iOS 18 will be launching with big upgrades such as new customisation tools, Apple Intelligence, and more. However, Messages: RCS support will receive one of the major changes. RCS will make messaging between iPhones and Androids work better than ever. Here’s all you need to know about iOS 18’s Much-Needed Fix for iPhone to Android Messaging.

When it comes to text messaging, there are a few different methods that one should know. Apple’s own proprietary text messaging system is iMessage, which is used by iPhones, iPads, Macs and other Apple devices to communicate with each other. It’s not going to change in iOS 18.

iMessage conversations use blue bubbles. When communicating with an Android user, iPhone’s Messages app defaults to the texting system made up by SMS/MMS, which use green bubbles.

What is RCS?

The newer and better version of SMS and MMS is RCS (Rich Communication Services), which will make the messaging experience between iPhones and Android better than ever.

For a while now, RCS has widely been available on Android devices. Even though SMS and MMS are more widespread, they have more limitations as they are based on older technology.

For example, a heart, thumbs up and other reactions are available on Android devices that support RCS. Furthermore, it also allows users to send high quality pictures and videos and also include typing indicators, read receipts and more.

Notably, RCS doesn’t support standard end-to-end encryption. However, some RCS implementations on Android devices use encryption. But, expect this to change in the future.

iOS 18 makes RCS the new fallback when you can’t iMessage

Messaging between an iPhone and Android device could not be reliable when in iOS 17 and previous versions. The reason is that in such situations, the iPhone relied on SMS/MMS, which are on older technologies. And this doesn’t appear to play well with iMessage.

Once getting RCS support in iOS 18, your messaging with Android users should be hassle-free. Still, RCS conversations will continue to use green bubbles and not the blue ones. You will be allowed to use more of the iMessage features. Users will be enabled to send high quality media and their messages won’t be lost like the way they sometimes do.

RCS: Availability

For select US carriers, RCS is currently supported in the iOS 18 beta. Users with carrier on board and running the beta can test it out. For rest of the users, it will be available for all users later in September.

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