SAN FRANCISCO: Apple (AAPL.O) plans to adopt a messaging standard next year that will allow for a smoother texting experience between iPhones and Android devices, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The company has been pushing back on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard for more than a year, even as Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) and others have pressured the iPhone maker to adopt the technology, the report said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The company said the new technology would work alongside iMessage and offer better interoperability than SMS or MMS, according to the report.

With RCS, considered an industry standard for messaging, users can send and receive high-quality photos and videos, chat over WiFi or cellular data and know when messages were read, among other features.