Ever since Apple shocked the tech community by announcing that it would support RCS in an upcoming iOS release, we’ve been wondering exactly how it would work.
Now that the feature is available in the second developer beta of iOS 18, we have a good idea of how it works and can answer your most pressing questions.
What is RCS?
RCS stands for Rich Communications Services and is meant to replace the decades-old SMS/MMS messaging standard.
You can think of it as a stripped-down version of iMessage for everyone. It’s a platform-neutral standard adopted by the GSM Association to send messages over your internet data connection instead of your carrier’s network. It offers many of the same benefits, including typing indicators, full-resolution images and videos, proper group chats, read and receive receipts, and better security.
The standard was heavily promoted by Google and has become common on Android phones. The Google Messages app supports RCS on almost all Android phones using Google’s own RCS servers and even includes some extensions to add new features (including better encryption) that aren’t part of the basic GSM standard.
All you need to know as an iPhone user is that RCS will make your conversations with Android users much more enjoyable.
What RCS features will iOS 18 support?
So far, iOS 18 beta testers have confirmed that the following RCS features are working:
- Read receipts
- Strike Indicators
- Large photos and videos
- Voice Memos
- Tapbacks/reactions
Text effects (slam, loud, soft, invisible ink) don’t appear on the Android side of the conversation. You’ll get a message saying “(sent with Slam effect)” or something. Inline replies also don’t seem to work.
RCS messages are also not encrypted. When you use the Google Messages app on an Android phone and Google’s RCS servers, encryption is supported through a proprietary extension of the standard that Google created. Apple relies on carrier support for the RCS standard as adopted by the GSM Association, which does not support encryption, though Apple says it will work with GSM to include it in a future version of the standard.
Will my messages with Android users always be green?
Yes! The blue bubbles are for iMessages only and are there to help you know that your messages have super-strong encryption, among other features like inline replies. So conversations in the green bubbles won’t disappear. But they will be less frustrating.
How do I know if I have RCS on my iPhone?
The easiest way is to open a message with someone and look at the text input box:
- He will say iMessage if you send an iMessage (but the blue bubbles will be an obvious indication).
- He will say Text message • SMS if he sends a text message.
- He will say Text message • RCS if it is an RCS message.
You can also check in settings to see if RCS is enabled, which we’ll describe below.
Does my carrier have to support RCS? How do I know if mine does?
Your carrier must provide RCS services according to the GSM Association standard for this to work on your iPhone, and of course you must be running iOS 18 (support was added in the second developer beta).
In the US, major carriers Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T have all enabled RCS on iPhones running iOS 18, but if you’ve just installed iOS 18, you may have to wait a day or two for the provisioning codes to be sent to your phone.
The situation is a little murkier for MVNOs that rely on these major carriers, such as Visible, Xfinity, Mint Mobile, Metro, or Cricket. Most of them do not have their own RCS support. Android users on these carriers who use Google Messages get RCS support through Google’s RCS services. As of this writing, none of the MVNOs have enabled RCS support in the iOS 18 beta.
There’s no known way to “force” RCS on your iPhone. But if your carrier supports it and you have iOS 18 (beta 2 or later) and you don’t see the option, it might help to turn off your iPhone, wait a few minutes, and then turn it back on.
How to enable or disable RCS in settings?
Open Settingsscroll down and tap applicationsthen scroll down to find and select messages. Under the “Text Messaging” heading, you will see a button to RCS Messaging if this feature is supported by your carrier and iPhone. Make sure this feature is enabled to use RCS in the Messages app.
You can check if your carrier supports RCS by opening Settings, selecting Generaland then AboutScroll down to the “eSIM/Network” section. You will see a line for “Carrier”. Tap on it to change this line to “IMS Status”.
If your carrier supports RCS, you will see “Voice, SMS, and RCS.” Otherwise, you will see “Voice and SMS.”
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