Ever since Apple shocked the technical community with its announcement that it would support RCS, we’ve been waiting for the day it would be available. Now that day has arrived, you can finally use it on your iPhone, here’s how it works.
Updated March 5, 2025: The latest iOS 18.4 Beta adds RCS support to several carriers, including most of them in the United States that have not supported it so far.
What is RCS?
RCS stands for Rich Communications Services, and it is intended to be a replacement in the decades old SMS/MMS SMS STANDARD.
You can think of it as iMessage Lite for everyone. It is a platform-neutral standard adopted by the GSM Association to make messages over your Internet data connection rather than strictly your transport network. It provides many of the same advantages, including entry indicators, full -resolution images and videos, proper group chat, delivery and reading of receipts and better security.
The standard has been heavily pushed by Google and is common on Android phones. The Google Messages app delivers RCS support on almost any Android phone using Google’s own RCS servers and even includes some extensions to add new features (especially better encryption) that is not part of the Core GSM standard.
All you need to know as an iPhone user is that RCS will make your conversations with Android users much more comfortable.
Which RCS features will iOS 18 support?
In iOS 18, RCS brings several features that were previously only available to iMessage users:
- Read receipts
- Writing indicators
- Tapbacks/reactions
- Photos and Videos in High Resolution
- Voting memories
Text effects (sludge, loud, gentle, invisible ink, etc.) do not appear on the conversation’s Android page. The recipient receives a message that says “(sent with the sludge effect)” or the like. Inline answer also doesn’t work.
RCS messages are also not encrypted. When using the Google -Message app on an Android phone and Google’s own RCS servers, encryption is supported thanks to a proprietary extension to the standard that Google came up with. Apple is dependent on the Carrier Support to the RCS standard as adopted by the GSM Association, which does not have encryption support. However, Apple says they will work with GSM to include it in a future version of the standard.
Will my messages with Android users still be green?
Yes! Blue bubbles are only for iMessages and are there to help you know that your messages have extremely strong encryption, including exclusive features. So the green bubble conversations do not go anywhere. But they will be less frustrating.
How do I know if I have RCS on my iPhone?
The simplest way is to open a message with someone and look at the text input area:
- That is iMessage If you send an iMessage (but the blue bubbles will be an obvious indication).
- That is Text message • SMS If it sends an SMS.
- That is Text message • RCS If it’s an RCS message.
You can also check settings to see if RCS is enabled, as we describe below. If you don’t see the iOS 18 update, make sure your iPhone supports iOS 18.
Does my carrier need to support RCS? How do I know if mine is doing it?
Your carrier must provide RCS services in accordance with the GSM Association’s default for it to work on your iPhone, and of course you need to run iOS 18.
In the United States, the largest carriers have Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T all activated RCS on iPhones running iOS 18, although if you have just installed iOS 18, you may need to wait a day or so for delivery codes to be sent to your phone.
The situation is a bit more nebulous for MVNO aircraft companies that piggyback from the major carriers, such as visible, XFinity, Mint Mobile, Metro or Cricket. With iOS 18.4 update, support to RCS is added to the last teamout transporters -Google Fi, Metro, Mint Mobile and others. Once your iPhone is updated to iOS 18.4 or newer, it should support RCS on almost any American carrier.
There is no known way to “force” RCs on your iPhone. But if your carrier supports it and you have iOS 18 and don’t see the setting, it can help turn off your iPhone and turn it on again.
Apple has a very useful carrier support site that shows all transport functions to various carriers around the world, large and small. You can see if your carrier supports RCs there (along with other features).
How do I activate or disable RCS in settings?
Open settings, scroll down to the bottom and press Appsthen roll down to find and select Messages. Under the heading “Text Messages” you see a RCS messages Menu if supported by your carrier and iPhone. Select it, and then change on RCS to enable it in the Messages app.
You can check if your carrier supports RCs by opening settings, selecting Generaland then Sore. Scroll down to the “ESIM/Network” section. You will see a line for “Carrier.” Press it to switch line to the “IMS status.” If your carrier supports RCS, the setting shows Voice, SMS & RCS. If not, it will only show Voice & sms.