RCS Universal Profile 4.0 arrives with native video calls to benefit all smartphone users

For the past year, the conversation around Rich Communication Services (RCS) has been dominated by one thing: interoperability between Android and iOS. Now that end-to-end encryption is actively being tested between the two ecosystems, the GSMA is turning its attention to making the actual messaging experience more expressive and functional.

The organization officially finalized RCS Universal Profile 4.0 today, marking the most significant upgrade to the standard since the push for encryption began.

Native Video Calls (MIVC)

The headline feature of version 4.0 is Messaging-Initiated Video Calls (MIVC). Currently, if you want to jump from a text thread to a video call, you usually have to launch a third-party app like Google Meet, FaceTime, or WhatsApp.

With MIVC, video calling becomes a native part of the RCS stack. You’ll be able to escalate a 1-to-1 or group chat into a video call directly within the messaging app. Crucially, the GSMA notes that this will support “late joining,” meaning group members can hop into an ongoing call even if they missed the initial notification. The call logs will also sync directly into your chat timeline, keeping the entire conversation history in one place.

Finally, Text Formatting

It’s 2026, and we are finally getting native support for Rich Text. Universal Profile 4.0 adds the ability to use Bold, Italics and Strikethrough.

The standard also includes smart fallbacks to ensure that if you send a formatted message to someone on an older version of RCS (or SMS), they will be prompted to view a plain-text version so the formatting codes don’t clutter the message.

Better Media and Business Tools

The update also improves how devices handshake with one another. Phones will now be able to identify the specific media formats supported by the person on the other end, allowing for the highest quality audio and video encoding possible.

For Business Messaging, the experience is getting a web-like upgrade. Rich Cards will now support embedded streaming video (no more waiting for a file to download), and businesses will have more control over whether links open within the messaging app for quick tasks or deep-link into a dedicated app for things like secure payments.

When will we see it?

As 9to5Google points out, the finalization of a Universal Profile is just the first step. For context, Universal Profile 3.0 was announced a year ago, and we are only just now seeing the fruit of that labor with cross-platform encryption tests.

Expect a similar lead time here. Google and Apple will need to implement these version 4.0 hooks into Google Messages and iOS before we can start bolding our texts or launching native video calls. But the roadmap is now officially set, and the “green bubble vs. blue bubble” gap is shrinking even further.