Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
tl; drag
- GSMA has announced the release of RCS Universal Profile 3.1.
- This new RCS messaging profile introduces a new audio codec, enabling high quality sound notes and shared audio clips.
- Profile also enables “more smooth and reliable” experience in faulty network coverage areas.
The RCS has been going on for more than a decade, but Messaging Standard gained a huge promotion when Apple adopted it in 2023. The GSMA has brought many features and improvements to the RCS in recent years, and has just announced another upgrade.
GSMA has just announced the release of RCS Universal Profile 3.1, which brings better audio messaging capabilities. This RCS release especially supports the XHE-AAC audio codec, which can enable high quality sound notes and other audio clips.
It is worth noting that the release of the previous RCS also supported the XHE-AAAC Kodak. However, the GSMA told us that this preliminary release only supported the regulation, while the Universal Profile 3.1 also supports the encoding. In other words, you can send and receive high quality audio clips instead of receiving.
The Universal Profile also offers a new mechanism to connect the RCS client with operator services. The blog post mentions that it enables “more smooth and reliable user experience, especially in challenging coverage conditions.”
GSMA also explained about what it means in response to one Android Authority Question:
This is not about activation of the RC, but on the run time as far as these (RCS) client need a permanent connection to the RCS network. It will be possible to take it down with the new release, when it has something to send to the client, to mobilize the network to send a push notification (such as coming message). Thus, whenever their contacts change (such as moves to Wi-Fi), clients will not need to update the network.
In other words, it seems that RCS can behave like messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram, which are more flexible for network changes.
The release came months after the announcement of GSMA’s Universal Profile 3.0. This release offers encryption from the end of the long wait for iPhone-Android chats and easy subscription management with business messagers.
We have also seen RCS improvement in Google Messages this year. These occasions include the label of contacts with the RCS, the “delete for everyone” option, notification, and the ability to send a message to yourself.
