I was really sure this was an early April Fool's joke, but it appears to be genuine...
Apple will keep its iMessage as-is, so that won't affect its security, and they don't want to bring iMessage either to Android (as that would lose them customers).
Right now though, iMessage is handling SMS messages, so they either need to move that into the RCS app, or find some way of routing between the two apps, as SMS and RCS are carrier supported messaging linked to the phone number. iMessage can actually work using the Apple ID.
So, it will be interesting to hear exactly how they're doing this, but ultimately iPhone users will have an app for each service. WE are probably already used to having WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal (and more) installed, and whichever one pops a message up, we just hit reply.
I suppose this move by Apple makes the most sense for them actually by keeping iMessage unaffected. Thing is though that RCS will then of course be a truly universal chat app that could also replace SMS finally. So many organisations are still geared around bulk SMS services, so it may be time for those services to start thinking about transitioning to RCS, which will probably save them a lot of money.
See
Apple to finally bring RCS to iPhones | TechCrunch
Apple plans to add support for the RCS standard on iOS next year, the iPhone-maker said Thursday in a major reversal that would resolve the widespread Apple plans to add support for the RCS standard on iOS next year, the iPhone-maker said in a major reversal that would resolve the "green bubble" dread.
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