RCS on iPhone with iOS 18 - Lost Hopes

I have been waiting patiently for the release of a new version of iOS mainly because of one feature – RCS.

RCS stands for Rich Communication Services. It is an upgrade to traditional SMS messaging, designed to enhance the messaging experience with features like read receipts, typing indicators, high-resolution images, group chats, and sharing larger files. RCS aims to provide an experience similar to messaging apps like WhatsApp or iMessage but integrated into the default SMS app on smartphones.

The main reason I have been looking forward to RCS was the ability to send messages to Android users, other than SMS, but still from the default Messages app.

RCS brings reactions, the ability to send pictures (replacing the outdated MMS service), and shows read receipts. Everything is standard when communicating between iPhone users using the iMessage service.

With the high popularity of WhatsApp, which filled the void and struggle when communicating between Android and iPhone users, RCS was meant to regain the market for native messaging apps.

I saw how RCS worked on my friend’s Android devices but didn’t realise at the time that it was only because of Google’s implementation of RCS in their Google Messaging app (an app that is not available for iPhone users).

RCS can be implemented by the carrier, but if it is not, Google comes to the rescue for Android users.

Updating to iOS 18 gives the ability for RCS, but that doesn’t mean anything for its users when carriers do not support it.

In the UK, almost none of the carriers support RCS. Even with iPhones running iOS 18, we still will not have the ability to use this technology.

There is some feedback from users that RCS works on EE with iPhones running iOS 18, but it is difficult to find official confirmation of this.

In the UK, the implementation of new technologies in mobile networks always comes with big delays. No surprise that, in waiting for RCS, we will end up disappointed.

Google recently advised that they are working on RCS encryption between Android and iPhone.

The easiest solution would probably be to bring the Google Messages app to iPhone, but this would just be another app. Convincing users to switch from WhatsApp will not be so easy.

Knowing how good Google is at killing their apps, they will probably remove it simply because the winner on the market is WhatsApp. Beating it in an iOS environment is not something Google will be interested in.

On Android, when we install Google Messages, the app is integrated into the system. It inherits the functionality of sending and receiving text messages (SMS), making it a single place for users to communicate on their phones.

Google bypasses the lack of native support for RCS by carrier operators by operating their own RCS server.

It’s like Apple that is operating the iMessage service, where communication between iPhone users is done over Apple servers and has nothing to do with mobile operators.

Apple has not implemented iMessage in the Android environment for years, so it’s doubtful that Google would bother to bring Google Messages and RCS over their servers to iPhones.

The simplest solution would be for Apple to open their own RCS server or simply integrate RCS into the iMessage service for the convenience of their users.

This, however, will not happen anytime soon. No surprise that Apple didn’t mention RCS as a big feature in their slides at the Apple Event but just pushed it as a “mention” on a board of iOS 18 features coming to iPhone.

The official website for iOS 18 prominently refers to adding support for RCS messaging.

RCS (Rich Communication Services) messages bring richer media and delivery and read receipts for those who don’t use iMessage.

This, however, is only available if mobile carrier operators support it.

This should have been implemented in iMessage in the first place, but with the above statement, Apple acknowledges that not all users choose to enable the iMessage service.

In the Google ecosystem, things are slightly different, and some functions are enabled “for us” whether we want them or not. Apple looks at privacy from a different perspective than Google, hence their different approach to this matter.

In summary, iOS 18 brings support for RCS, but in the UK, we can forget about it until someone (carrier operators, Apple directly, or even Google) spends the energy to make it work for everybody, not just a few.

P.S.

Some people, when asked Is Apple going to end the ‘green bubble dread’?, answered loudly Yes!, but my answer to that is a simple no.