Tech giant Apple plans to adopt the rich communication services (RCS) messaging standard which will improve the compatibility of short message communications between iPhones and Android phones.

The RCS system is a communication protocol between cellular service providers that allows users to send multimedia messages and is intended as a replacement for SMS and MMS. This system is commonly used on Android phones, but not on iOS systems.

“Next year we will add support for RCS Universal Profile, a standard owned by the GSM Association. "We believe RCS Universal Profile will provide a better interoperability experience than SMS or MMS," said Apple's statement, first reported by 9to5Mac, adapted from The Guardian, Friday.

Over the years, Apple has emphasized the exclusivity of its products for non-Apple devices, and one example of this is the blue and green speech bubbles in iMessage that distinguish messages sent to iPhone devices from those that are not.

Apple also previously continued to reject the use of the RCS standard, even though Google and other technology companies continued to pressure Apple to implement the technology.

Just last year, when answering a reporter's question about whether Apple would take action to make sending messages between the Android system, used on his mother's phone, and the iPhone smoother, Apple chairman Tim Cook actually advised the reporter to buy his mother an iPhone.

“I don't see users asking us to focus on adopting RCS,” Cook said at the time.

The RCS standard offers several advantages for its users, such as being able to send high-quality images and videos, send messages via WiFi or cellular data, and know whether a message has been read or not.

Currently, images and videos sent between iPhone and Android will experience a reduction in quality when received. Messages between the two systems are also not encrypted making them more vulnerable to hacking.

Meanwhile, rival Google welcomed Apple's decision to adopt the RCS system and expressed its commitment to working with Apple in implementing the technology. Google also launched a campaign last year to encourage Apple to adopt the RCS system.