Green bubbles, rejoice: Your iPhone-using friends will finally have a much easier time texting each other. As part of iOS 18, which rolled out to everyone on Monday, Apple added support for RCS, the Rich Communication Services protocol for messaging. This means that chats between iPhone and Android users will finally get a bunch of much-needed features that are long overdue.
One of the main reasons I stuck with iOS (and haven't even considered switching to Android) is because iMessage conversations work especially well for my family's group chats, and I don't want to weaken them. This new RCS support is a big step toward making iPhone-to-Android texting work much better (though there are still enough drawbacks that I plan to stick with iOS).
With RCS on iOS, you get major improvements like high-resolution media, typing indicators, and read receipts when you text people on other phones that also support RCS. iOS 18 Press ReleaseApple also highlights support for “more reliable group messaging compared to SMS and MMS.”
RCS chats still lack many of the features that Apple includes in iMessage conversations, such as the ability to schedule messages to send later or add animated text effects to what you type. But with RCS support, many of the basic features are now available.
When you're texting someone who doesn't have an iPhone, look at the text input box. In gray letters, you'll see the words “Text Message,” then a period, then “RCS” or “SMS.” If you see RCS, you're having an RCS conversation! You might see similar “RCS” or “SMS” indicators in the middle of a conversation thread.
However, there may be at least one problem: it seems that not all carriers support RCS on iPhone yet. according 9to5GoogleAT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon support the feature in the US, I have Mint Mobile and instead of saying “RCS” my iPhone to Android conversations still say “SMS”. At least I have nice looking Tapbacks, which are Available in SMS. But SMS conversations have generally not changed, so if you're forced to chat with your Android friends via SMS, you'll have to deal with limitations that have been in place for years.
If for some reason you want to disable RCS, you can do so from Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging.
Apple only supports the basic RCS standard, called RCS Universal Profile, which is not encrypted. This means that if you text a friend who uses Google Messages, those messages will not be encrypted like they are if you text another iPhone user using iMessage.
While this is disappointing, it's not too surprising. Apple probably still prefers everyone to buy an iPhone. But let's hope Apple encrypts RCS texts in a future version of iOS.
