Ryan Haynes / Android Authority
We recently conducted a survey in Android permissions Website, YouTube channel, and X (formerly Twitter) account. We wanted to ask iPhone users if they’ve started using RCS Messaging and what they think about Google’s much-touted changes.. As it turns out, iPhone users aren’t as interested in RCS as their Android peers had hoped. There are several other factors as to why not all iPhone users have jumped on the RCS bandwagon yet.
The results of the survey can be viewed below. We received over 10,000 votes across the various platforms where the survey was conducted. Further down the line, we will analyze the comments received and uncover the main reasons why iPhone users are still not in favor of RCS.
It’s a North American problem
Many iPhone users commented on our article that they weren’t really interested in RCS. Do they want to stick to the old ways of SMS? Absolutely not. But all the features promised by RCS, such as read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality image and video transfer, and group chat, are bundled into a popular app called WhatsApp.
Although many iPhone users feel RCS, the benefits it provides only affect those living in North America. iMessage is still a big player there, and the battle between the green and blue bubbles is heating up. Others are most comfortable using messaging apps like WhatsApp or Messenger. Remember, this is what people are saying, not us. Let’s take a look at some of those comments.
“This is really cool and great! But the reality is that no one outside of the US cares about iMessage. Some of my friends stop replying to my iMessages and contact me on WhatsApp instead. Some people have asked, “You all need to get out of this stupid blue and green bubble.”
“Everyone uses WhatsApp in the UK. Everyone.”
“You’re weird if you still message someone via SMS even though I don’t live in the US. And yet your carrier still doesn’t support RCS. Finally If they were to support me, I’d probably yell, “Hey, that’s nice.” Then open the WhatsApp app within 5 seconds. ”
“I never understood the whole drama behind iMessage and RCS. 100% of my friends who use iPhone don’t know about iMessage. 100% of my friends who use Android don’t know about RCS. I don’t know about WhatsApp everywhere. iMessage and RCS are American things like Miles and Tips.”
“Whether it’s a game changer? Not much. I didn’t care about the color of the speech bubbles, and I never cared about them, and read notifications and such are nice, but they don’t really matter to me.” Not.”
RCS availability and support
The YouTube survey also received an overwhelming number of comments from iPhone users who said they don’t have RCS yet or don’t know how to use it because their carriers don’t yet support the RCS protocol. . Carrier support is very important to RCS because, like iMessage, messages sent using this protocol go through the carrier’s servers rather than Apple’s. It appears many are still waiting for carriers to turn on the RCS switch.
“When I was using Android, I had RCS on my network, but for some reason it’s not supported on iPhone yet.”
“I don’t use it because it doesn’t work. The carrier that supports it doesn’t allow it on my iPhone for some reason.”
“We don’t support any of the three major carriers in New Zealand, which is very disappointing.”
“In Poland, carriers do not yet support RCS for iPhone.”
“As an iPhone user with iOS 18, you cannot use iOS 18 because Mint mobile has not released iOS 18 yet.”
“Not available in Australia.”
After convincing Apple, it looks like Google will need to start convincing carriers to support RCS on the iPhone to make texting between Android and iOS easier.
What exactly is RCS?
There is a camp of voters who still don’t know what RCS is or how to use it. Apple doesn’t make it easy to understand. Apple requires RCS adopters to follow several steps to activate the protocol. Given that iOS 18 is still very new, many users don’t know how to get RCS up and running on their iPhone.
People who have it love it
On the other hand, there are certainly many iPhone users who have enabled RCS on their phones and started using the service. Here’s what some of them have said about their experiences.
“I disagree with the idea that the introduction of RCS will only affect and benefit North American citizens. Certainly, many people around the world use WhatsApp and Messenger, but at least here in Denmark. There are a lot of people who also use Messages, and I’ve always been an avid Android user since I bought my HTC Hero in 2009, and literally my whole family uses iPhones for the last three years. I was so excited about the integration of iOS 18 and RCS that I can finally go back to Android and use my phone without stress.
“Having RCS Messaging available on my iPhone and being able to communicate with family and friends who have Android devices was a great experience. Being able to send high-quality photos and videos was also a great experience. ”
“Yes, you can now see your receipts, send emoji reactions, and more. Oh, and finally send photos and videos with no loss of quality. We should have had this years ago. .”
“In my opinion, RCS is the best part of the iOS 18 update.”
