Many Android devices now come with Google's Messages app preloaded. If not, the app is readily available for everyone to download via the Play Store. Considering that the company has expanded its Rich Communication Services (RCS) platform to India, it is a good time to start using the app.
As of now, only a limited number of carriers have the RCS platform enabled in India, however, the latest beta version of the app brings RCS support to all across the globe -- irrespective of which telecom service provider you use.
Google Messages app with RCS enabled allows users to chat with their contacts and send them images, GIFs, emoji, stickers, videos and audio messages. RCS also lets users send and receive messages over Wi-Fi or mobile data.
To get RCS support on your Google Messages app, you need to install the Messages beta version 5.2.051 from the Play Store. After you have downloaded the app, you need to get the Activity Launcher on your Android device, which is also available on the Play Store. This will then let you configure the RCS protocol on the Messages app manually.
Also Read: We used Google's RCS in India and here are our thoughts about it
To configure the RCS protocol manually, you need to turn off Wi-Fi and switch to mobile data and then open the Activity Launcher app. After the app opens up you need to tap the dropdown from the top bar and select Activities option. There you will find the Messages' app, open that and scroll down until you see the Set RCS Flags option. Now tap the ACS Url option and then select 'http://rcs-acs-prod-us.sandbox.google.com/.' Then tap OTP Pattern to select 'Your\sMessenger\sverification\scode\sis\sG-(\d{6})' option. Now hit apply.
After following the above steps, remove the Messages app from your recent apps. After which when you open the app it will show you a pop-up to enable the RCS-backed chat features.
