Wear OS.

Folks at Android Authority discovered a few flags in the latest Google Messages version 20240926 beta suggesting Wear OS could be the next in line to gain RCS. This could potentially allow users to text seamlessly using RCS right from their wrists.

While digging through, there were three strings of strong interest, ending with “standalone_rcs” and “standalone_rcs_settings“. There’s also a third peculiar string called “standalone_voice_message”. We don’t know what it is exactly, since Messages for Wear OS has had a Voice message feature for a while.

For those unaware of how Google Messages on Wear OS currently works with an Android phone, it simply accesses texts from the Messages app on Android and routes them through your phone to send messages. With RCS on Wear OS, text messaging across the Android ecosystem should become easier.

Since RCS requires a carrier network connection, we’re not sure if only LTE watches will support it. However, given that Wear OS watches run off of your phone’s network, RCS being supported on both Wi-Fi and LTE models is not completely out of the question. However, we wonder whether RCS would still work on a Wi-Fi-only smartwatch if you were to leave your phone behind. The answer is probably a no.

What are your thoughts on RCS arriving on Wear OS? How often do you use your Wear OS wearable to text? Let us know in the comments below.