The gap between Apple’s iMessage and the Google Messages app has been the subject of much debate since iMessage was launched in 2011.
iOS 18 – which launched on September 16 and ships with the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – brings the universal Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol to the iPhone for the first time.
This means that chats between iPhone and Android users will finally have high-quality media sharing, Tapback reactions, audio messages, and other experience-enhancing features, whereas previously these features were limited to chats within Apple’s ecosystem or the Android ecosystem.
RCS has been the standard for Android phones for some time now, and Google is celebrating Apple’s adoption of RCS as a step in the right direction and views the launch as a victory for its #GetTheMessage campaign.
We’ve put together this guide to tell you about all the ways RCS improves messaging between iPhone and Android – and we’ve also highlighted a few things we think should be added.
How to enable RCS
First, you should check if RCS is enabled on your iPhone or Android phone.
On iPhone, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS MessagingAnd Slide the switch to On.
Most modern Android phones have RCS enabled by default, but to be sure, Go to the Google Messages app, Tap your profile picture, scroll down to the message settings Section and Tap the RCS Chats tab to find a similar switch.
Advantages
1. Group chats
Creating a group chat between iPhone and Android users without using a third-party app like WhatsApp was previously possible – with some significant limitations.
A group chat between iPhone users offers everyone involved the full range of iMessage features, such as audio messages, Tapback reactions, and Memoji stickers. However, adding an Android user previously caused all of these features to disappear as the entire chat was switched to MMS.
RCS doesn’t replicate all of iMessage’s features, but it does at least allow for sending high-quality media, audio messages, and a smaller number of Tapback reactions.
This has the dual effect of allowing everyone in a group chat to take advantage of these modern features, while also putting less pressure on Android users who want to participate in iPhone-only conversations.
Messaging between iPhones and Android phones has so far been limited to the SMS/MMS standard, which only allows users to send and receive texts, images and videos up to 5MB in size or 30 seconds for videos.
Because of this small file size limit, media sent via MMS often needs to be heavily compressed, meaning the recipient may receive pixelated images and videos (for comparison, one minute of uncompressed 1080p MP4 video takes up about 20MB).
The RCS standard, which will be available on iPhone, supports a maximum file size of 105MB per message, allowing high-quality images and videos to be sent and received. However, for larger files, you may still need to use a dedicated file transfer or storage service.
3. Read receipts
What’s worse than being left at “Read”? Not knowing if you’ve been left at “Read.”
Read receipts – the indicators or icons that tell you when your recipient has seen your message – are a source of security that most users take for granted.
SMS and MMS messages don’t have the time-stamped read receipts found on almost all other messaging services. iOS 18 and RCS finally bring this now-basic feature to cross-platform messaging.
4. Typing indicators
It can be difficult to grasp the flow of a conversation when you’re staring at a screen full of text, which is why typing indicators are so valuable.
These notifications are often presented as a message bubble with animated ellipsis and appear on the screen when someone types something.
RCS support enables typing indicators for cross-platform messaging, so you can see when your friends finish their replies regardless of the platform.
5. Location sharing
iMessage and third-party apps like WhatsApp allow users to share a location within an interactive map, which has become an important feature for safety and convenience.
Apple’s RCS implementation allows users to share a location PIN in text conversations.
While this doesn’t match the live tracking functionality of iMessage or third-party apps like WhatsApp, it’s still a step in the right direction.
6. Send messages over Wi-Fi
RCS offers more ways to stay connected by allowing users to chat over mobile data and Wi-Fi. By comparison, MMS messages can only be sent over a cellular network.
This has long been a selling point for third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Signal, but those apps can’t access cellular networks. For comparison, iMessage already supported Wi-Fi, mobile data, and cellular network compatibility.
Overall, it’s a solid handful of new features, but Apple could do more to make RCS messaging on the iPhone even better.
Disadvantages
1. No encryption – seriously
The RCS protocol supports end-to-end encryption, meaning your message is encrypted before being sent to the recipient, whose device has the unique key needed to decrypt your message. In theory, unencrypted messages can be intercepted by third parties on the way from sender to recipient.
As The edge Notes: Apple has chosen to use the base version of RCS – the Universal Profile – to add end-to-end encryption to its RCS implementation. This means that iMessage is still the only way to send encrypted messages using Apple’s first-party service.
We’re not a fan of Apple’s approach. Companies need to differentiate their products, but doing so through suboptimal security is truly anti-consumer.
2. No video calls
Although RCS supports video calling, it’s easy to see why Apple hasn’t integrated this feature into its basic messaging service.
FaceTime had such a big impact that 14 years after its launch, the brand name is still used as a generic term for video calling.
Apple likely wants to keep its third-party video calling options centralized. Android users can join FaceTime calls through a web browser using a link sent by an Apple user, but they can’t initiate a call themselves.
3. Green bubbles will remain
The famous – or infamous, depending on who you ask – green text bubbles associated with Android phones are here to stay.
In practice, these green bubbles simply signal that a message comes from outside Apple’s iMessage protocol. However, the associated otherness has caused enough stigma to Cartel proceedingscountless memes and a entire song by world rap star Drake.
This effect is likely to be amplified by Apple’s large market share in the US, which stands at around 55%. A report by Bloomberg Intelligence found that 79% of Generation Z prefer the iPhone over Android – this demographic includes teenagers growing up are increasingly dependent on technology in their social lives.
As senseless as the stigma surrounding green text is, it is real and we hope that RCS implementation will help curb this bizarre phenomenon.
The iPhone 16 series is the first to ship with iOS 18, but RCS will be available on all iPhones that support the update, the oldest of which are the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max.
For tips and updates on all the new iPhone features, check out our dedicated iOS 18 coverage.
