Enhanced messaging with emergency services is coming to Android phones. | Image: Google
Texting with emergency services is about to get an upgrade. Starting this winter, Google Messages will support texting 911 through RCS.
Using SMS to contact 911 is available at just over half of all emergency dispatch centers in the US, but in those areas, people using RCS will benefit from a handful of new features like location sharing and read receipts. The timing of the announcement — just days before Apple is expected to announce RCS support in iOS 18 — is probably no coincidence, either.
Google is working with a company called RapidSOS, which can already relay certain medical information to emergency responders for both iPhone and Android users. Once enabled by an emergency dispatch center, people texting that center via Google…
