Google enhances RCS media quality and expands Gemini AI capabilities to WhatsApp and system notifications
Top 3 Key Points:
- RCS Media Upgrade: Google Messages now supports sending uncompressed media in RCS chats, improving communication quality between Android and iPhone users.
- Gemini AI Integration: Google’s Gemini AI is set to handle WhatsApp calls, messages, and notifications, expanding its role in daily smartphone tasks.
- Apple Competition: As Google enhances its AI features, Apple is also preparing new AI capabilities with Siri in the upcoming iPhone 16 series.
Google has been urging Apple to adopt Rich Communication Services (RCS) for a better messaging experience between Android and iPhone users. Last year, Apple finally agreed to support RCS, which allows for more secure and efficient communication between the two platforms. However, an issue remained—Google Messages still sent out highly compressed media files, leading to lower quality in shared photos and videos. Fortunately, Google is now addressing this problem.
Recent updates in the Google Messages beta (version messages.android_20240823_00_RC00.phone_samsung_openbeta_dynamic) show that users will soon have two options when sending media: “Optimized for chat,” which reduces file quality for faster sending, and “Original quality,” which sends the media uncompressed but uses more data. This improvement ensures that Android users can share high-quality media with iPhone users once RCS support is fully implemented.
Although the exact release date for this feature is unclear, it’s expected to coincide with the iPhone 16 launch around September 9, 2024. When Apple enables RCS on all iPhones, Android and iPhone users will finally be able to exchange full-quality images and videos seamlessly.
On another front, Google is making strides with its AI model, Gemini. Integrated into the Pixel 9 series and other popular apps like Spotify, Gemini is becoming a crucial part of the smartphone experience. Google is expanding Gemini’s capabilities with new extensions for WhatsApp, Google Messages, and Android system notifications, as seen in the latest Google app beta (version 15.34.32.29.arm64).
These extensions will allow users to read and reply to messages, make WhatsApp calls, and manage notifications through voice commands. The Notifications extension, in particular, could categorize and summarize alerts, making it easier to manage your device’s notifications.
While these features are still in development, they highlight Google’s ambition to make Gemini an essential tool for smartphone users, especially as Apple prepares to introduce new AI features in Siri with the iPhone 16 series. As both companies continue to innovate, the race to dominate the AI assistant market is heating up.