iMessage is an integral part of the Apple ecosystem – and probably the most beloved component of the platform. Ask any iDevice owner what they admire most about the Apple ecosystem and the most common answer you'll get is – The Blue Bubble! To discover how much the messaging app is in demand on other popular platforms, just type "iMessage for" into Google Search. And most of the results you find will be for getting iMessage on other platforms.

On the other hand, Google's attempt at a premium messaging app is yet to be fulfilled despite several attempts. From Google Talk/Chat (2005) to Google+ (2011) to Google Allo (2016), Android's messaging mess seemed to continue for many years until the search giant announced RCS Chat in 2018. Packed with an array of state-of-the-art -line features, RCS Messaging is considered by many even be Android's iMessage. And that's exactly why I thought it would be good to put RCS Chat vs iMessage on all fronts to find out which one comes out as the better option.

To get the right answer, I have compared the two messaging apps on four main parameters: User Interface, Seamless Experience, Features, and Security & Privacy. So whether you're sitting on the fence waiting for an iMessage competitor to finally arrive on Android or curiosity has driven you to explore the differences between RCS Messaging and iMessage, this detailed piece can give you the right answer.

Before we get into comparison mode, let's dig a little deeper into why it has taken so long for Google to introduce an iMessage-like messaging app on the Android platform.