RCS Messaging isn’t the silver bullet for cross-platform communication that it should be, but it’s a start, especially in areas with heavy iPhone usage where messaging can be difficult. Does RCS between Android and iPhone allow you to do things you couldn’t do before? Well, here’s everything you need to know.
There will be no cure for the embarrassing stigma surrounding the “green bubble.” Still, being a second-class citizen when it comes to messaging will hopefully become a thing of the past, at least in the not too distant future. Apple could keep this bloat bundled with iMessage. Who needs games, unnecessary apps, and weird extra features that they never use? A basic, modern solution for modern messaging is enough.
There’s some good news about RCS on iPhone. iMessage does not need to be active for RCS to work as intended. It’s unlikely that someone with an iPhone won’t use iMessage, but it’s one less thing to worry about. However, for RCS to work, the carrier your iPhone uses must support it. One more thing: RCS is enabled by default in iOS 18, but you can disable it just like on Android with Google Messages.
To check on Android,[Google メッセージ]>[プロフィール アイコン]>[メッセージ設定]>[RCS チャット]>[RCS チャットをオンにする]Move to. Your mobile number will display a “Connected” status, indicating that it is working as intended.
It’s a little different on iPhone. Whether your carrier supports RCS or not[設定]>[アプリ]>[メッセージ]>[RCS メッセージング]([テキスト メッセージング]section below) to find out. You’ll know it’s working because you’ll see “Text Message • RCS” in the text input field.
delivery metrics
SMS is a hassle because there’s no way to know exactly whether your message has reached its final destination. RCS delivery indicators, or notifications, provide real-time updates on the status of messages on iPhone and Android, including when they’re sent, delivered, and read. This helps ensure that your messages reach their intended recipients and troubleshoot delivery issues. It’s also an easy way to test whether your connection is working properly.
When you send a message using Google Messages, a single check mark appears when the message is sent. A double checkmark or checkmark indicates the message was delivered to that person, contact, or group. It’s a little different on iOS. Instead of a checkmark, it’s a simple “Delivered” text label below the message.
Confirmation of opening
Read receipts clearly indicate whether your message was delivered and read. This will help you know if someone is seeing and ignoring your messages, or if there may be a technical issue preventing you from receiving them. For example, if you sent an important message and didn’t receive a read receipt, you might want to follow up with the person you messaged if they haven’t responded yet.
On iOS, read receipts display a “read” text label and the time the message was opened and read. Android uses a colored double checkmark or checkmark to confirm that a message has been opened and read.
Read receipts can also be seen as a nuisance, and some people feel pressured to respond immediately. If you don’t want to receive notifications when your messages are read, you can disable read receipts in your settings. Read receipts are enabled by default on Android and iOS.
To change it on Android,[設定]>[メッセージ]>[詳細設定]>[開封確認]Move to. Toggle the switch to enable or disable it. On iOS,[設定]>[アプリ]>[メッセージ]>[開封確認の送信]You can move to Toggle the switch to enable or disable it.
typing indicator
With RCS enabled, you can not only see when your contacts on your iPhone are typing messages, but also when you’re typing messages on your Android phone. It’s a great two-way street that keeps on giving. Typing indicators are old, but being able to type across barriers is another great benefit when communicating with friends, relatives, colleagues, and others.
There is currently no way to disable input indicators when using RCS. Also, the direction from iPhone to Android is not perfect. In some cases, input indicators may not appear until a message is received, and then subsequent indicators may appear. Android input indicators almost always appear on iOS.
Another big change to RCS on Android and iPhone is the much-awaited ability to send high-resolution photos and videos. Before RCS, photos and videos were sent using MMS. This older technology compresses content to fit within network size constraints.
RCS uses Wi-Fi and cellular data, which means it can send larger images and videos. Currently it is 100MB. This is fine for large photos, but less impressive for 4K video files. Sending long videos will be compressed, but they will look much better than before.
To improve the default quality of Android,[設定]>[写真をより速く送信]>[これをオフに切り替える]Move to. On iPhone,[設定]>[メッセージ]>[低品質画像モード]Go to and toggle this off.
File sizes such as documents increase
One of the big advantages of RCS is that there are no restrictions on sending media files. You can send any type of content, including documents, APK files, and folders. Sending .ics calendar files has some limitations, such as being difficult to open on an iPhone, but you can also send .zip files, contacts, and many other file types that are typically difficult to send due to file size limitations in SMS and Can be sent via MMS.
When using RCS between Android and iPhone, a small benefit of the larger file limit is that you can instantly send .zip files containing more photos and videos instead of sending them individually. . It’s a very smooth way to share lots of things at once. If you use Google Messages or Apple Messages on your desktop, you can also share directly into your chats by simply dragging and dropping from your PC.
Message reaction
Sometimes, the easiest way to let someone know that your message was understood is to send them an emoji or, even better, a reaction to the message. This feature has been around for a while, and some nice workarounds by Google have made it work. Message reactions are now fully functional when using RCS between iPhone and Android.
Basically, this allows you to use emojis and sometimes stickers on certain incoming messages, images, videos, and files. It doesn’t work as well on iPhone as it does on Android. That’s the case with Apple. That said, the other person will receive a notification showing which emoji you responded to. I’m not saying you should “spam” your friends on your iPhone…but you can…
Group chat that works
Finally, finally, RCS brings viable and trouble-free group chat to Android and iPhone. For years, this has been one of the most frustrating experiences anyone has when joining a group chat.
Like other features, this too is limited. This is because it relies on your friend using an iPhone to update to iOS 18 and that their carrier supports RCS. Group chats may not switch to new communication standards immediately.
As long as everyone is up to date and working as expected in 1:1 chat, we’ll switch to group chat. All other features will be available from the start, but Android features will continue to appear as green bubbles.
SMS
Yes, the arrival of RCS on iPhone does not result in the loss of SMS functionality between Android and Apple devices. Unlimited SMS plans are pretty common now, but if you’re on a limited plan, RCS Messaging doesn’t affect your limits. So you can still use MMS and SMS if you really need to. Please note that the updated feature set will not be available.
Coming soon: Encrypted RCS
When you use Google Messages to send messages to friends on Android, your communications are fully encrypted. At least for now, RCS messaging from Android to iPhone has no encryption. Google is working on implementing end-to-end encryption, but for now it’s limited to Android-only contacts using Google Messages.
Once this arrives, your messaging will be even more secure. Currently, RCS between Android and iPhone is about as secure as using SMS, which is very outdated without any form of encryption.
RCS for Android and iPhone: What you need to consider…
RCS is a much-needed breakthrough in basic chat-based communications for smartphones by 2024 standards. Android has long enjoyed the ability to send text messages to each other with fewer restrictions and constant added features. Google Messages is starting to become a very robust messaging client with a lot of great features you won’t find anywhere else.
One of the best things about Apple’s decision to integrate RCS is that it provides a much-needed level-up to the “basic” experience between iPhone and Android. RCS is quietly better than any AI feature Apple has announced as part of its Apple Intelligence suite.
The downside is that the stigma of a green bubble will likely remain. You’ll also need to convince your contacts to update to iOS 18 if they haven’t already. There are also some minor people who keep disabling RCS for reasons we never understand.
Some MVNOs use networks that support RCS, but this feature is not yet available. Hopefully things will change over time, but until then, you can always get Android…right?
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