Google Messages might soon nudge you to rope your friends into the RCS club

What you need to know

• Google Messages might soon rely on you to nudge your friends to turn on RCS with built-in prompts.
• A new feature will autofill an invite for your SMS-only contacts, making it super easy to rope them into richer chats.
• These nudges aren’t live yet, but the code’s there, so a rollout is likely right around the corner.

RCS is still an optional upgrade in Google Messages, meaning you’ve got to turn it on yourself. But some digging into the app’s latest version uncovered hidden text hints that Google is planning to give users a friendly nudge to switch it on soon.

A recent APK teardown by Android Authority reveals that Google is preparing a new feature that auto-fills a prompt to send to friends still stuck on SMS. If you're not using RCS yet, expect a friendly nudge from your RCS-using buddies to finally flip the switch.

When Google Messages spots that someone is still on SMS, you’ll get a “Text an invite” option. Phrases like “invite this contact to RCS chat” and “we can share high-quality media and send secure messages when we’re both on RCS” hint that nudging friends to upgrade will be quick and easy, with barely any effort on your end.

One-tap guilt trip

Interestingly, right now on Android, the RCS invite link just sends people to the Google Messages' Play Store page—even if they already have the app. That’s not super helpful for people who have installed it but haven’t turned on RCS yet. Still, there’s a good chance Google will tweak the link before this feature officially becomes public.

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These new RCS prompts aren’t live just yet, but their appearance in the app’s code hints that Google is gearing up for a launch soon.

And honestly, the push makes sense—RCS seriously levels up your messaging experience with typing indicators, read receipts, crisp photo and video sharing, better group chats, and end-to-end encryption for an extra layer of privacy.

To join the RCS party, just tap your profile picture in the top right of Google Messages, head to Messages settings > RCS chats, and flip the “Turn on RCS chats” switch.