All we know about iOS 18 RCS support so far

Update 19/09/24 11:00 am (IST): iOS 18.1 will reportedly enable bring RCS messaging compatibility to major Chinese carriers like China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile. So it’s likely that following iOS 18.x updates will slowly expand RCS availability to other regions and carriers as well.

Original article published on September 18, 2024, follows:

After years of Google pushing Apple to adopt RCS messaging, the Cupertino tech giant finally caved in and has now added RCS support to iPhones with the iOS 18 update. This feature will greatly improve the texting experience between Android and iOS users, which to this date, has been quite poor. However, the rollout hasn’t been without its hiccups and surprises. Let’s dive into what we know so far about RCS support in iOS 18.

The promise of RCS

Apple’s adoption of RCS in iOS 18 marks a significant shift in cross-platform messaging. RCS offers several improvements over traditional SMS, including:

1. Typing indicators
2. Delivery and read receipts
3. Higher resolution media sharing
4. Messaging over Wi-Fi and mobile data
5. Enhanced group chat management

These features aim to create a more seamless messaging experience between iPhone and Android users, addressing long-standing frustrations with cross-platform communication.

Current availability

To make it easier for users to track the availability of RCS messaging on their iPhones, Apple has a dedicated page that lists all the regions and carriers where RCS is currently supported on iOS 18. Based on that, I’ve rounded up all the regions and carriers where you can begin using RCS to text:

Canada

• Bell
• Chatr
• Fido
• Freedom Mobile
• Koodo
• Lucky Mobile
• Rogers
• Telus
• Videotron
• Virgin Mobile

United States

• AT&T
• C Spire
• Consumer Cellular
• Cricket
• FirstNet
• Metro by T-Mobile
• PureTalk
• Red Pocket
• Spectrum
• T-Mobile USA
• TracFone / Straight Talk
• US Cellular
• Verizon Wireless
• Visible
• Xfinity Mobile

Belgium

• BASE
• Proximus
• Telenet

France

• SFR
• Orange
• Bouygues Telecom

Germany

• Telekom
• Vodafone
• O2

Netherlands

• Vodafone
• KPN

United Kingdom

• EE
• BT

Spain

• Masmovil
• Movistar
• O2
• Orange
• Pepephone
• Vodafone
• Yoigo

These are the countries and carriers where RCS support is currently available. However, many users, particularly those on smaller carriers or MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), have found themselves left in the lurch.

The MVNO conundrum

Multiple MVNOs in the US are yet to enable RCS support. For instance, Google Fi told the folks over at 9to5Google that “only Apple has the ability to enable RCS interoperability for iPhone users on Fi.” They’ve already submitted the ‘Carrier Bundle’ to Apple, and now it’s up to the Cupertino tech giant to release an update that will enable iPhone users on the Fi network to use RCS.

On the other hand, US Mobile’s CEO said they’ll try and share more details on RCS support with iOS 18 by the end of this week. They claim that RCS support got side-tracked as the company was “busy adding a whole new network that would integrate seemlessly with others for you to be able to share data.” That said, they also stated: “On Warp, The carrier will enable this for us and we wont need to work with Apple on it. We have a few other things that take priority currently – so id say Warp will be the first one and potentially this year ( i will get more clarity on it) – rest of the carriers should follow early next year. With Darkstar launching – There is no way we would have gotten to this in any case.”

So it’s clear that users on MVNO networks might be left out of the early RCS fun, but it’ll come eventually.

Encryption: The missing piece

While RCS brings many improvements, it currently lacks a crucial feature: end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for messages exchanged between iOS and Android devices. This stands in contrast to iMessage, which offers E2EE for Apple-to-Apple communications.

However, there’s hope on the horizon. The GSM Association, which develops the RCS standard, has announced that it’s working on implementing E2EE for cross-platform RCS messages. Google Messages already offers E2EE for RCS chats between Android devices, and Google is advocating for E2EE to become standard across all RCS platforms.

Reported bugs and issues

Like with anything new, there are some bugs and issues users have spotted that need to be ironed out. For instance, some users have pointed out that things like emoji reactions to messages don’t always work correctly. Users claim that reacting to text messages work as expected, however, when they react to images or GIFs, it texts the reaction instead of using RCS.

Luckily, this is a known issue and Google says “We look forward to Apple adding the ability to react to media, reply directly to messages in group chats, and more.” 

Similarly, when users respond to RCS messages using the ‘reply’ function, it works sporadically. Another potential problem, which isn’t really Apple’s fault, seems to be that RCS images and videos sent from Android phones with Google Messages to iPhone have reduced quality. In contrast, when iPhone users share media with Android users, the quality remains intact. Therefore, this bug will probably have to be addressed by Google.

It’s clear that Apple and even Google still have some work cutout to make the RCS messaging experience more fluid and functional between Android and iOS devices.

The road ahead

The introduction of RCS in iOS 18 is just the beginning. As more carriers enable support and users upgrade to compatible devices, we can expect broader adoption of the technology. Hopefully, future updates will address current limitations and improve overall RCS functionality.

However, the situation with US Mobile and other MVNOs serves as a reminder that the transition to RCS may not be as smooth or quick as many users hoped. In the meantime, users may find themselves in a mixed messaging environment, with some conversations benefiting from RCS features while others remain limited to traditional SMS capabilities. As the dust settles on the iOS 18 release, it’s clear that while RCS represents a significant step forward, there’s still work to be done to achieve truly seamless cross-platform messaging.