The iOS 18 update is now available to hundreds of millions of iPhones around the world. One of the new features that iOS 18 enables is RCS messaging in the Messages app. The feature has been in testing since mid-June when Apple rolled it out via one of the iOS 18 beta releases.
However, just because the iPhone can now support RCS messaging doesn’t mean you’ll get it right away. First, you have to enable RCS texting in the Settings app to take advantage of RCS features when chatting with people who use Android devices. But that option won’t even be there if your carrier doesn’t support RCS for the iPhone.
Unlike iMessage, which Apple controls, Apple can’t enable RCS on iPhone on its own. It needs wireless carriers to support it because RCS is a GSMA communication standard, just like SMS.
If you have friends, family, or colleagues who use Android, you’ll want to see if RCS is available right away on your iPhone. Here’s where you can find RCS settings on the iPhone:
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- Go to the Settings app
- Find the Apps section
- Look for Messages
- You’ll have to enable the new RCS Messaging option
If the toggle isn’t there waiting to be switched on, your carrier has not rolled out an update that enables RCS on the iPhone.
iOS 18: RCS support. Image source: Apple Inc.
Thankfully, Apple has a support document available where you can check if your carrier has enabled RCS for the iPhone. The page gives you a list of carriers for each country. If your carrier hasn’t rolled out RCS support for the iPhone, you’ll want to bookmark this page and keep checking back.
The largest US carriers already support RCS on the iPhone. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon subscribers should have no issues enabling RCS on their iPhones after installing iOS 18.
Other carriers are likely to start deploying RCS messaging for their iPhone customers in the coming weeks and months.
Today is the day that texting between #Android and iOS starts to improve. With Apple joining Google in adopting #RCS, we all benefit from:
High-quality photo and video sharing
Seamless entering and exiting group chats
🧑🤝🧑Personalized group chat names
️Reactions to text… https://t.co/6Pm3Um4G3n— Rick Osterloh (@rosterloh) September 16, 2024
RCS messaging will bring support for high-quality photo and video sharing between Android devices and iPhones. You’re also getting support for reactions, typing indicators, message delivery and read receipts, and drastically better group messaging.
However, RCS messages will still be green in your chats. Also, RCS texting isn’t end-to-end encrypted on iPhone, as this isn’t Google’s version of RCS messaging available on Pixel and other Android devices.
