Google today previewed the [next-generation version of Android](https://blog.google/products/android/material-3-expressive-android-wearos-launch/), which has an updated design language that’s more expressive, and a range of new features. One of the main new additions is Live Updates, a feature that mirrors Live Activity on the iPhone.

Live Updates lets Android users track progress notifications from apps in real-time, much like Live Activity. Google says that Live Updates will work with top delivery, ride share, and navigation apps.

With Live Activity, incoming food deliveries, sports games, and more can be tracked from the ‌iPhone‌’s Lock Screen or with the Dynamic Island, and Google’s feature works in a similar way. Android users will see Live Updates on the lock screen and home screen, and can tap into a menu bar option to get more information.

Google is revamping Android with an interface focused on color, movement, and haptics, and it’ll be interesting to see how it compares to the rumored iOS 19 redesign that Apple has in the works.

Google took some cues from Apple on security, adding a Find Hub that’s similar to the Find My app for tracking people, items, and devices, with Google even teaming up with airlines for luggage recovery. There’s also an Advanced Protection option that looks similar to Lockdown Mode, offering additional safeguards against malware and suspicious contact for journalists and politicians.

More new features that are coming to Android 16 will be introduced at Google I/O next week.

This article, "Android 16 Getting Live Updates, Similar to iPhone's Live Activity" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Over a billion RCS messages are sent on a daily basis in the United States, Google said today. ‌RCS‌, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol that replaced the prior SMS and MMS messaging standards.

It was developed by the GSM Association, but Google has been championing it for years. Apple held out on adopting ‌RCS‌ for quite some time, but finally added support with the launch of iOS 18. On devices running ‌iOS 18‌, ‌RCS‌ is the default messaging protocol for texts between an iPhone user and an Android user.

Apple’s adoption of ‌RCS‌ has undoubtedly increased the number of ‌RCS‌ messages sent per day, but Google’s 1 billion figure includes Android to Android text messages along with Android to ‌iPhone‌ text messages (and vice versa).

‌RCS‌ is a notable improvement over SMS and MMS, and it makes for a better texting experience between ‌iPhone‌ users and Android users, as Android users can’t take advantage of iMessage. Some of the ‌RCS‌ features:

• Support for higher resolution photos and videos.
• Support for larger file sizes and file sharing.
• Audio messages.
• Cross-platform emoji reactions.
• Real-time typing indicators and read receipts.
• Better group chats with support for removing people.
• The option to send messages over cellular or Wi-Fi.

For ‌iPhone‌ to ‌iPhone‌ conversations, iMessage is still the default, but ‌RCS‌ has made “green bubble” texting with Android users less of a hassle.

‌RCS‌ is supported by the major carriers in the United States, but some smaller carriers like Boost Mobile, Mint Mobile, Ting, and others have yet to add support.
This article, "More Than 1 Billion RCS Messages Are Sent Daily on Android and iOS" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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