Apple iPhones in South Korea will soon run Rich Communication Service (RCS), after the country’s communications regulator took measures for the vendor to adopt the next-generation messaging service.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) last week issued administrative guidelines calling for Apple to implement RCS, replacing its existing messaging service to improve compatibility between iPhone and Android users.

Changing to RCS will enable large file transfers and chat message exchanges between iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy devices.

The guidelines recommend Apple release a beta version of its iOS in the first half of the year for South Korean operators to test RCS functionality.

File transfers between iPhones and Galaxy devices by text message are currently limited to 1MB, but Apple’s adoption of RCS will up this to 300MB.

KCC chair Lee Jinsook explained in a statement it would “spare no effort to support policies” promoting “openness in mobile communication services and improve user convenience by enhancing compatibility and interoperability across mobile platforms”.

Apple stated the move is part of its efforts to enhance user convenience, adding it will support RCS on iPhones in compliance with the guidelines by the second half of the year.

The company included RCS in iOS 18 having previously resisted the messaging technology.

Led by KCC, operators SK Telecom (SKT), KT, LG Uplus and Apple discussed interoperability barriers between iPhone and Android devices, following complaints in March 2024 of quality issues when files were transferred between the platforms.

SKT introduced a messaging service based on the RCS standard in 2019.